I am just starting my research on LHR. I chose the YAG due to my dark skin. I’m Italian and Hispanic. I live in Sacramento where there really don’t seem to be a lot of choices for LHR. My derm gave me two recommendations and one got great revews on Yelp.com and the other got bad ones. I chose the one with good reviews and had a consultation. Here are my impressions, tell me if I’m off base.
The place was really, really nice and really expensive! They do all kinds of laser and surgery treatments. However they charge $1100 for full legs for a first treatment, then $1000 then $900 for each subsequent. For full bare brazilian (front and back) it’s $450, then $400 then $300. Is that too expensive?
My technician really didn’t explain much to me at all. She did take notes on my skin issues (prone to hyperpigmentation). She seemed afraid to treat me.
They have a Gentle Max machine and she said they would use the Gentle Yag on my at 40 20 I think is what she said. What does that mean?
I convinced her to do a test spot. First she didn’t want to do it and she had to go ask. She came back and told me they charge $100 but it goes toward my treatment if I come back. Then she didn’t want to because I was going to be out in the sun 4 days later. She finally agreed to do a free test patch on my leg although I don’t know the settings. Stupid me I know.
**This is the weirdest part. After 10 days and no shedding I called and left a message for her. At the end of the day I hadn’t heard back so I called again. I told her that I was concerned I experienced no shedding. SHe said “Oh no, that doesn’t happen. It’s very rare and usually doesn’t happen until later in treatments if at all.” WTF?! She also said the test patch was just to see how my skin would react to the laser. I told her it looked like two mosquito bites and felt itchy for a few minutes, then went back to normal. She said that was good.
When I made my appointment for treatment I was told it was a 2 hour appointment for full legs. During my consultation, the laser tech I “consulted” with told me she can do full legs in 30-45 minutes! That seems like an awfully big time discrepancy. How long is reasonable for two full legs using a Gentle Yag?
I canceled my appointment for treatment because this does not sound right to me at all. I don’t know if I should try one of the other 2 laser techs at the same place or try elsewhere. I like the machine at this place. What do you guys think about the abouve?
Finally can you advise what settings on a Gentle Yag would be good for me? I am doing legs. I have very black, very coarse hair that is visible under the skin even with a close shave. I got the Hispanic side og my parents skin. It is a deep medium brown. I know you can’t give me one precise answer but some guidance would help. Thanks!!!
In my area, you can get an entire laser package (up to 8 treatments) for your legs for $1800-2000. Prices will vary but that sounds very high.
The shedding can take 2-3 weeks or so for the hair to shed, and not all of it might shed.
It sounds like they don’t know exactly what they are doing and they seem evasive. Ask lots of questions and if they are still evasive or unwilling to answer to your satisfaction, look elsewhere; that is a red flag for sure.
This clinic doesn’t sound like they know what they’re doing. I would skip it altogether, especially at those high prices
Have you ran a search with your zip code at Candela Corporation’s website. They have a provider search where you can search for clinics in your area with GentleYAG or GentleMAX. Coolglide manufacturer also has a provider search, so try that as well. You’ll only be getting treatments once every 3 months or so, so it’s not a huge deal even if you have to drive an hour. However, there are many clinics in Sac.
We can’t advise on settings. There are 3 variables (joules, spot size and pulse). All we can tell you is that highest joules and spot size (18mm) you can handle and lowest pulse is best. So they would need to test for what is safe on YOUR skin.
Shedding needs to happen. It takes 2-3 weeks. Some hairs on legs may remain as pepperpots, i.e. dead hairs stuck in follicles. But if they were affected, they would definitely not be growing as usualy after 3 weeks.
My lower legs take around 50 mins. So full legs take around 1.5 hrs if the treatment is done carefully. It also depends on how long etc your legs are of course.
I would recommend for you to keep looking around for clinics.
Thanks for your input guys. I canceled my appointment becase it was nagging at me from the very start that I hadn’t done my homework first. Then I had such a strange consultation experience and I knew something was wrong and I needed to do more research. Their prices are way to high for me to just put my blind faith in them. Even though I want to do my treatments right now, I’d rather be informed and do it right. I’ll contine to read this forum and learn. Hopefully I’ll be able to ask better questions next time and find other places to compare.
Lagirl, I didn’t know about the corporate and manufacturer search functions until tonight after I posted. I found that info in one of your old posts. Thanks for that. I will definitely follow up on those leads. Unfortunately, on the Candela site, typically 4 out of 6 results were the place I already did my consult at. I couldn’t find the Coolglide site but I will Google it.
I have all the links listed in the FAQs and in a sticky thread on this forum called “How to find a clinic near you”. Also, try various zip codes in nearby areas. It only displays first 6 results. So they are usually different for different zip codes.