Laser Hair Removal?

[madirocks]

I have an appointment for this Friday and I'm wondering if there's anything I should know and prepare for ahead of time? I remember before reading that some times it leaves a person's face swelling and red. I have five days off, but I don't want to show up to work looking like a tomato. 

[Izumi]

I have an appointment for this Friday and I'm wondering if there's anything I should know and prepare for ahead of time? I remember before reading that some times it leaves a person's face swelling and red. I have five days off, but I don't want to show up to work looking like a tomato. 

My only advice, learn to cope with pain, be like the shoalin monks and bring yourself to a world without it, because laser hair removal is like paying someone to torture you in the beginning stages.  So.... just to prep you... there will be pain.  Looks a little like a sunburn but it doesnt last more then a day usually. 

[azSam]

First few treatments, the redness lasted several days. And yes it hurts pretty bad.

[Rabbit]

So, I don't mean to scare you... but, just be ready with ice and some anti-itch creams ... if this catches you without those things, you will rip your face off (really, the amount this itches can not be described... far worse than poison oak or poison ivy).

Each of my treatments I have a REALLY horrible reaction....starting a few hours after treatment.

My face / neck swells huge amounts... and bumps appear everywhere (picture someone stung in the face by a swarm of angry bees). Some of the bumps start breaking (clear liquid comes out, and some bleed)... but all of them itch like CRAZY.

The worse effects typically lasts about 3 days after the appointment day (and makes sleeping very very hard). I have to constantly apply ice and anti-itch creams to keep from ripping my face off (which means I can't get any work done). The thing is, the anti-itch cream seems to develop a film over your face which stops the effect from new cream from working... so I end up taking several showers a day to wash it off and let me get the full benefit again.

After about a 7-12 days the swelling has pretty much faded... and have a few sores / marks from the bumps which burst ...and those heal away over the next week.

It is a really horrible experience.... I look SOOO horrible while it is happening... and it hurts / itches so much... bleh, but, you gotta do what you gotta do. I give myself at LEAST 3-4 days to recover from it (and I really don't want people to see me like that, so I get enough food / supplies so I don't have to leave the house o.O lol). All you can do is sit up watching tv all night... falling asleep for an hour or two before it wakes you up again and you have to do something ... :<


Oh, the pain of the actual laser isn't so bad (compared). Rubberband slapping you ~shrug~ treatments go fast, only takes like 5 - 10 minutes, easy to suffer through.

[Tamaki]

Bring ice packs with you so you can cool your face right after the treatment, it will help with redness and discomfort.

Laser hurts but doesn't last long, just grin (or grimace) and bear it. The redness only lasted a few days for me. You'll be okay.

[SiobhanB]

Ok, I think I can post a slightly less terrifying response!

I've had seven sessions of laser on the face now (including one today) with each one at a slightly higher setting than the last.  Yes, it hurts but I've not found it unbearable.  Although today's did make my eyes water a little.  When finished my face is red and a bit puffy, but it only lasts a couple of hours.  This is probably partly because I've had so many sessions that each treatment only has a few hairs to target.  I'm sat here 8 hours after the treatment, and I have no sensitivity in the face just a little blotchiness where dead hairs are trapped under the skin.

One thing I would say s choose where you go to carefully.  I've been to another place to have my legs attacked, and the laser there is far less sophisticated.  The better ones blow cooling air as they go to help with the pain, although the air makes it hard to breathe when they're doing your upper lip.

I don't get any itching as Rabiit describes and no swelling to speak of either.

I guess, like all things YMMV.

Good luck.

Siobhan.

[madirocks]

Thanks for all of the responses!

I think I will expect the worse just in case. I know it's going to hurt, but I'm very very excited! I think the hair causes me second most dysphoria.

[JungianZoe]

There are SO many variables that it's hard to say with any certainty how your skin will react, and there's a YMMV aspect to it as well.  When I first started, the treatments felt like nothing.  Just a light rubberband flick, if that.  I was slightly red for a few hours and that was it.  She kept increasing the power over the next few sessions and the pain grew a little more, and the redness lasted a bit longer.  Still, the longest I was ever red was 4 hours tops.  Even when, at first, I'd be slightly swollen.

Eventually, my technician told me that I was sitting comfortably through one of the highest settings she'd ever used on someone's face, and all the rest of the people pretty much screamed in agony.   My pain tolerance has been proven now by the fact that I barely feel electrolysis.  But my lip and chin hairs weren't diminishing very much, even after 13 laser sessions.  So I had a different laser technician this last time because my usual one stopped working Saturdays, and I knew this technician because I previously had an hour of electrolysis with her (I've had electrolysis with three of the four ladies who work at this spa and they were all amazing).  Well, she decided that enough was enough for my lip and chin hairs, and she cranked the laser up to an insane setting.

This was no rubberband feeling.  This felt like getting hit with a cluster of porcupine quills.  And it stung after the zap, just as porcupine quills can leave you in pain for days.  (Do I speak from experience of getting hit with porcupine quills?  Um... yes).   Anyway, she did 12 bursts on my upper lip, and though I didn't flinch when she did them, I couldn't breathe and my eyes teared up so badly all of my eyeliner came off.  In any case, I was pretty damn red and slightly swollen after the session.  She told me that, under NO circumstance, should I get any sun at all the rest of the day.

Two hours later?  This is what I looked like:



(I swore nobody would ever see that first pic, me totally without makeup)

Nothing.  Oh, my face was in serious pain, but no visible signs of treatment!  And the result?  For the first time in 14 sessions, 90% of the hairs that are now growing back on my lip and chin are unnoticeably thin.  They're vellus hairs now.

If I were to make an educated guess, I'd say you're likely to see no signs of redness or swelling by the time you go to bed Friday night.  Of course, you WILL probably have dark clumps of burned up hair beneath the surface of your skin for anywhere between three days to two weeks after the session depending on how fast your hair grows.  Sadly, these are very noticeable and almost impossible to conceal with makeup (even Dermablend has a hard time with them).  When I started hair removal, I wasn't on HRT and the clumps grew out in three to five days.  Now, six months after we KNOW my T levels were under control (slight problems in the beginning), the clumps take about two weeks to grow out.

Wow... sorry for the rant here!   But I've been in hair removal since July of last year--both laser and electrolysis--and wanted to give you as accurate a description as I could based on my experiences.  But again, YMMV!  Don't you get sick of that acronym?

[Forever21Chic]

  Wow what kind of laser did they use @ zoe?  I had like 7 sessions done and most of my hair was gone, had electro to finish the rest.

[Joeyboo~ :3]

OH god, this isn't even my post, but now I'm scared and excited at the same time to get laser done!

Good luck Madi with your appointment!

[JungianZoe]

  Wow what kind of laser did they use @ zoe?  I had like 7 sessions done and most of my hair was gone, had electro to finish the rest.

I should ask them next time I'm in!  You think I would have by now, but noooo... that'd be too easy.   I'll have an answer to that this coming Thursday.

They've told me that my facial hair has been some of the most stubborn they've ever seen and that average clients need between six to eight sessions.  There are many people here on the forums who, like you, report needing that few treatments, but there are also a handful of us unlucky sods who need nearly two years to get lasting results.

Actually, the dark hairs on my cheeks and neck disappeared within four sessions and have stayed gone, but my lip and chin have been phenomenally stubborn.  Those were also the only places I had any appreciable amount of facial hair (couldn't even grow sideburns, as I had maybe one or two hairs in that region).  I may also be taking longer because the heat doesn't work as efficiently as someone who has all dark hair.  About 25% of the hairs on my lip and chin were white (not even gray, just shock white), another 20% were blonde or red, and the remainder was dark enough for laser.  Started going white at 16 and didn't start laser until 32, so... big problem. lol  And even the hair on top of my head is about 50% brown, 40% red.  What you predominantly see depends on what type of light I'm in.

In other words, it's not like I just had a thick coat of dark hair that laser could hack away at.

[Forever21Chic]

  Omg that sucks zoe lol. Well they used an alexandrite laser on me and from what i've heard it's the most effective laser for hair removal. Also my treatments were spread out every 6 weeks for better results compared to every 2-4 weeks.

[caitlin_adams]

I've had 10 sessions on my face and 2 on the rest of my body.

My experience has been quite positive. The treatment has been quite effective and whilst the pain at the time is quite acute the next day everything is back to normal.

[Kaelleria]

You definitely minimum 6 weeks between treatments. Any fewer than that and you're hitting the same part of the growth cycle. Have they tried upping the wavelength? The higher the wavelength the lighter the hair it will work with... Unfortunately blonde and white are kind of SOL.

[madirocks]

All dark hairs for me and they grow SUPER fast. So I suppose it will take me quite a few sessions for it all to go away. But, I'm definitely glad I'm starting it.

@ Zoe
The clumps you're speaking of I can't conceal with anything. I mean I have foundation, but I think people will notice. Are the clumps like very ugly? I think I may have a difficult time with that since I have very very sensitive skin. Oh and I can't see the photos you posted for some reason.

[JungianZoe]

@ Zoe
The clumps you're speaking of I can't conceal with anything. I mean I have foundation, but I think people will notice. Are the clumps like very ugly? I think I may have a difficult time with that since I have very very sensitive skin. Oh and I can't see the photos you posted for some reason.

Because of this:

Current system outages that you're tracking:
web server    http://www.theforestatnight.com/
     32 mins 20 secs ago: Outage verified: We are actively looking into resolving it.
     39 mins 39 secs ago: Outage first reported.

Grrrr.  Hopefully my website comes back up soon and you can see the pics.  It went down about 2 minutes after I made that earlier post.

I hate to say it, but in my experience, the clumps are VERY ugly and near-impossible to conceal, even with Dermablend (anything less than Dermablend, you can forget about it).  They also raise the skin up so you have visibly bumpy skin at every place there's a hair.  After a few days, shaving will simply shave off the skin that covers the hair clump, leaving a bump and an exposed dark hair clump.  Those are the days I want to crawl into a dark hole and not come out again for a week.

If you get Dermablend and use it on those days, it can help significantly with passing.  You'll just look like you're covering up a severe case of acne.

[madirocks]

Oooooooo, okay.. Yes not very excited about that what's so ever. Nope, not at all. I suppose I'll have to pick some up and just blame the digustingness on bad face wash.

Thanks for the advice!

[SandraJane]

I have an appointment for this Friday and I'm wondering if there's anything I should know and prepare for ahead of time? I remember before reading that some times it leaves a person's face swelling and red. I have five days off, but I don't want to show up to work looking like a tomato. 

Madi here are some simple tips to a less painful and permanent LHR experience;

1) Stop all Retinol products one week/7 days prior to LHR, and wait 3 days afterwards to resume (or whatever the LHR Tech tells
     you).

2) No Suntan at least 10 days prior to LHR! Learn to live in SPF Sunblock or Sunscreen, especially if you live in the Southwest (OK, TX, NM, AZ).

3) The morning of treatment, shave as close as you safely can. I can Shave down stroke twice and upstroke once, not everyone can.
     The reason for this is so the laser energy will penetrate the skin into the hair folice and heat it up destroying the root/bulb
      blood vessels.

3) Clean your face well, but don't use exfoliates the morning of, about 2-3 days prior. You want to clear all the debris from 
     facial hair skin surfaces so they don't absorb the Laser energy, leaving less to penetrate the skin/hair folicle. If you
     have a Clarsonic brush, you can use it the morning of after shaving.

4) Unless IMAJ Institute is doing your LHR, everyone else allows the use of LMX 4% or 5% Anesthetic Cream. Get the 30 GM tube,
     I have been using the 4% Cream, doesn't require a script and you can get it from Amazon.com, etc. I'm enclosing a link on how
     to apply it; http://www.bcm.edu/dermatology/index.cfm?pmid=2334
                       
5) Regardless... its gonna hurt, but  the upper lip area is the worst of it because that area has the most nerves. Also the pain is less
     with thinner vs thicker hairs. Also the amount of energy being use can increase the pain. The Tech's rule of Thumb is to deliver the
     highest amount of energy you can tolerate. You'll be okay, just zap, zap, zap, break 1-2-3, zap, zap, zap, etc.

It takes about 2-4 weeks for the hairs to fall out, some will get stuck and but eventually will fall out. Don't freak if those hair resist
the razor, it will fall out. You can use ice packs afterwards for the pain and swelling, this also varies from Girl to Gurl! Aveeno make a 30 SPF "Ultra Calming" Moisturizer that really helps, but... its hard to find! The 15 SPF version is everywhere, but the Tech may have
samples...TAKE THEM!

The key to successful LHR is preparing your skin prior to treatment, an actual study was done to prove this (I'll find the study or a link and post it someday )

This should help. You won't look like a Tomato!


     

[madirocks]

The first appointment went very well. It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought, and even now it doesn't even feel or look like I had anything done. But, I'm sure it'll change over the next few days. Depending on whether I look awful or not in the next few days, I may ask to have the process brought up a notch.

The drive back was very nice since it's cold and rainy out today, and still caked the lotion on my face. 

[JungianZoe]

Glad to hear it went well, Madi!   (See what I did there?)  One thing I forgot to mention is that some technicians do start out on a lighter setting if it's your first time, in order to gauge your skin's reaction to treatment.  It was a full year before they bumped it up to the setting I got yesterday and last month, though it gradually increased over the year.