bye

THe person I went to told me its permanent, of course she owns the clinic.

Anyway, at the USA, the FDA regonizes electrolysis as the ONLY PERMANENT method of hair removal. That is a strong authority speaking, but of course it doesn't makes it a true statement. I think its possible that there are laser machines that have permanent results.

I guess, since you already had laser removal, the best thing to do is wait and see what happens.

beard area can have 300 hairs per square centimetre but they can't all grow at once or beards would be as thick as chinchilla pelts.  Follicles wake and sprout and others just lie there waiting for goodness knows what until one day they decide to germinate a hair.
so while repeat lasering will get them it only gets those that are awake, the others will not be killed and this may give the impression that laser doesn't work.
plus of course our skins vary and probably the fertility of our follicles varies according to our age and general health just like head hair can be lost during stress and this might give the impression that lasering hasn't worked well.
this afternoon I had face and buttocks done with latest laser and I hope that the stinging means the follicles were killed.

Quote from: Sada on October 19, 2010, 03:13:49 PM
I just finished quite a few sessions when the Doctor told me that the beard removal with the laser is not permanent. Is this true? I couldn't talk to him then, because I was to pissed off. So if it is not, does it all come back at once and will I have to start all over again? Damn, I did this because electrolysis was taking forever not to mention the freaking pain. Beards are evil.

In a word NO!

However there are two caveats:

1. Without anti-androgens your body (while still pre-op) would eventually generate new hairs to replace the ones killed.

2. The laser process can only kill dark hairs therefore some conventional electrolysis will be needed to complete the process.

I am post-op and had a bi-lateral orchi before i had the final surgery and haven't taken anti-androgens since them and went the electrolysis route(blonde hair) and have not had a problem with hair growing back.

Quote from: Bam on October 19, 2010, 04:12:54 PM
I am post-op and had a bi-lateral orchi before i had the final surgery and haven't taken anti-androgens since them and went the electrolysis route(blonde hair) and have not had a problem with hair growing back.

you are joking aren't you? An orchi is the ULTIMATE permanent anti-androgen! So you have taken an anti-androgen in the form of surgery.

Once you are post SRS or have had an Orchi you have very little in the way of androgens and certainly not enough to be relevant to hair growth!

Laser is permanent hair REDUCTION.  Only Electrolysis is permanent hair REMOVAL.

Quote from: Laura91 on October 19, 2010, 04:30:56 PM
yeah, but hairs that remain would still need to be removed.

Indeed as I said in my first reply.

To clarify as I think it is easy to be confused by the meaning of the various words that various people use... All systems of hair removal use destruction of the follicle as their modus operandi.

In electolysis this is achieved either by galvanic chemical poisoning or by heating by a method called shortwave diatermy, sometimes also called thermolysis, or indeed by a combination of the two methods known as the blend (which I what I had back in the early 80's)

Laser also uses heating to kill hairs - but it is delivered by light Thus the limitation of laser is not that it does not remove hair, rather that because it depends on light the hairs must be pigmented to allow the light to heat them sufficiently to be killed.

Thus laser does indeed remove hair - but unfortunately not with 100% success - so as others have said effectively what you get is a reduction - and then you finish off the stragglers using electrolysis.

It's still worth doing laser because it is quicker for the initial stages even though you will then almost certainly need to switch methods to effect the final clear up.

As jenny said both laser an electrolysis remove hair using the same kind of principles (damaging the root of the follicle), so applying some sideways logic if laser isn't permanent neither is electrolysis 

Actually I think that's broadly speaking true...the damaged follicles produce a very small, fine and weak hair that is not really visible and lack of androgens mean it doesn't mutate back into a tree trunk...at least that's what i've been told.

Laser is best if you have the right hair/skin colour combination as it covers a wider area with fewer treatments, but won't get all of them if you have any any hair that's the wrong colour....but what it does get stays zapped. Electrolysis is more effective but is slower and may end up costing more over time.

I've heard varying things on the topic, but one of the big things that sticks out to me is that Electrolysis has been used for over 100 years and laser is relatively new. Laser has more potential for advancements.

This being said, I've also heard things about there being electrolysis lobbyists that are the main reason laser hair removal isn't considered permanent by the FDA.

I had laser and am quite happy with it. If some hairs come back I'll just have more sessions to remove the remaining follicles....
For me it was a cost/time issue and only the future will let us know what the answer is.

i had contrasting hairs, dark hair light skin, laser worked great but took many sessions.  I have not shaven for 3 months no hair returns except for maybe a light white hair here and there that can be removed by electrolysis if i want. 

I have also had electrolysis here is the info:

Electrolysis isn't 100% effective either its about 65-80% but works a small area.

Laser is 15-25% effective at removing hair but works a huge area. 

My advice to you, start with laser if you have dark hair and light skin, and finish with electrolysis, it will save you money in the long run to the extent of even lowering you hair removal bill to 1/2 of what it would be with electrolysis alone. 

I had facial hair removed by electrolysis only becasue laser wasn't available yet.  Later, I had laser on my arms over the course of about 8 months.

My own experience was that the hairs on my arms are much lighter in thickness and color, and some of them may be gone permanently.  But as the hairs get lighter, you get diminishing returns with laser, and you need to resort to electrolysis to to clear out the light hairs.

At the same time, you very much want to keep velous hair.  If you clear all of the light thin hair then it won't look right.  If you manage to clear all of your hair with laser to the point that it looks like velous hair, then stop.  You're done.