I am an Indian male with black thick hair and light brown skin. I decided to go for Laser last last month and had made an appointment with 3 different laser clinics to get my arms lasered, and in the end I decided to go to the place closest to my home (8 miles). I chose them because the woman who does the laser was really informative about the risks of laser and didn’t send out the vibe that she was trying to make a sale, she has had over 3 years experience and I spoke with a girl in the lobby who was on her 3rd treatment and provided good feedback.
I answered a bunch of questions and even though my skin is light, she noted my as a skin type IV - V because I rarely burn and always tan. She informed me that since I have thick hair on my arms, it will probably take over 8 treatments and that after the 5th treatment the remaining 3 will be free. And after my last treatment, I can come in for free touch ups within a 1 year period.
The laser she uses is the Lightsheer Diode, and she used a setting of 20 Joules. Since I have a lot of hair on my arms, I was quite red after treatment and had some swelling. I could see red spots right where all my little hair roots were. She told me to wear plenty of sun block and said that my hair should fall out in 2-10 days.
It took me about 3 days to totally recover from the redness, the swelling went down significantly on the 2nd day. BUT My arms didn’t turn silky smooth as almost all of the hair remains (and it has now been 13 days), but I do notice a few gaps with no hair throughout my arms. Or maybe I’m just trying to be optimistic here and those spaces of no hair were always like that before?
LAgirl had told me that the Nd:YAG laser was probably the only laser that could work for me, but none of the places I visited had that Laser. And I did a lot of research on Google about the Lightsheer Diode, about how it can work on IV and V skin types.
Some other things to consider. I had epillated my arms about 5 weeks prior to my laser treatment, my hair grows back fast. After 2 weeks it was already growing back and I actually let it grow out for the next 2 weeks. And I had started shaving again the same week of my Laser appointment.
My 2nd treatment is scheduled for October 26th. I’m hoping this next treatment will go a little better, maybe a lot of my hair was in the resting phase during the first treatment?
The woman did tell me I probably wouldn’t see optimum results until after my 3rd treatment, but from what I’ve been reading everywhere … the hair is suppose to fall out and the treated area is suppose to be smooth until new hair grows back. I think.
Ugh, I’m worried! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
Very sorry for the long post.