Does anyone know if permanent hair reduction method, such as IPL or laser, can be done first, to permanently reduce hair and leave less for electrolysis to have to go through? Would this even be useful or would it take just about as long anyway?
None of the lasers are permanent.... Electrolysis is the only permanet hair method. Laser will give a fast clearing and slow regrowth down but in tiime they will come back.
What i did for my face was have a professional service, it cleared my face in about 3 month at 1 hr. session every other week.. Then i had electrolysis done as there was regrowth and the light hairs that where not effected by the laser.
Izzy
Izzy - I always wonder how exactly this was looked at with the acclaimed non permanence of laster treatment. After what time should the hair come back? I did laster treatment of the lower facial hair (used electo for the eyebrows though) several times as I did neither have the money nor the stamina to go through electrolysis back then.
My experience was that while the method is fast, there is regrowth during treatment, esp in areas that have tough hair and some hair just wont die at all. But there is some regrowth during treatment with electro as well (life cycle of the hair). So usually some weeks after each session I had to shave a bit, but there was no "shadow" after shaving anymore as there was only few and thin hairs coming. Eventually most hair stopped. I have not had lasered my upper lip for 5 years or so now and there is about 3 long hair left that I can pull. Same goes for the cheeks and the neck. I have some rather ugly spots at the chin though that resisted laser treatment despite having done it several times during those 5 years. I laser them, its fine for some weeks, then I have to shave again. I think these spots are not dense anymore though, so I can hopefully electro them (plus whatever comes back in the other areas).
So overall it seems to work with lasering first and then electro and to me this seems to also reduce the time spent with electro vastly (also the cost of it). I took several years for this though as I was short on money and did not even have the money for more regular laser sessions, so I think it can be done a lot faster. I cannot prove that the hairs on the lip or cheeks will not come back eventually - 5 years is just 5 years. If they do I have to electro them. So if anyone has experience with hairs going dormant for many years like that and coming back (Izzy???) I would be glad to hear.
A sidenote: i was not very hairy and the ones that were there were dark black with me having light skin. This is considered very good for laser treatment.
But now what really sucks - I need to get rid of that patch that laser did not manage to kill and the electrologist wants me to let the hair grow to 3mm for that, which I absolutely cannot do during weekdays, so I am a bit in a predicament now. Either get a Monday appointment (like probably 95% of all the customers want) or I have to do this during the next vacation. At least the initial treatments after which it is thinned enough so i can at least pretend to myself that people will think of it as a "womans beard" that some women get with age or other issues. But even that will not be nice. So i guess the only regret I had about my way is that I did not push this faster by getting enough money somewhere as during transition one is just still more used to looking ->-bleeped-<-ty occasionally and get a look or two. Not that that is any more pleasant of course...
My own understanding is that laser is billed as permanent reduction because it can't guarantee killing off all of the hairs - but the ones it does kill, stay dead. It can look like places were able to regrow "killed" hairs b/c some spots have lots of hair follicles and the growth cycle is pretty long, but in reality laser is as effective at killing a given hair root as electrolysis. The catch is that, unlike electrolysis, it's not as precisely targeted so not all hair follicles will be hit. Basically, it's a question of whether the "survivors" left are enough to cause problems.
In any event, the suggested plan is exactly the one I chose for myself, and I got lucky. 6 sessions of laser and 2-3 touch-ups and 99% of my facial hair was gone and I haven't needed any electrolysis so far after all. (It's been about five years, too, and no regrowth yet. I did have maybe a dozen hairs that survived the initial laser, and it just hasn't been worth it to me to seek out electrolysis and deal with the hassle and expense when plucking them once a month works fine.)
I actually did crunch the numbers and decided that at the price I paid, it was also likely to be cheaper to go back for more laser every 5-10 years for the rest of my life than to pay for electrolysis of my whole face. So far, so good.
http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/SurgicalandTherapeutic/ucm142607.htm
"Several manufacturers received FDA permission to claim, "permanent reduction," NOT "permanent removal" for their lasers. This means that although laser treatments with these devices will permanently reduce the total number of body hairs, they will not result in a permanent removal of all hair. The specific claim granted is "intended to effect stable, long-term, or permanent reduction" through selective targeting of melanin in hair follicles. Permanent hair reduction is defined as the long-term, stable reduction in the number of hairs re-growing after a treatment regime, which may include several sessions. The number of hairs regrowing must be stable over time greater than the duration of the complete growth cycle of hair follicles, which varies from four to twelve months according to body location. Permanent hair reduction does not necessarily imply the elimination of all hairs in the treatment area."
Thanks Jenna, this matches my experience. Laser was about 95% effective for me, the 5% left for some reason I will electro now, as I think it probably is cheaper and more effective - I hope to not need more than 10 sessions maybe and i dont know how many with laser, given that they survived all the previous treatments. That was my original plan anyways.
I only wonder why insurance does not yet cover laser here. They only cover electrolysis because "it is the only proven method" but no doctor will perform such an extensive work and insurance does not pay for cosmeticians who do that without a medical grade. I think they just want people to pay for it themselves :(
That was my understanding of laser as well, that it permanently kills hairs, but isn't approved to make claims to remove all hair.
So it seems that a few sessions of laser followed by electrolysis might be a viable option?
Would that cut down on the 1 to 4 years I've read about needing to do to remove every hair via electrolysis alone ?
Well, it certainly was a viable option for me, and it only took me about six months to do the majority of hair removal (I got free touch-ups for a year, so I did go back a couple times for those, because why not). :)
I had the cool glide laser done at a professional shop. It keeped my face hair cleared for about 2 years and then it slowly started to come back here and there.
I have not a problem using it to get the first main clearing of anything, i just want everyone to keep in mind electrolysis is the only thing that will keep the hair dead.
Izzy
By the time you figure the 2000-3000 commitment for six to eight sessions of laser (that's how they sell it usually) that money could be used for a big dent in permanent electrolysis. A good tech can do a surprising amount of work in a period of time.
2-3k?? I bought 6 sessions through Groupon.com and my beard is almost gone after 5 treatments and I paid $249 for a package of 6!
I did the same thing on Groupon... about $250 or so for 6 sessions. My first session starts soon, but during the consult she said it will take 1-2 years to complete it, so 6 sessions will definitely not be enough!
Was your facial hair light in thickness? Mine is not... but I am in the ideal (dark hair, medium light skin).
Laser got a lot cheaper the last years. I paid something like 800 for one session in 1999. Now it is down to about 150, 80 if its only partial. Ok thats expensive German prices of course, the US is cheaper.
A local dermatologist charges 200 per session or 900 for 6 for male face laser hair removal. The nearest groupon deal I can find is about 4 hours away. Is 900 for 6 worth it?
Quote from: kabit on September 19, 2013, 04:47:19 AM
I did the same thing on Groupon... about $250 or so for 6 sessions. My first session starts soon, but during the consult she said it will take 1-2 years to complete it, so 6 sessions will definitely not be enough!
Was your facial hair light in thickness? Mine is not... but I am in the ideal (dark hair, medium light skin).
i have a little bit of a tan and dark hair. This pic is about two and a half years ago about three months into HRT
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1226.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee413%2FStacyBeaumont%2F2011-09-14_20-23-48_700.jpg&hash=92a76102a3d8a2639842ba4420d2d75a0b261c3a) (http://s1226.photobucket.com/user/StacyBeaumont/media/2011-09-14_20-23-48_700.jpg.html)
I had laser first, then electrolysis to clean up the rest. My facial hair was multicolored, and the laser couldn't do everything. For me, the laser was cheaper, faster, and less painful than electrolysis.
- Kate
Quote from: JessicaH on September 19, 2013, 04:07:16 PM
i have a little bit of a tan and dark hair. This pic is about two and a half years ago about three months into HRT
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1226.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee413%2FStacyBeaumont%2F2011-09-14_20-23-48_700.jpg&hash=92a76102a3d8a2639842ba4420d2d75a0b261c3a) (http://s1226.photobucket.com/user/StacyBeaumont/media/2011-09-14_20-23-48_700.jpg.html)
Same color, but my hair is
much more dense.
I already know some electrolysis is in my future... laser won't touch what's going gray :-(