5 days is still a little too early to see results, I say more like 10 days is average. keep hanging in there, it's worth it!

I never really stopped shaving at all other than the day of treatment and maybe the day after but that was only becuase my face was still sensitive.

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Post Merge: April 05, 2009, 03:59:43 PM

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Quote from: FairyGirl on April 05, 2009, 03:13:44 PM
thank you Kate.  I just looked at the wiki:

"Instead of following an arbitrary schedule, you should wait until you have experienced shedding of the treated hairs, which should complete within 2-3.5 weeks, and see enough hair come in after the hair-free period to have another treatment."

so yeah, I guess 5 days is a bit early yet... 

the 2-3.5 weeks is refering to the cycle of hair growth, laser is only affective during the active growth cycle and that's why scheduling sessions at 4 week increments is good at catching the hair in that active growth cycle. the results from laser is usually within 7 days - 2 weeks.

thank you so much. I really appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge and experience.   I think I'd be a nervous wreck otherwise lol

*hugs*

we've all gotta help each other through this. I'm glad to help.

I had my 2nd session on Friday.

My anxiety has been going through the roof lately, and I had a full-on panic attack in the middle of the session, but I didn't stop it either. The pain was still terrible, but it was less so in several places.

I bit the bullet and told everyone relevant what was going on and why I've been so skittish lately. Anxiety + torture = ball of nerves. My dad's pissed that I'm not just giving him and mom more money, but my sister chewed him out (over the phone, from Canada) so maybe things'll get better.

I'm still a wreck, though.

Quote from: luna on April 19, 2009, 12:15:16 PM

I had my 2nd session on Friday.

...I'm still a wreck, though.

Focus on the end goal... After the THIRD session (in my experience), things DO become noticeably easier/less painful!!!

Just hang in there Luna! Every session is just a little closer to being hairless!

It's not like I'm gonna up and quit.

I'm very much looking forward to the next time I'm able to shave to see how it looks. I'm sure that's still a few days away.

Thank you for the support.

Not sure if it's better to bump this or to start new but there's a lot of good info here.

Even though I have no spare funds right now i was wondering this, because of my chronically low income situation:

If a person can afford one treatment and then it might be months before they can afford another, is it still good to go ahead and have that one or do you lose whatever you gained if you don't have another within a month or two?

I'm assuming the results are permanent for the hair which is affected, but I might be wrong?

Quote from: Laura Hope on June 01, 2009, 12:44:47 PM
Not sure if it's better to bump this or to start new but there's a lot of good info here.

Even though I have no spare funds right now i was wondering this, because of my chronically low income situation:

If a person can afford one treatment and then it might be months before they can afford another, is it still good to go ahead and have that one or do you lose whatever you gained if you don't have another within a month or two?

I'm assuming the results are permanent for the hair which is affected, but I might be wrong?

I might be wrong but, the point is to kill hairs that are actively growing.  You come back in frequency of time to kil the next active batch.   If you wait too long, the hair that is currently still alive will deviate in its growth cycle so that at some point after your initial treatment you will have actively growing hair at all points in time.   So you have to start the whole series over... meaning the cost is more money.

Daisy

daisy is correct, laura. there wouldn't be any harm, but you may need a couple/few extra sessions when it's all said and done.

Conversely, if they get the timing incorrect (as they did with me) you may be paying for a session you shouldn't have anyhow.

My second session did absolutely nothing for me, but the third was progressive. Despite their apologies towards the second, they didn't offer any refunds.

Has anyone experienced facial hair growing back after several months/years?

I'm not that far along I had my second treatment 6 days ago.
Of course there's the obvious pain of the treatment which feels not like a rubber band as described but like begin stabbed by heated needles.
A day or so after lasering my skin and follicle becomes as angry as it is possible to become. Inflammation both normal kind and T-cell type (Hard red lumps) Massive pussy zits, weeping sores, Mutilated hairs. Also combined with the pain of shaving because it dosen't actually get all the growing hairs only a fraction of them.

After 6 days or so my skin finally begins healing and I get the more enjoyable phase of heavy shedding. It's only fun of course because I'm telling myself once that hair is lost it won't return and the previous pain was worth it.

But I've been hearing about the place that lasers and IPL aren't permanent and they WILL regrow. I don't know how true this is and I'm always worried about it happening because going all this way all that time money and pain just to have it regenerate. That's almost worse than not having bothered.

Sounds like our experiences have been vastly different, but we may be using different lasers and our skin may be different, etc. While my pain was considerable with every treatment so far (and the 2nd was quite tolerable) I haven't had any skin issues. Three treatments in (although the second was insanely ineffective) and I'm shaving maybe once every 4-5 days because I just don't have to shave until then.

I'll have to have some electrolysis on my blonde and red hairs (which are always around, just much less active) but that can always come later.

I would avoid IPL. From what I've read from several sources, it's just burning money.

Quote from: pebbles on June 05, 2009, 09:42:19 AM
Has anyone experienced facial hair growing back after several months/years?

I'm not that far along I had my second treatment 6 days ago.
Of course there's the obvious pain of the treatment which feels not like a rubber band as described but like begin stabbed by heated needles.
A day or so after lasering my skin and follicle becomes as angry as it is possible to become. Inflammation both normal kind and T-cell type (Hard red lumps) Massive pussy zits, weeping sores, Mutilated hairs. Also combined with the pain of shaving because it dosen't actually get all the growing hairs only a fraction of them.

After 6 days or so my skin finally begins healing and I get the more enjoyable phase of heavy shedding. It's only fun of course because I'm telling myself once that hair is lost it won't return and the previous pain was worth it.

But I've been hearing about the place that lasers and IPL aren't permanent and they WILL regrow. I don't know how true this is and I'm always worried about it happening because going all this way all that time money and pain just to have it regenerate. That's almost worse than not having bothered.

For laser, it really depends on your skin color and your hair color.  I'm lucky in that I have very pale skin and dark hair - that's the easiest for them to work on.  The laser gal warned me against getting a tan because it would make the treatments more painful.  She has another laser machine that is a different type.  She said she has to use it on people with darker skin, but it hurts more.  Perhaps some places only have that type of machine.

I've had some irritation, especially the first few times, but never anything that lasted more than an hour or so.  The laser gal (what do you call someone in that profession?) puts a lotion on the areas she's worked on as she goes along and then more at the end of the session.  I also use day lotion every morning and night cream before bed every night.  I don't know if that makes a difference.

Now, skin irritaion with electrolysis (for the white hairs) is another story... 

- Kate

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Post Merge: June 07, 2009, 06:10:37 PM

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Another thought:  My electrologyst said that when she clears the faces of most MtF people, the area she worked on stays clear.  But on a few, the whiskers keep coming back.  She says it is very frustrating for both her and her clients.  (Eventually they are all cleared, but she has to fight them.)  The only thing she can think of is that the person is having trouble controlling testosterone.  She says several she has worked with that have the recurring whiskers have had a lot of trouble balancing their hormones.  She says it is like their bodies are fighting against the transition.

- K

I know this is an old topic (as the silly red warning at the top of "post reply" so kindly reminds me) but this is where everything I've been dealing with has gone, so it feels like a good idea to keep it here.

I'm a bit discouraged with laser at this point, I've had 5 treatments and very little (if any) progress. I went through all the trouble of finding the ideal laser within reasonable driving distance, I have the perfect skin and hair types, and after all of this, 6 months later  I can still grow most all of my facial hair and still can shave twice a day (but I don't, it's just too much to deal with). The settings weren't even tolerable as far as pain levels go.

All the electrolysis advocates were right, but I'd still have given it a shot on the off chance that it would work. I just wish I had my 6 months back.

Luna, I feel your pain. I've been doing laser on my upper legs, extended bikini, and face for about 2 years now, using "the most advanced lasers available", and I have the perfect hair and skin colors for it. Alas, I still shave daily and have turned to electrolysis to fix the problem once and for all. I do believe, based on many of my friends, that I managed to save quite a lot of money and time by going with laser first and in essence thinning the crop. I'm actually glad I did this, although I am also very disappointed that I had to turn to electrolysis for more than just the pale hairs.

i"m sorry to hear that for both of you.  all i know is that my 5th visit is coming up and i hardly think it is worth it going.  i should really start concentrating on the white hairs soon.

I did my laser through ALC, and I'm in the maintenance part now, so it's not costing me anything but time to continue having it done. Every hair successfully zapped by laser is one less I have to pay to have done with electro, so I continue. But I won't spend any more money on laser.

sorry girls

I just had my first maintenance session at ALC yesterday.

I'm getting pretty good results after 7 sessions (really onyl 6 since the 7th was yesterday), but I never had much facial hair to begin with. I'll still need to follow up with electro as well but I knew that going in.

Ive had 11 sessions now. The upper lip was very persistant so I started electrolysis. I thought it was better to start tackling this area instead of waiting 4 weeks between sessions. Im glad i did as this has cleared considerably. Another interesting thing about electrolysis is its ability to remove capilleries. After years of working in the sun and partying hard Im astounded by the results Im getting

Just had my second session yesterday.   For me the most painful areas were from my chin down my neck and along the jaw line.   The top lip was virtually painless in comparison.   Like the originator of this post I have dark hair and light skin and have been told to expect good results.

The nurse during my second session was so impressed with my progress that they believe the six sessions I have paid for might be too many and we might, with the time available, be able to attack some other areas.

Not bad for someone who used to have a five o'clock shadow at 11 am.

Pippa