Thanks for the encouragement guys. It was mostly just anxiety on my part.
After waiting a little while, I've actually found I got noticeable results after the first treatment (face only).
The areas of thickest hair growth obviously still have considerable visible hair, even while shaving. A little bit better there, but it's not a huge difference. That's to be expected, though.
However, the areas where the hair growth was fairly thin (the beard area, excluding chin and upper lip) look far cleaner. In some of the really thin parts, there's no visible hair at all anymore. I'm actually very pleased with the results now, and I feel like I'm making progress.
And to answer a question in the previous post, GentleMax is just a model name. The Candela GentleMax. As for specific laser types, it includes both an Alexandrite and ND Yag laser, the latter of which is what they use on me (more appropriate for people with darker skin). That particular laser has some nice features. It includes a second nozzle right on the laser head which sprays a constant stream of cold air, so it's chilling the skin slightly both before and after the pulse. I think that helps a lot. In areas that hurt the most (upper lip for me), they can wait a few seconds with just the air on you to numb the area slightly before the pulse. That's what they did for me. It also has adjustable spot size, so for large areas, they can go quickly, and for things like bikini area and face, they can do smaller spots at once to make the pain more tolerable.
I also had my second set of treatments today. I had my hands, most of my arms, underarm, full chest, lower back, and bikini area done. Basically, I did everywhere on the upper body where I have hair growth. I'm doing legs tomorrow.
To give a heads up to others doing it: it was painful when they were doing the thickest parts, but it's really not that bad. I probably have a slightly higher pain tolerance than most, given my lifestyle choices, but I don't think anyone would find it intolerable or excessively painful. And my ethnic background is mixed Persian and East Indian, so we have fairly thick hair and hair growth, for reference.
If you find it really gets to you for whatever reason, the numbing creams do work very well. I would especially suggest them for things like the bikini area or face. If you can, I'd go for the cream they sell at the actual laser place. There are topical over-the-counter versions you can buy, but depending on what's in them, they may not be as effective. I used a cream they sold there, and in the areas where I applied a sufficient amount, I barely felt anything. I could feel the heat of the laser getting at the hair, but I couldn't really feel the pain. It's just a matter of applying the sufficient amount, which comes down to experience using it. They tell you to apply a thin layer only, and you do need fairly little, but don't be too stingy with it.
I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. My body shape is getting more to where I want it to be, and my body hair is starting to become under control. It's a wonderful feeling to be moving in the right direction.
