The start of Laser?

[TheBattler]

Well it had to start sooner or later so it might as well start now.

I have an appointment on the 29th May to start laser. I have chosen the laser skin clinic (http://www.laserskinclinic.com.au/index.html) who have said they will use a laser (not IPL) on me using the Candela "Gentlelase" system (see http://www.candelalaser.com/products/index.cfm?task=gentlelase).

It seams that with me having dark hair it would be better to have laser first and then electro for the hair that do not die. I will have 5 treatment @ $200 each and then work out where I go from there (hopfully the hard work would be done after that.

Any advice, thoughts for me?

Alice

[Kate]

Any advice, thoughts for me?

Congratulations Alice!

Advice? Well... hmmm...

Ice was my friend after my sessions, lol. I'd rush home and lay bags of crushed ice on my face, which seemed to help the "sunburn" feeling subside quickly.

I kept a towel and bottle of Aloe in my car, so before I left for home I could slather on the Aloe (soothing) and GENTLY towel off the burnt hairs a bit.

I pointed the A/C vents in my car at my face and ran it full blast during the drives home. It helped a lot.

The more hairs you have, the more it hurts. So the first few sessions are the worst, but it DOES get easier as you go.

Oh, and keep in mind that once you start, you're pretty much committed to finishing it, as the laser tends to remove the hair in a "swiss cheese" kinda pattern... or at least mine did. I looked kinda weird between those first few sessions, lol.

~Kate~

[Ms Jessica]

Great advice, Kate!
I'm doing my first consults over the next couple weeks.  I'm so excited, I can't hardly wait! 

I have a few questions to add:
Has anyone done laser for things other than facial hair?  What about chest, back, bikini, and ummm, down there?  Can you do laser on sensitive parts?  Do you just ask them to knock you out first?    That last was more of a joke, I'm only half serious. 

[Janet_Girl]

Had my first treatment yesterday and OHMYGOD was that a painful experience.  But when it was over I had no swelling, redness, or pain.  This morning nothing .  My beautician  knows of my transition and she is looking forward to our journey.

She uses NCPL, I have not read up on it yet, but so far so good.

Love
Janet

[Ms Jessica]

Had my first treatment yesterday and OHMYGOD was that a painful experience.  But when it was over I had no swelling, redness, or pain.  This morning nothing .  My beautician  knows of my transition and she is looking forward to our journey.

She uses NCPL, I have not read up on it yet, but so far so good.

Love
Janet

Well, you'll have to keep us posted on progress!  I'm sure the info will be useful to others that want to start laser. 

[MeghanAndrews]

Hey Alice,
A few things to keep in mind, knowing where you are coming from and the experiences you have had with transition:

1) When they start and you are thinking "OMFG!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW PAINFUL THIS IS!!" just remember that this has a purpose. You have been moving down a path that you have been considering and that you are comfortable with. It's going to hurt, a lot, but it's quick, no longer than probably 1/2 hour. Grin and bear it. Get through it.

2) Kate was right, swiss cheese hair! You will probably have big patches of missing hair and some hairs that don't leave. Just get through it.

3) Don't plan on being able to shave for the first 10 days and actually REMOVE hair. Your hairs are like steel wires after laser and they do NOT react to being cut. If at all possible, try not to shave them for a few days, then shave them.

4) Don't get frustrated because the hair isn't falling out. Mine didn't even start falling out until the 7th or 8th day.

5) Lots of ice, aloe, tea tree lotion, etc. The sooner after laser the better, take ice with you. Try to schedule your appt for mid afternoon Friday so you have Sat and Sunday to heal. It will look like a sunburn.

6) I told people "I'm having some laser work to get rid of ingrown hairs" that didn't know what was going on, it worked. People don't really dig too deep into it really.

Good luck I'm sure you'll enjoy the follow up electrolysis on any white hairs Meghan

[Janet_Girl]

Hey Group,

Shave this morning and low and behold Kate is right. I already see bare patches on the upper lip.  .

Meghan is also right about the pain, but as my beautician said ' Beauty is all, Pain is nothing".

But remember Alice, it is all of you and your life as a woman.

Love, Janet

[LynnER]

The only thing I can think of....

Get a good strong <yet light weight> sunscreen.... if they don't apply sunscreen to you immediately after the session, do it yourself. this does help...

the less tan your face is the better... Everything else is pretty much covered I think...

Shave gently the day after your laser sessions...  and yeah...

(PS) it really doesn't hurt all that much...

[TheBattler]

Arr, all the fun I am about to have.

Thanks for the advice everyone,

I have laser on the thursday nite. May work from home on the Friday. I just hope it does not effect my ride on the Saturday. My ridding is keeping me sane.

Alice

[LynnER]

It shouldn't unless your overly sensitive to the laser...

Really, you should even be able to go to work afterwards, and ride and all that.... at worst you'll appear to be red <sunburned>

[Maddie Secutura]

I'm actually going to have my first laser appointment on the 14th.  They're using an alexandrite laser and told me that 95% of the people find the laser feels like an annoying rubber band flick sensation.  I'll tell you all about it afterwards!

[Wendy C]

Hi Alice, I just completed my fifth and last IPL laser session this last Saturday. Fortunately they offered a EMLA type concoction for numbing that was applied an hour before and washed off just prior to the zapping. The experience to me was akin to being splattered with hot bacon grease except the pain diminished as fast as it came. All in all I thought it was tolerable and only had a couple tears in the five sessions. I place my success rate at about 90% and probably could have went for another session for my upper lip which has been troublesome and I add that they said it could be. Total cost was just over $1000.00 for the five treatments and the numbing creme. I had very little redness ater the sessions.

On the last session I got hit several times on my upper cheeks that the creme had not covered and let me tell you, dang did that hurt.  Oh and do use a good sunscreen after the sessions.

I now am getting ready to embark on my next venture of electrology for the white hairs which the laser does not take care of and in my case are more abundant that the black hairs were. I just wish the laser would take care of it all. So if anyone cares to touch on that subject also, thanks.

Hugs and good luck with the laser.

Wendy

[rozenmaiden]

hi alice,

i,too, am planning to get it done.
not really looking forward to the
pain though. but as others had
mentioned, no pain, no gain 

please let us know how it comes
along! 

[Maddie Secutura]

Well I just got back from my first laser appointment.  It wasn't terrible but it wasn't a picnic either.  The sensation ranged from slightly annoying to downright painful depending on where it was being administered.  The denser the hair, the more intense it was.  But there is hope!  I found that putting ice my face before the laser hit made it bearable.  I had to numb my upper  lip until I couldn't feel it and it didn't hurt at all.  Right now my face is still red but it should go away.

[Ms Jessica]

I had a consult yesterday.  I got a couple test patches done, one on the leg which didn't hurt much at all.  It mostly just tingled.  It wasn't much different than shaving my legs, to be honest. 
The other tests were on my face.  The sides of my face, like where sideburns can grow in if you let them.  Holy S$%#! did that hurt!  It felt like electrified tweezers ripping out 8 hairs at a time.  It was about as painful as a tattoo, if you've ever had one in a painful spot.  I'm not looking forward to getting my upper lip done.    Even with the topical anesthetic it hurt.  Meghan is right though-- the whole process is accomplishing something.  The pain is only temporary. 
When the whole thing was over, the pain actually wasn't that bad.  I put a little aloe on it, and went back to work.  The skin was a little tender, so I put a little ice on it when I got back to work.  It was only red for a few hours, and didn't swell up at all.  It was pretty much back to normal by the time I went to bed last night.  I could actually see where the laser had been working, because none of the hair had grown over the course of the day, so I had a little stubble in the areas nearby, and just shadow where the laser had been. 
The laser-zapped hair is definitely tough.  Shaving this morning was pretty fun because I had to work around them.  I felt the blade catch on a few of those laser-zapped hairs, so I'd sort of back the razor up-- I just knew I was going to tear my face to shreds if I tried to shave through that.   

[Maddie Secutura]

So I have quite a few red hairs that I don't know if they'll go away or not.  They appear dark enough but when the light shines on them they look like a red-blond.  I imagine since the laser hurt really bad when it hit a patch of them that they were affected.
Does anyone know if colorless or light hairs still hurt?

[Ms Jessica]

So I have quite a few red hairs that I don't know if they'll go away or not.  They appear dark enough but when the light shines on them they look like a red-blond.  I imagine since the laser hurt really bad when it hit a patch of them that they were affected.
Does anyone know if colorless or light hairs still hurt?

The laser targets pigment in the hairs.  I imagine that they would hurt assuming that you're being cleared with a laser that is capable of distinguishing the difference between light skin and light hairs.  It would really depend on the type of laser being used.

[Lori]

So does it get less painful as time goes on???

I'm trying to time my first one around a vacation lol.

[Kate]

So does it get less painful as time goes on???

Yes, in my experience each session hurt less than the previous one. By the last few sessions I hardly felt anything at all in the cleared areas, and just slight stings in the remaining (and sparse) areas with hairs.

As opposed to the flaming 5' rubber band THWACKS of the earliest sessions, lol...

Less/lighter hair = less heat and energy being absorbed = less pain.

~Kate~

[KarenLyn]

Great advice, Kate!
I'm doing my first consults over the next couple weeks.  I'm so excited, I can't hardly wait! 

I have a few questions to add:
Has anyone done laser for things other than facial hair?  What about chest, back, bikini, and ummm, down there?  Can you do laser on sensitive parts?  Do you just ask them to knock you out first?    That last was more of a joke, I'm only half serious. 

I've had my bikini line done and started the genitals. The bikini line was easy. Waxing hurts more. The genitals? Ow. Even with oral and topical pain meds I couldn't finish that part. The skin is darker down there and is affected by the laser more. YMMV

Karen Lyn