Am I allowed to remove hairs with my finger nails a week after treatment?

[Myself]

I am a week (well, about 9-10 days) after my first treatment! I noticed I can just "pluck" hairs easily with my fingers.
It's not scrubbing but kinda like plucking, yet it seems to be out easier than usual.

Or am I not allowed to do anything like plucking at all?
Post Merge: August 23, 2009, 11:07:08 PM
Still no answer about this one!
But mean while, something neat had happened!

In the shower, when using the solid soap types, I noticed after rubbing it over my face that it had some facial hairs on it!
So I kept rubbing it hoping to get more to drop and it worked ^^
Some fell, not a lot, still have a lot more.. but it was fun

[Kay]

I'm not sure whether you're talking about laser treatment...or electrolysis.
.
For electrolysis, I would say that you shouldn't.
If the hair isn't there, the electrologist can't treat it.  So while it may be easy to pluck them, it will slow down and hinder progress toward your end goal of removing the hair completely...because they will grow back eventually, since the root is still there.
That said...I do find that a few days after electro (I've been doing it for a little over a year now), I have to pull a few hairs bits from my face that are being pushed up through the skin (they tend to get stuck and cause issues if I don't ).  These are very short though, and don't have a follicle, so I can't really call it plucking, since they're not rooted to anything.
.
For laser...I have no idea what effect it will have.  Though...because laser appears to work best on darker hair...if you've removed the hair completely I think the result would still probably not be favorable in the long run.
However...if you've just had a treatment, this could be the hairs falling out that have been treated. I've never had laser, so I don't know what you should expect with that.
.
Either way, good luck with the hair removal. 

[Valerie Elizabeth]

I don't see why not.

The laser has either killed the hair, or weakened it sufficiently to fall out.  After I started getting laser treatments, I noticed about a week or so later that the hair was falling out when I dried my face with a towel.  Pulling the hair out with your fingernails would be no different than it getting caught on the towel and coming out.

So, again, I don't see why it would cause a problem.

[Pippa]

Using laser the hair is dead and has not root.  Ths is destroyed by the laser.   I find just massaging my face pushes the dead hair out of the skin and they can be lifted out.

I am about three weeks after my second session and I still have the remains of some dead hairs pushing out of my face.   This is well after the main shedding of hair.  Is this unusual?

[Hannah]

Before the novelty wore off I used to sit in front of the mirror the next day and pluck. It was cool to see the little gnarled and burnt roots. I think they want us to leave it alone though, especially with fingernails, because of the chance for infection which would result in scarring. So maybe use tweezers. You are chancing pulling out a hair that wasn't treated, but what's that really going to cost in the long run, one or two more spot sessions? I say the fun is worth it 

[Valerie Elizabeth]

"Be aware of how laser treatment works. You should notice that for the next 24 hours, the treated hairs will not grow. After that time, they will start to "grow" at about half the former rate until they have been expelled enough to be removed. You can help the "shedding" process with a washcloth in the shower. Some hairs may be loose enough to be grabbed with your fingers, but you can also use tweezers to pull them out. Do not remove hairs that give resistance -- the hairs that are ready to come out will be removed without even feeling it. Resistance means the root still lives, and you'll have to wait for that hair to die in your next treatment. Tweezing it will only slow your overall process."

[Myself]

Thank you Val!
Going to second treatment exactly today too

[Nicky]

I was told not to pluck them after, but I did it anyway. It was way too much fun! Something I found that was not cool though was that some of the burnt hairs just broke leaving a chunk under the skin. These can take some time to come out and tended to get infected. Maybe this is why they recommend not doing it?


I tended to get my treatment on a Sat and by wednesday most of the nuked hairs were pretty loose and came out easily (the upper lip took a few days longer to become loose).

[jesse]

has anyone found laser to be permenant i have yet to find a doc who says it is

[Imadique]

I'm not sure whether you're talking about laser treatment...or electrolysis.
.
For electrolysis, I would say that you shouldn't.
If the hair isn't there, the electrologist can't treat it. 

While this is true it doesn't hurt, my electrologist doesn't mind me doing it at all and there is one bonus of regular plucking being that more of the hairs coming through will be in an active growth cycle, which means you can do more damage to them apparently. (From what I've been told).

[Nicky]

has anyone found laser to be permenant i have yet to find a doc who says it is

The best you will hear is that it is a permanent reduction.

Seems to be permanant on me after I got through all the regrowth cycles (though my upper lip has been stuborn).

[MasterAsh]

has anyone found laser to be permenant i have yet to find a doc who says it is

What Nicky said. . .By FDA standards, no practitioner can proclaim their laser hair removal treatment as "permanent hair removal" due to a lack of substantial data. As the procedure is relatively new (compared to electrolysis existing in one form or other for over a century), it's understandable.

Given feedback from people, it seems rather permanent, with those experiencing little or no permanency perhaps being victim to sub-par or incorrect treatment, i.e. wrong settings.

[Pippa]

I find dead hairs come out easily when using a cooton wool pad to tak off my make up and apply toner.  I tend to pluck white hairs with no pigment as the laser is unlikely to destroy these.   Three sessions in, I have a few small patches of thin dark hairs.  My beautician says that they will need to change the pulse of the laser to get rid of these. I am delighted with the results so far.   

The beautician's opinion is that some touch up sessions may be required in seven or eight years.

[Monique Martinez]

I prefer to pluck a few days after, who wants to be walking around with facial hair when you don't need it!
My technician is more than ok with me plucking and suggests it.
I have my 7th session on tuesday! yay!
S.x

[FlorDeLuna]

What Nicky said. . .By FDA standards, no practitioner can proclaim their laser hair removal treatment as "permanent hair removal" due to a lack of substantial data. As the procedure is relatively new (compared to electrolysis existing in one form or other for over a century), it's understandable.

Given feedback from people, it seems rather permanent, with those experiencing little or no permanency perhaps being victim to sub-par or incorrect treatment, i.e. wrong settings.

- I have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome- and the resulting hormone imbalances have cause hair growth, and I've had laser treatments.
I have found the results to be really quite good, but another reason they can't claim permanance is because hormone shifts at any point could cause your tiny blond peach fuzz to get thicker and darker.
Less of a concern for you ladies than for me.. but still. I'll probably need touch -ups my whole life.

[MasterAsh]

Speaking of which, I had my first treatment last Friday. I experienced no redness, pain, or swelling; only some tension in my face whenever I'd make expressions. I can still feel it, and when idly scratching my face, a hair may come out every now and then, but I'm not so sure my technician was thorough. I guess I won't know for sure for several more days. I have deep roots, so it may take a while for the buggers to finally get loose.

Still, I'm definitely asking for higher settings next time.

[Myself]

I think my operator is using maximum settings on me.
I am not using numbing cream and it doesn't hurt that bad, but my face is red and sells for days later.

The first time I been there she was like "does it hurt?" "no" " does it hurt?" "no".. so I think she just went up and up until the highest......

I had my third session yesterday, I barely had hairs coming to the third, only a few tenths here, few over other places.

hopefully I won't have many if any at all by next time..

[MasterAsh]

It's been two weeks now since my first session, and as I mentioned before, I'll definitely ask for higher settings next time.

Other than on my upper lip, I can see some reduction in hairs, but I never had any moment where I could just wipe them away. I still shaved like normal, so I suppose they just fell out very, very gradually. I do have some mostly bare areas on my cheeks, but not exactly in that "spotty patch" kind of way. All in all, I think my tech was a bit careless and set the power too low.