Around an hour ago.....

My biggest step thus far 

It's definitely a little painful, as I had heard.. but nothing unmanageable. I even used no numbing cream.... or took anything for pain, just toughed it out.

It helps that I have a high pain tolerance.... I'm a tough girl

Feels great to have gotten the first session out of the way, hoping to have good results... as I know laser results can differ greatly.

Honestly I don't expect full permanent removal, but the technician said that after enough treatments a 90 percent reduction could be expected and I would gladly take that. Could use electrolysis for anything that might remain.

Congrats tiffany!!

Thank you Rose!

Am pumped to be taking this step, I'm hoping to see a significant reduction. If I can eventually get to a 90 percent reduction like the tech talked about, I would be beyond thrilled!

90%?! That's GREAT!! I plan to get a consultation for laser hopefully next month sometime. It'd be great if I could get anywhere near that 90%.

Hey, since the experience is fresh in your memory, I've got a question for you.
I'm planning on getting my first session done in a couple weeks ('bout damn time!) but the problem I have is one of timing.
The person I'm going to rents their machine when they need it and will only have it available for a short time on a day that I'm otherwise going to be really buzy.

Currently, my plan is to get a 10-15 minute test run done on my face and then decide whether or not I want to continue at this clinic or try another one. Thats all well and good, but the problem is that immediatly after that appointment, I have to go to a night class (school).

Do you think there will be any problem with this pain/redness/swelling wise? I know it's different for everyone but I just wanted your opinion 'cuz I'm curious.

Thanks.

Hit:

My face with the exception of one spot on the right side of my neck wasn't nearly as red and swollen as I thought it would be.

Granted that one spot is fairly noticeable, but all in all I don't think anyone would say anything if you came out looking like I did.

Of course that's a big if, as I too have seen people come out looking a lot redder than what I ended up looking like.

Congrats Tiffany-marie

I've now had my 7th and we decided I need no more until I want spot treatments. I am facially free of hair. AWESOME, the amount of make up I need is tiny, basically lippy and eye and a bit of powder to even the look. Makes me so confident and happy. And so obvious I'm not a guy .

To answer some of the questions ( I do have some in depth posts at Sue's on laser that may be useful) I have had no blotchy skin, they do use hydrocortisone cream after . And use lots of  sunscreen and moisturiser.

My first session took three hours, an hour a day over three weeks.  My last session was to finish off the little buggers on the upper lip. High energy laser (30) and incredibly painful. The upper lip is the killer BTW. But it was over in 15 mins, I just had to get rid of the reluctant ones.  I no longer shave. There is no facial hair, well some wispy stuff that all girls seem to have. I am extremely happy with the results.  Make sure you are comfortable with your laser tech.  You are going to spend hours with her.  You cannot wear make up so you have to fess up, one way or another. I just do the usual, Hi I'm Cindy blah blah.

It is one of the most liberating experiences. I hold it against the little pink pill, and the sore tummy from the implant as the most marvellous experience I have had. I  also have a life long friend who had never met a TG before and know treats and respects me as a close friend. You do get the gossip

Have a good roasting

Cindy

Hi Cindy

Can you elaborate on your sessions?

My laser sessions are 15 minutes once every 28 days. I've had about 5.

When you say three hours for your first session over three weeks do you mean a one hour session a week for three weeks?

I am not looking forward to laser! I am not fond of pain in any sense.

congrats Tiffany_Marie, it's a big step but a good one to make, I had my first 3 sessions before I started to live full time so that I could get some measure of reduction done and not have a horrendous five o'clock shadow every day, yeah it hurts but I'm glad you toughed it out, I'm such a wuss, I cried almost every session with the pain but it was worth it for being one step closer to being the me I am becoming

Quote from: caitlin_adams on May 17, 2011, 07:52:03 AM
Hi Cindy

Can you elaborate on your sessions?

My laser sessions are 15 minutes once every 28 days. I've had about 5.

When you say three hours for your first session over three weeks do you mean a one hour session a week for three weeks?

Hi Caitlin

I've done a fair bit of research on laser, thanks mainly to my laser tech who has been wonderful, you can trace some of my posts to find more info.

The first session she checked me out to see if my skin and hair colour would be suitable, then gave me a quote and decided that my face would be divided into three areas. Left and right cheeks and surrounding skin, and the muzzle, top and bottom lip and throat, neck. Each session took an hour and three sessions were 'One facial go over'. She uses a high energy laser set on an output of 27. The highest I could take with my skin type etc. She uses medical class lasers that you need a minimum of  nursing degree or equivalent to use in Australia. The lasers (in Australia) in standard 'beauty shops' are lower power.

I estimate I lost at least 60% of my facial hair after the first go over. I then had to wait about 6 weeks for the next cycle to catch the new hair. It took 30 mins for my entire face, that's how much I lost!! The following sessions were spot sessions on the face, so that any patches coming up were hit, the upper lip has been the toughest to treat, and to bare the pain, these sessions took about 15-30 mins, so we started on my boobs, tummy and bikini line. It has been very successful. I no longer shave except to clean up a bit of wispy white hair that will not respond to laser. Laser works best if you are on anti-androgens as they cut the hair growth cycle. My tech was very insistent that it was a waste of time, and dangerous to have major work done any more than 4-6 weeks as you need to hit the new growth cycles. I have noticed that it takes days to weeks for the hair follicle to be destroyed, so don't expect instant results. My face is now smooth and I need minimal make up. I now use make up to highlight rather than hide features. It feel wonderful. But it is not cheap, I pay $250 Aussie dollars an hour. But it has been money well spent.

If you have any personal questions just pm me.

Hugs

The hairless Cindy

Beware the checkerboard pattern that will exist for quite a few sessions.  However, it is well worth it. After seven treatments, I only have the odd hair left.   The next job is to get rid of white hairs which are not destroyed by the laser.

I'm kicking myself in the bum today because I just noticed that some of my facial hair is blonde... It just... changed... seemingly out of the blue. Looks like I'll be forced to get electrolysis now (for those parts anyway).

I wish I started Laser earlier, it seems like it'll be so much easier.

I agree on working up the power level to the highest level you can tolerate without burning or bruising the skin. I use an Alexandrite laser on my face (light skin, dark hair), and at the 18mm spot size the highest I could tolerate was 18J everywhere but my upper lip which we took down to 16J.

This hurts, and my face is quite puffy afterwards, but I usually take a couple ibuprofin before I go in (which is an anti-inflammatory) and I also take a big ice pack and I IMMEDIATELY ice the whole treated area for a good 20 minutes and get it cooled off again. It takes a few days to resolve by by doing this I have had excellent results.

You will save money in the long run if you can try and be aggressive with your levels. The power levels differ depending on which kind of laser you use, so work with your laser tech to find the right setting, but make sure you are as aggressive as you can handle!

Quote from: HitOrMiss. on May 19, 2011, 11:05:43 PM
I'm kicking myself in the bum today because I just noticed that some of my facial hair is blonde... It just... changed... seemingly out of the blue. Looks like I'll be forced to get electrolysis now (for those parts anyway).

I wish I started Laser earlier, it seems like it'll be so much easier.

hi HitOrMiss,

Maybe your hair did change out of the blue, but don't beat yourself up over stuff like that, it's just as likely it was always blonde yeah?

Quote from: Lexia on May 20, 2011, 09:48:31 AM
hi HitOrMiss,

Maybe your hair did change out of the blue, but don't beat yourself up over stuff like that, it's just as likely it was always blonde yeah?

Yeah, hair can be funny like that when you really start looking at it closely.

It was obvious when I started laser that 3/4 of the hair on my chin was completely white.  No shock there--I started going white when I was 16 (runs in the family) and I started laser at 32.  But then it turned out over half of the hair on my cheeks and neck were either amber red or blonde.  Again, no surprise... the hair on top of my head is about 40% brown, 40% red, 15% black, and 5% blonde (not counting the... er... whites ).  The problematic bit is the roots: sometimes the root of a hair isn't the same color as what you see on the surface, and laser works at the root.  Nearly half of the hairs on my lip looked dark, but didn't respond to laser treatments probably because either the roots have gone white, or the pigment for that hair is put into it later down the follicle.  An electrologist told me that the pigmentation location varies from hair to hair.

Just saying, you could be one of the lucky ones who responds 100% to laser, or you could have weirdo hair like mine where laser got rid of about 30% of growth and the rest was a waste of money.


Also, I think pigmentation location could be the next conjunction junction, no?

Laser got rid of 99% of my dark hair. It did not get rid of the gray which I am having done gradually. After about 2 years I've had some dark regrowth (maybe 2%) that gets hit with my regular treatments. The less dark hair I had the easier and less painful the treatments got

Zoe,
I never count the whites either haha.  I see your total adds up to 100%, I'm like 70% dark brown on top and... 30% nothing lol.  I think I might respond well to laser as I don't have great variation in colour a few reds.... and a few of those white ones, all my white is on my head lol.

I got quoted near 100% and I'm hoping it will be so   I shouldn't think about things balancing out, bad head hair, easily rid of facial hair, my hairline needs rebuilding no matter what

I've tried so many times pushing my facial hair in, to see if it will sprout out of the top of my head haha

QuoteAlso, I think pigmentation location could be the next conjunction junction, no?

Yes I do   Would be great to know my folicles pigments before hand



Karyn that's great to hear

Thanks for the update. I wonder what the 'stubble" could be. I wonder if the pores have turned a darker colour as they heal. Hopefully that'll subside.

I've noticed a lot of the same, it's rather nice. I can't stop running my hands across the smoother skin. It's a wonderful feeling.

Between that and running my hands through my slowly growing hair.... I'm giddy as can be.

Can't wait for my next appointment.

Quote from: Beth Andrea on May 20, 2011, 10:42:25 PM
Interesting aside after a week:

I had my beard/neck area done a week ago...I noticed tonight that I have smooth patches which show a 5 o'clock shadow, but don't have stubble. (I shaved this morning, about 14 hours ago) The patches are about thumb sized, and located where they zapped my face/neck. Outside of those patches, I have stubble. Looking at it, one doesn't see a difference...but running a pad of a finger over the area, one notices the smoothness.

First session, can't wait for the others! (I only have a few grey hairs, I was told this laser works on these; I'll let ya'all know when I find out)