I have a few questions about thick body hair.

I am a very tall skinny guy, and was plagued with thick body hair. On the bright side of things, I do not have thick chest hair nor do I have any think back hair. However, I seem to have thick mats of hair on my legs and my arms, specifically, on up into my upper arm area. I understand that hair is normal on guys and I am not out to premanatly remove it, however that would be nice. What I am looking for is a way to make the hair not as thick.

After looking closely at my legs and arms, I have noticed that it seems that two hairs come from the same follicle in some instances or otherwise there are two or three terminal hairs that grow next to each other. This causes the hair to be thick and when close together givs it a really dark appearance. I have heard that with waxing, you can pull the hair out from the roots and that the hair will grow back more sparse, lighter and softer. Is this true. I really want to eliminate the denisty of hair and the length. MY hair also grows to more than an inch on the arms and the legs. After time is becomes curly and tangled and is a real hassle, not to mention it is not that attractive. I need suggestions on what to do. Right now I use clippers on my arms and legs. This keeps the hair short and thus makes it appear less dense, however the same amount of hair growth is still presesnt.

Any ideas or insight into the best method for handling this would be greatly appreciated.

Hi shy--

Multiple hairs from the same follicle (the fancy name is pili multigemini), can make thick hair look even thicker, especially if your hair is dark and your skin is light.

Temporary methods: You might try a rotary epilator, because it gives you a little control over how much hair you want to remove. Since you have a lot of hair, you'll need to be more careful than most people on your first use. I recommend starting with your arms to get the hang of it. I would also suggest shaving or very closely trimming the area first and using it as the hairs start to grow out. This will lessen the discomfort and irritation you'll experience the first time. You'll find that if you run the device lightly over your arm, you won't get all the hairs with one pass. This allows you to take as much or as little as you want off.

You could also give waxing, sugaring, or threading a shot, but they'll take out more hairs on the first pass (usually).

With temporary methods, it's going to be really important that you work hard to exfoliate and moisturize to avoid ingrown hairs (expecially if your hair is a little curly). A product like Tend Skin can be very helpful for this.

If you have some money to spare and want to try removing the hair for good, you could try laser if your hair is dark and your skin is light. A lower fluence (energy level) can be preferable for some, since it can cause fewer side effects and may only reduce and not remove hairs.

For a lot of hair, electrolysis is often impractical for clearing an area, but some have used it to thin hair on arms and legs. Make sure to go to someone really, really good, though-- having a lot of hair means you will be more prone to scarring, no matter what method you use.

I have some more info on rotary epilators under that forum-- check it out and see what you think!

where can you buy tendskin? i've not been able to find it anywhere.

Laser will definitely do the job on thick and dark hair. The thicker and darker the hair, the better the laser works. After one or two treatments, a lot of the hair will be gone, percentages vary for each person. The hair that does grow back will be finer and grow more slowly. Once you are satisfied with the amount of hair that is left you can simply stop treatments.

I have had laser hair removal on my chest back and upper arms. When I started my chest hair was so thick I couldn't see my skin if I let it grow wild. Now it is about 95 percent gone. It looks like all I have left is mostly white hairs that are few enough that I can eliminate them with electrolysis which I am seriously considering. After the first two laser treatments, about 50 to 60 percent of my chest hair was gone.

Tend skin can be puchased direct from www.tendskin.com or selfcare.com.

Hope this helps.

RJC2001

Many with light skin and dark hair have been pleased with laser (though results vary). Be sure to go to someone with lots of experience, and be sure to avoid taking any sun before and after treatments for a couple of weeks.

For additional information on Tend Skin, check out:

Hairfacts: Tend Skin

Everyone always talks about how laser hair removal prices vary on the amount of hair needed to be removed and how large the area as well as amount of treatments. Can anyone give me a rough estimate of how much it has cost you or any insight into the rough prices and treatment costs for a specific area?

Initially, I had my chest, back and upper arms done for $1400. This included one treatment plus one follow up treatment for each area. Follow up treatments were at lower rates. My last two hour long sessions were only $65 each. Well, that low rate was too good to last. If I need any more treatments, which I cannot tell yet, the minimum rate will be $100.

My dermatologist just had a significant rate increase. Now to have one's back done will cost $4K but includes 4 treatments. It is being sold as a package. Doing the chest or legs may cost about the same. I am glad I got my treatments in. The rate increase is to pay for the new Lightsheer ET laser. They also have a Sciton 1064 Nd:YAG laser. I don't know if it is subject to the rate increase but it probably is.

It is still worth it though, even with the rate increase.

I read somewhere that family practice physicians are going to start offering laser hair removal so they may be cheaper. Nothing like a little competition.

I have some white hairs left on my chest that feel like wires when they grow out. I will probably have electrolysis done on those because there are not that many and they are too light for the laser to target. The electrolysis will cost $30 per half hour and $60 per hour.

Hope this helps.

RJC2001

after considering many options about the thick hair on my body. I have come to the conclusion I really just want less of it, and do not want it completely removed. I am worried that if I were to do laser, on my legs arms and lowerback, that it will grow back patchy and look even worse than i already think it does. Will laser cause some of the hair to grow back shorter and lighter and will it make it more sparse even if I were to do one treatment. I guess I would like to know exactly how it works and how my hair would react to the treatments. I have light skin and dark hair. Thanks.

Some consumers have seen lasting reduction after one treatment, but those seeking permanent reduction are advised to follow a treatment schedule set out by their practitioner.

Perhaps you could try it out on your lower back only and see how you respond to treatment. If the results meet your expectations, then you could move on to other areas.

There are no guarantees, but a good practitioner can reduce the chances of uneven regrowth. If you discuss your goals up front, perhaps they can work something out for reduced rates on treatment if you have uneven growth after a set number of times.

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this to you, Shy, but for "de-densifying" (I'm sure I made that word up) your body hair in a completely painless way would be to use what I use on my legs and arms, which is a Norelco Pro-Cut. It's like those clippers that people use on kids' hair to get it all one length. I usually set it for 3 or 2 (the lower the number, the closer it gets) and thin out my hair that way. It hits all the hairs evenly and you can experiment to find a setting that doesn't make you looked "shaved" (the range is 1 to 7)...it just appears that your hair only grows to that certain length, and when you touch it, it's not stubbly. I do this once a month to thin out my body hair and I really swear by it. The Norelco Pro-Cut 45XL cost me like $20 at Target four years ago!

Great suggestion, Nicky! I know Wahl and others also make similar trimmers with adjustable trimming heights.