Quote from: Tristan on July 17, 2015, 11:05:54 AM
I've signed up for 12 full body treatments of laser, and I had my first session last night. I think she said it was a Diode laser? Anyways, took about 50 minutes to do my entire body from face to hands to toes and everything in between.
I barely felt anything except warmth. There were 2 or 3 zaps out of a hundred that felt a bit of a prick maybe, but that was it. Then again, she could have had the intensity turned down too low. I've heard they do that early on. I'm gonna try to get her to turn it up much higher next time since I literally felt virtually nothing and had no soreness, redness, irritation, or even pinking of the skin afterward, not that I noticed anyways.
Electro is time consuming and expensive, but 100% effective.
Sounds like they had it turned down a little too low. Diode laser is the older style variant; less effective than Alexandrite but it works on lighter coloured hair.
I've had the Alexandrite laser used on my face twice. It hurts
. The best way to describe the feeling is like being repeatedly splashed with spits of oil from a hot frying pan. However the pain has been totally worth it. After two sessions I don't have to shave at all when presenting as male. I do to be my real self, but it takes five minutes instead of half an hour.
I've got another four to come and should be completely hair free by the time it's finished. I've also experienced no regrowth in the areas treated - strangely.
The thing is that - if they're using correct settings - it should cause you a reasonable amount of pain. The reason is that the hairs act like tiny wires - they conduct the laser energy into the follicle where it can act to destroy what's there. If it doesn't hurt then it's likely that insufficient energy is being transmitted into the skin.
From start to finish it takes 45 minutes to do my face; although it can take a bit longer with time for a chat, cups of tea and filling out paperwork!!!
I've never actually had a full beard; it would be described as poor development of facial hair along the jawline, chin and upper lip. I barely had anything on my cheeks for example. As such, I've found the treatment to be effective.
After it's over I put a pure Aloe cooling gel on my skin and feel fine maybe half an hour or so later. The worst bit is that I'm left with red patches where the follicles have been burnt. It kind of looked like someone had drawn a 1970's detective moustache and sideburns on my face with a red felt tip lol!!!
Although that faded quickly.
The most important thing is to wear factor 50 sunblock at all times! This stops melanin formation in the skin and increases the efficiency of the laser. Although heavy make-up works just as well.
As a final note the laser should be burning hair! You should leave the clinic smelling like you've had an accident with a cigarette lighter and feeling awful. But you'll also be elated by the fact that, after treatment, they give you a cotton pad to clean up and hair starts falling out immediately.
My technician did say to me that she's on the enthusiastic side when it comes to cranking up the power on the machine. This seems to be true!
I don't normally get so emotional about a service offering, but laser has been life changing for me. No more wasted hours every morning scraping my skin to pieces with a razor. No more trawling the supermarket aisles in search of the 'Macho Master Five Thousand' six blade cartridge razor and associated preparations and 'proper bloke' after shave balm. My skin is smoother. Dark patches are reducing and the pores that once held hair follicles are closing up. I look younger! Make up sits better on my skin and I no longer have to use concealers and fakery to the same extent. After all, what's the point in covering something that isn't there.
In sum: it hurts, but it's so worth it.
Missy xx
