Best Laser For Facial Ingrown Hair

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
1

hey guys …im going to be lasering soon my beard …well my cheek part and lower neck since i keep on getting inrgown hair …not much maybe just a few…i usually get it lower cheeks the hair is pretty thin so it curls up under my skin …causing the worse acne
now i was wondering what is the best laser for me …
Gentlelase Plus
GentleYAG

i saw a video on laser hair removal had a machine my laserscope called Gemni or something …made specially for ingrown hair …hows that think it was called Lyra-i

now i need to know .

2

If lagirl were here, she would probably say, “Not one of the great lasers.” SSLHR or CHOICE can offer something for you, I’m sure. In the meantime, could yo describe your hair color, skin color, where you are going for treatment? Anything else?

3

hair color is black …but not very thick …and im white not 2 white …i tan easy …im italian…

i work in the middle east Dubai …so ill b going for the treatment down here

and another thing …the places where i want to get rid of basically no more hair …do i need 2 grow my beard and then laser or they could do it when my face is shaved …

4

Hiya Jason N,

Well in answer to your question on the Lyra-i it’s a Nd:YAG Model, with a maximum of 10mm spot size and minimum pulse of 20 ms. This laser is typically used for vein removal, shaving bumps, facial wrinkles and then hair removal. (Taking into consideration that the GentleLASE has a set pulse of 3 ms [the lower the pulse the more power] and maximum spotsize of 18mm).

A direct quote from a manufacturer is “The flat beam profile consistently delivers energy in the therapeutic range to all targeted structures”. Therapeutic meaning not high power, compared to models such as the GentleLASE, Lightsheer, diode etc.

There have been studies showing that Lasers and IPL’s with 12mm spotsizes or below may actually not wield enough power to permanently remove hair, especially such tough ones as facial hairs. In conlusion this is not a particurally good model for hair removal, it is more designed for treating skin problems as those listed above.

In regards to your facial hair, be very careful with doing laser on your face, make sure you find someone with a lot of experience, preferably someone who specialises/has doen a lot of hair removal on male faces. If you run a search you can find a lot of posts from men who have done this and have had results that range from patchy to grid like. This is due to poor tecnique and not “overlapping” enough when using the laser.

The best lasers for you depend on your skin type, types I and II are usually the most ideal for GentleLASE although type III can do as well, but the practitioner will have to be careful with the level of power used.
Skin type IV and above should search for Nd:YAG’s (preferable ones with a bigger spot size than 12mm’s), for example the GentleYAG etc.

When preparing for laser hair removal, you should always shave the area so that the laser energy is not wasted on the hair above the skin, but it’s always useful to have a little stubble above the skin so that the laser and the technician can see the hair. Depending on your hair regrowth, shave your face the night before or however long you need to wait to get the equivalent of a 5 o clock shadow. Lasering a freshly shaved face will be more painful and can lead to post laser irritation.

Hope this has helped,
Benji

5

Wow, Benji, thanks for stepping in. Very good information for Jason to know.

Benji, or anyone, can you give your thoughts on the Sciton Yag 1064? Is that a decent laser for all skin types? I frequently refer clients, when it’s a appropriate, for LASER. The business across the street from me uses this LASER. Don’t want to send clients to places where they will not be served well. Do you know anything about this type of LASER?

Dee

6

Hey thanks Benji …amazing info
i guess il try to go for GentleLASE

another question i have is the facial hair i have is not very thick will Gentlelase still be able to eliminate the thinner hairs…they are dark basically black color except they are thin …

and how long usually are GentleLASE sessions apart …could i do it every 2 weeks …or is it up to the doc to check me out and then tell me …

what hurts the most is …i never knew these pimples i use to get were caused by ingrown hair!!! i always had acne …since child hood i went on accutane a few years ago and it cleared me up …but round 8 months ago i kept on getting acne thinking hey its probably hormonic or something …so i ended up doing NLite Laser…which is for collegen production and stops acne apparently…i had a few sessions of that …and then i did Erbium to clear my scars out …i went through so much pain …my skin was cleard up but now as my skin is alot thicker then before i guess cuz of my collegen production …alot more facial hair just curls in my skin …im pretty much really sad at this moment cuz i would have never done Nlite or Erbium or spent so much…i would have just done Laser Hair Removal :(…
i wish i did a bit of research before i did anything …
and my doc was a prick …cuz he turned around and told me on my last erbium session hey u should do laser hair removal …

7

Laser hair removal works best for dark, coarse hair on pale skin. The farther you get from this combination, the more it will NOT work, in fact, you take the risk of stimulating MORE hair to grow.

GentleLase is a good laser for a good candidate. So, for thin, dark facial hair, you may be disappointed in a couple ways, either with very little reduction or more hair than when you started out. Be careful here.

Every two weeks is out the question for getting a treatment with laser. Please read the LASER Faq’s page. It’s generally advised that the intervals should be spaced every 10-12 weeks apart to correspond with hair growth cycles.

Dee

8

Hiya Dfahey,
Sorry for the late reply, haven’t been on here for long lately. In regards to the Sciton Yag I don’t know a great deal.

Sciton do two models which are nd:YAG’s, the first one being the ClearScan; this has a minimum pulse of 0.1 - 200ms, I am not 100% sure on the spot size it is either 10 or 15mm and is a long wave length laser of 1064nm.
The second nd:YAG model is the Profile HMV, which is by far the newest and most improved, it is a dual nd:YAG and IPL, it has a minimum pulse of again 0.1ms - 200ms, spot size 15mm and uses a long wave length of 1064nm. It also has an intergrated cooling system and a computerised scanner, which shorterns treatment times quite considerably.

Both models are relativley effective (although this may seem contradictory to my last post, in regards to spot size on the Lyra-i) what really makes the difference is the pulse, especially when comparing the sciton against the Lyra-i. The real trick with the nd:YAG’s is the wave length, as it is 1064nm it focuses more on the hair rather than the surrounding tissue aka the skin. This is why it is so ideal for the darker skin types, although the power is not as great as a GentleLASE for example, although due to the shorter wave length of 755nm, it will target surrounding areas with pigment as well, hence Skin type I and II being the best for that model.

In general I would say that the clinic across the road is using a relativley good laser, especially for clients with a darker skin type.

Kind regards,
Benji

9

I’m grateful for your reply. I actually forgot that I asked this question!

Okay, that was a nice answer, so I will refer clients when appropriate. Sometimes people come in for a consultation and are confused if they should get laser or electrolysis. After receiving a practical education here on hairtell, I feel pretty comfortable talking about both modalities and then they can decide for themselves. I’m glad there is a nd:YAG across the street as I see many people of color, however, I must humbly admit that I can handle those clients unwanted hair just fine. If a client has facial hair, I never refer them for laser. I actually show my passion against doing facial hair.

I already refer clients to another laser specialist who has a GentleLASE and she does a great job for underarms and bikini line and legs, places that I can handle with electrolysis very well, too, but I do need to be honest with them about other options.

So thanks for you help! I think I’m getting closer to covering all bases. I just need to figure out if the technician is skilled at using this laser.

Dee

10

Jason,

If your hair is very coarse, GentleYAG would not be a bad option either. GentleLASE is more powerful, but that can also mean more irritation on dense coarse beard. If they use GentleLASE, they would need to start at a low setting to avoid too much irritation since the follicles are so close together and are coarse. Your best bet is finding someone who has both machines and who is knowledgeable and experienced with LHR on male beards specifically. This is a unique area to treat and unskilled operators can create patchy results.

Another thing you need to decide is how much reduction you want to achieve. Do you want to reduce the density of the hair on the entire area? Do you want only those specific spots treated (which can look weird, if only a few spots have less dense hair)? How many hairs/spots actually get ingrowns?

Please read the FAQs at the link below before you start anything.

You also need to be off Accutane and any other photo-sensitive drugs for at least 6 months before you start LHR.

In terms of other points, Lyra has a very small spot size and is generally not very good for hair removal. Sciton has a scanning device which is supposed to prevent missing spots. Haven’t had much feedback here from anyone who’s tried this machine.