First Laser Appointment, have a question

[RobynTx]

Ladies, I have my first laser hair removal appointment next week.  When do I stop shaving? It is on a Wednesday morning.  Do I not shave Tuesday or what?  They didn't tell me when I made the appointment.

[JillianC]

I was clean shaven for my laser appointments.  Electrolysis needs 2-3 days growth so they have something to pluck.

[sarah1972]

For Laser you should be clean shaven. Based on my experience it takes up to three days before I can shave again after the Laser but that may be my skin. I have also had appointments where I could share the next day after the treatment.

Electrolysis on the other hand requires not to be shaven (at least in the area to be treated).

Good luck!

[RobynTx]

Thanks you two.  I was hoping they would have told me but the receptionist could only tell me what she knew.

[AnneK]

For Laser you should be clean shaven.

When most of the hair is gone, they may want you to not shave first, so they can see where they need to work.  However, they should tell you about that when needed.

[Roll]

I just went in clean shaven as possible.

[RobynTx]

Thanks ladies.  I called yesterday to confirm and they wanted me clean shaven.  The first appointment went great and lasted about five minutes. 

[jill610]

Yes, you need to be clean shaven and you WILL KNOW, very painfully, if you missed a spot. The hair explodes and it's not pleasant. Smells wonderful too

If this is your first go around with laser, and they are using a good laser, be prepare for it to hurt. A lot. A lot a lot. Before you go, you might want to take some anti inflammatory Like Motrin or similar, and put on hydrocortisone cream as soon as you get in the car. I was red, puffy and in a lot of pain for about three days after my first session. Now after five it's more like a day, but still a few days before shaving is comfortable again. For this reason, I schedule my laser appointments for Friday mornings and work remotely, then by Monday I'm pretty well back to normal. I actually got outed by someone because they recognized the swelling as laser.