So laser doesn't "remove hair?"

[Damara]

I saw a laser specialist recently and she was super awesome.. it was just a consultation.. sometime soon I'll be having my first session! But she said something that confused me.. she said that the laser doesn't remove the hair, that it just draws the pigment out and turns the terminal hair into vellus hair.. that's fine I guess but what's all this talk about shedding periods and such if hair isn't "removed?" I may just be tired at the moment.. makes my brain weirder than usual..

[marsh monster]

From what I understand, the heat from the laser light on the dark hair will damage the follicle causing it to shed its current hair and after so many treatments, some follicles will give up and not produce hair anymore. It is really hair reduction, not as effective as electrolysis, but does help to speed things up as some hair follicles are damaged enough not to produce hair anymore. So many do use it as a first step to speed up getting rid of a shadow.

[ainsley]

I have done several lasing sessions, and my hair either melts or gets blown out of the pour.  When I went to my first session, the Dr. was showing me and my wife with the magnifying mirror how the zap would literally displace the hair out and it was laying on my face.  Now that it is not as dense, it just melts and looks like a shadow for a week as my skin pushes it out.  Then there is nothing in its place.  Not even vellus hair.  That has been my experience, at least.

[mmmmm]

Laser have effect on dark hair. Most of that dark hair roots will get destroyed for good, some will eventually grow a hair again, which will be likely thinner and lighter in color. Few hair will get destroyed even on starting low settings, some other will need the strongest setting. It will take between 10-20 treatments to get rid of almost everything (depends on how much you have)
Laser will burn most of dark hair, but more than 90% will not be affected, and root will not be destroyed. All this hair will fall out (you can help it with twezzers) and most of it will grow back in couple weeks, some will grow back in 2-3 months... but 5-10% will not grow again anytime some (it might after some years)...

[ainsley]

My Dr. said that for every zap of the laser only about 20% are destroyed.  So, if you had a dense area and the laser affected 1 square inch at a time, for instance, then you would have to come back and treat the remaining .8 square inch, then 80% of that would remain, etc.  That is why it takes so many sessions.

1.00
∑
i = .2

Something like that?? LOL  I have slept since I took calculus, so pardon my math interpretation. ha!  Or is it a sequence or a limit?  Ugh, math....

[Damara]

Thank you, ladies! It sounds like whatever happens is preferable to not doing anything! lol! I think I'll have good results as I'm very fair with dark hair.. plus it's not the densest hair ever.. dense enough but could be worse!   

[2cherry]

I have mixed results with both laser and electro. Not one method removed every hair in 1 session. Think 1 year of growth cycles.

I don't know, there is so much strange information...

For instance, I know that a beard hair can grow for 6 years! that means that for 6 years a certain amount is always in a growing phase. Which also means that some hairs can pop up after 6 years. And this is what I am facing now. I started somewhere in the 3rd year of growth, I had 3 years of removal, and now at the end I get new regrowth in other areas.

Laser? You would think that blond hairs work like fiberglass, tunneling light and heat. But it seems that black absorbs heat. Who knows, so much strange info out there... I don't know, I come to think that no method is best.

Removing the dermal papilla is not enough. When a hair dies, another stem cell is dropped in it's place. That sack of stem cells need to be destroyed. And it is located at the side of a hair shaft. So that means: heat or chemical reaction to destroy it.

[Jean24]

The thing is that it doesn't remove all hair the first time. I tried it before starting hormones and would not recommend it based on my results. It grew back fast and full. Now that I'm on E I'm having better results. If you're light skinned (or have little to no sun exposure to an area) and have dark hair it will wipe most of it out quickly. My chest is almost perfect after 2 treatments. My facial hair is really thinning and is getting much lighter after a few treatments. My plan is the wipe the bulk of it out with the laser and get electro for the stragglers.

[natashaX]

The hard truth of laser on male facial hair
The roots are deep and laser cant penetrate enough
And they will turn white from the follicle not being killed
But damaged enoufh they stop making pigment

[Lady Smith]

I had electro done on my face and while it hurt and my face looked really raw after a session all my facial hair was dead after 6 months.  If I had to choose again I'd still go for electro.

[Tiffanie]

Laser has cleared my dark facial hair very well.  The light hair need electrolysis.

My laser tech was very honest and thorough (I did a lot of research before going).  She told me up front that the percentage of dark hairs that grow back varies due to several factors ... but if they start to grow back I can get them zapped with electrolysis.

For body hair, I used a Tria home laser on my legs and arms and that did pretty good.  I had one treatment done on my chest when shaving my baby cleavage was more difficult ... that was an experience!!  Hormones have pretty much ridded me of the rest of my body hair.