How long does the hair have to be for the laser to work or does it matter?

danielle

Quote from: danielleca on February 07, 2009, 07:14:04 PM
How long does the hair have to be for the laser to work or does it matter?

danielle

it doesn't matter for laser, just not a good idea to shave right before or right after if possible. but it does matter for electrolysis - both to locate the follicle and to remove the hair.

Thank you very much

you're very welcome 🙂

Quote from: Krissy_Australia on December 08, 2008, 08:43:10 PM
I also use Emla to de sensitise as well.

Do you use the over the counter or prescription variety? How well does it work for you?

My laser center just lost the nurse practicioner they had on staff, so no more yummy vicodins for me, and that's really to bad because with enough I barely noticed what was going on. I once went in for a session with no drugs in or on me, thinking that I wanted to experience it at least once in all it's glory. Well I did and once was enough. I know my doctor is going to cringe at giving me vicodin just for comfort, but lidocaine creame might not be as hard to get out of her. Do you like it?

~Hannah

Hi Hannah

I use the over the counter stuff. To be honest I dont think it really eases the pain that much but allows you to increase the intensity of the laser up to your pain threshhold. During my session Im always intereracting, couldnt feel that (up goes the laser), ouch (down goes the laser)

The Dr. that does my Laser and i usually talk about things during the session, she knows I'm transitioning and we about what's new with me and general chit chat, it helps pass the time and i don't think about the pain. Wednesday was my third session and it hurt worse than the first two, after she said she did turn the settings up to get the finer and lighter hairs.

Paula.

 

I dont claim to be clairvoyant... but I have this sinking feeling that the above icons probably pose a good visual.

This is the part of transition that I least look forward too.

And to think its on an ongoing basis.

Ouch... ouch... ouchieeeeeeeee.

For the pursuit of passing though... no pain no gain.

Michelle.

Quote from: Kara Lee on October 24, 2008, 08:47:33 PM
and OMG.... I can't believe I paid someone to torture me.  😮
She said with my dark hair and light skin that I will have great results when this is all done but....  But with my dark hair and light skin the laser will be able to get a LOT of its energy in and it will feel 2-3 times more painful than usual.  I really believe her because my eyes were tearing up badly and my whole body was shaking with the constant pain.  When it was done I just lay there with a cold washcloth holding it on my face while it took about 5 minutes for my body to stop shaking.  I couldn't even open my eyes for a couple minutes until I relaxed some.  I had read in various places that it feels like a rubber band snap, but that wasn't the case with me.  YEOW! really doesn't cover the situation adequately.


And I know I am off my rocker (in a good way) because when I had recovered I was sitting there with a smile on my face, paid her, scheduled another appointment and talked about the timing of other appointments. 

I just went through all of this on Friday. And it was absolutely horrible, just like you said. Rubber band snap? Yeah, right. It's much worse than that. I had to make them stop twice because I thought I was going to fall apart.

My arms went numb from squeezing stress balls, and my legs were wobbly from tensing up (and I had also twisted my feet together, which probably made things worse). I'm paler than most because I almost never go outside anymore, and my hair is so unusually thick that they were actually shocked when they saw it.

Now my face feels like it's a porcupine, these steel-like post-laser whiskers are made of FAILURE.

Quote from: luna on March 16, 2009, 07:11:40 PM
steel-like post-laser whiskers are made of FAILURE.

aww sweety, I'm sorry it hurt so much. It gets better, stick with it. If they did it right (and it sounds like they did) in a few days you'll be able to slip those thick little hairs right out and maybe even look at the burnt roots. I know they say not to mess with it, but really who hasnt  Ask your doctor for some vicodins, one dose should only cost like $6...get the biggest dose you can take and not die, they help a lot.

ok, so I had my 3rd sessino today, and it was BY FAR the most painful!!!

I guess it was a different laser this time, she told me the name but right after that I was zapped by countless mega volts and seemed to have forget. but it seems MUCH hotter and more focused. I think this one uses RF (or maybe the last one used RF, i don't know).

she said for sure that this will cause me follicli-itis or something. and that it was a good thing and she could already tell that i would have good results. but OMG!!! PAIN!

anyways, not to scare anyone, i'm very happy with the pain so far 🙂

Quote from: eliza beth on March 20, 2009, 06:13:36 PM
ok, so I had my 3rd sessino today, and it was BY FAR the most painful!!!

I guess it was a different laser this time, she told me the name but right after that I was zapped by countless mega volts and seemed to have forget. but it seems MUCH hotter and more focused. I think this one uses RF (or maybe the last one used RF, i don't know).

she said for sure that this will cause me follicli-itis or something. and that it was a good thing and she could already tell that i would have good results. but OMG!!! PAIN!

anyways, not to scare anyone, i'm very happy with the pain so far

My results aren't showing at all yet, so I'm nervous about going back in 4 weeks. 🙁 Granted I wasn't expecting it to show yet, it was just hopeful optimism.

Quote from: luna on March 20, 2009, 06:47:39 PM
My results aren't showing at all yet, so I'm nervous about going back in 4 weeks. 🙁 Granted I wasn't expecting it to show yet, it was just hopeful optimism.

the first time I went I didn't notice any results for at least a full week to 10 days. i didn't notice it until I went to  shave one day, and it only took half the time. then I inspected closer and noticed patches that were clear.

the second time was a little more gradual, couldn't put my finger on when it happened, but there was improvement.

if you are going to see anything after your first session, it should be right around now. stick with it for at least a few sessions and I'm sure you'll see improvement.

also, your technician will adjust the laser for the next time too based on your first session's results. so if you don't see anything, tell her to crank it up!

Quote from: eliza beth on March 20, 2009, 07:27:10 PM
the first time I went I didn't notice any results for at least a full week to 10 days. i didn't notice it until I went to  shave one day, and it only took half the time. then I inspected closer and noticed patches that were clear.

the second time was a little more gradual, couldn't put my finger on when it happened, but there was improvement.

if you are going to see anything after your first session, it should be right around now. stick with it for at least a few sessions and I'm sure you'll see improvement.

also, your technician will adjust the laser for the next time too based on your first session's results. so if you don't see anything, tell her to crank it up!

I've already grown and shaved twice as I normally would, and tomorrow will be 3 times. I'm not giving up by any stretch of the imagination, but to say I'm not disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a single solitary spot looking different at all would be a lie. I'm trying to keep my optimism up, as this is really my first tangible physical step. Thinking that it won't work would be quite a blow to my emotional state right now.

has it been 1 week since your session or 2?
if it's been only 1 week, you are just getting in the window where you will notice. if it's 2 weeks you are just passed the point where you should notice (and still may).

if it's been longer than that, i'd say to see how the second session goes.

you might know this already, but your hair grown in 3 stages. and the laser is only affective in the growth stage. that's why it takes several sessions to get most of the lil buggers. is your facial hair pretty dense? perhaps you just didn't notice the first time becuase new growing hairs took the place of the freshly zapped ones.

stay positive, i'm sure you'll get results 🙂

just one week... and yeah, I know about stages, and my hair isn't just dense, it's thick too. Hair is my curse (and blessing, I have beautiful hair on my head).

talk to me on monday, I bet you may be singing a different tune by then 🙂

hair is a curse/blessing so much! i'm grateful that I don't have much body hair, but the hair on my head is so thin! not really thinning, just thin in general. i think I'd rather have a thick head of hair and deal with the body hair than to have no body hair and thin hair, but it's a tough decision, LOL.

^ Yeah Eliza.  😮

Quote from: eliza beth on March 20, 2009, 08:09:20 PM
talk to me on monday, I bet you may be singing a different tune by then 🙂

hair is a curse/blessing so much! i'm grateful that I don't have much body hair, but the hair on my head is so thin! not really thinning, just thin in general. i think I'd rather have a thick head of hair and deal with the body hair than to have no body hair and thin hair, but it's a tough decision, LOL.

The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence, you know? I like to say I'd rather have universal alopecia, not have to worry about facial/body hair and wear wigs than go through this, but that's just my cowardly side showing itself. It's really not all that terrible, it just hurts a lot.

Quote from: Tanya1 on March 20, 2009, 08:11:33 PM
^ Yeah Eliza. 

Quote from: luna on March 20, 2009, 08:15:44 PM
The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence, you know? I like to say I'd rather have universal alopecia, not have to worry about facial/body hair and wear wigs than go through this, but that's just my cowardly side showing itself. It's really not all that terrible, it just hurts a lot.

OMG, so true!