Here’s my thoughts start to finish. Hopefully this helps someone out there. I have had issues since I was about 21 years old. I am now 34 years old. I am a Type 2, coarse black hair on flanks of back, shoulders, and upper arms. I used an apogee 9300 alexandrite laser. I’m not pro or con laser-just want to be somewhat hairfree.
I did have electrolysis done when I was 22-23 years old. It was extreme torture and did not work. I went 10 times and could not handle it anymore. I believe I had a crappy electrologist which was unfortunate-but I did not know any better at the time.
Laser-
1st tx: 1/6/06, 21j/20ms/15mm spot
Hurt bad, edema, red follicles lasted 2-3 days, hair grew back a little thinner on back-no change on shoulders or upper arms, full shedding and saw hair starting to grow again at 4 wks, got excited and then depressed as hair grew again.
2nd tx: 3/18/06, 23j/20ms/15mm spot
Not as much pain, still hurt, same redness and follicle irritation for apprx 2-3 days, noticed missed spots and got touch-ups for free after 3 wks, hair shed-grew back thinner on back and slightly thinner on shoulders/up arms, once again excited and then pissed as it grew back at 4-5wk mark, noticed major ingrowns that start at 3wks and resolve at about 6 wks, still unhappy…feel I made a bad choice in laser.
3rd tx: 5/26/06, 25j/20ms/15mm spot
Hardly hurt at all. I keep telling my nurse to up the power so it works-she seems to have her own protocol and won’t change, hair shed and ingrowns majorly this time, hair grew back at 4wk mark, really ticked off now…this is BS…it is a scam or something, hair on back is thinner and less dense but shoulders/up arms seem more dense…thinner but it seems like hair is everywhere, frustrated-hopeful-am I doomed?
4th tx: 7/21/06, 25j/10ms/15mm spot
Medium pain. I don’t seem to be quite as red but follicles are fried, Nurse lowered the ms to 10 which seem to change my reaction, shed and hair started in at 6-7wk mark, not too many ingrowns this time, hair is definitely thinner and more sparse on back-shoulders are thinner as well as upper arms-not all that I hope for but finally a somewhat positive response-A little more encouraged-hopeful-this may just work.
5th tx: 9/15/06, 25j/5ms/15mm spot
OK-pain is back again. Follicles red-fried everywhere…I am happy about it though. I am at max settings for this laser at this spot size. Nurse states further tx wil be at this setting as she won’t go to a smaller spot size for me cause of depth of hair…need larger 15mm spot.
I may or may not get further treatments. We’ll see how this goes for a few months. Overall, experience interesting-an emotional rollercoaster as hair sheds and returns. I do see a change for the better as thinner hair. Maybe not my perfect ending yet but acceptable. I will post again on long term results and if I have anymore treatments. As the treatments ran their coarse I had a lot of mistrust-anger-excitement and am encouraged at the present time. Hope my experience will help with yours.
thanks for the post. hopefully it will help others understand the process. i think the last setting was really good. decreasing the pulse to 5ms is very good. i would have 2-3 more treatments with those settings, spaced about 10 weeks apart at this point at the closest if i were you. if you can take some pictures, it would be great. did you take any before you started so you can compare? it becomes harder and harder to recall what you started with, especially on areas you can’t see well.
I am comparing back-shoulders-upper arms which were lasered to my chest and abdomen which were not touched. Easy to compare as shoulders blended to chest. If there is really good results I’ll try to put a picture on so you can see a side by side view of laser vs nothing at my shoulder-chest view.
I’ll most likely get a few more treatments as the lower pulse(5ms) seem to hurt alot more…more effective hopefully.
Here’s my thoughts start to finish. Hopefully this helps someone out there. I have had issues since I was about 21 years old. I am now 34 years old. I am a Type 2, coarse black hair on flanks of back, shoulders, and upper arms. I used an apogee 9300 alexandrite laser. I’m not pro or con laser-just want to be somewhat hairfree.
I did have electrolysis done when I was 22-23 years old. It was extreme torture and did not work. I went 10 times and could not handle it anymore. I believe I had a crappy electrologist which was unfortunate-but I did not know any better at the time.
Laser-
1st tx: 1/6/06, 21j/20ms/15mm spot
Hurt bad, edema, red follicles lasted 2-3 days, hair grew back a little thinner on back-no change on shoulders or upper arms, full shedding and saw hair starting to grow again at 4 wks, got excited and then depressed as hair grew again.
2nd tx: 3/18/06, 23j/20ms/15mm spot
Not as much pain, still hurt, same redness and follicle irritation for apprx 2-3 days, noticed missed spots and got touch-ups for free after 3 wks, hair shed-grew back thinner on back and slightly thinner on shoulders/up arms, once again excited and then pissed as it grew back at 4-5wk mark, noticed major ingrowns that start at 3wks and resolve at about 6 wks, still unhappy…feel I made a bad choice in laser.
3rd tx: 5/26/06, 25j/20ms/15mm spot
Hardly hurt at all. I keep telling my nurse to up the power so it works-she seems to have her own protocol and won’t change, hair shed and ingrowns majorly this time, hair grew back at 4wk mark, really ticked off now…this is BS…it is a scam or something, hair on back is thinner and less dense but shoulders/up arms seem more dense…thinner but it seems like hair is everywhere, frustrated-hopeful-am I doomed?
4th tx: 7/21/06, 25j/10ms/15mm spot
Medium pain. I don’t seem to be quite as red but follicles are fried, Nurse lowered the ms to 10 which seem to change my reaction, shed and hair started in at 6-7wk mark, not too many ingrowns this time, hair is definitely thinner and more sparse on back-shoulders are thinner as well as upper arms-not all that I hope for but finally a somewhat positive response-A little more encouraged-hopeful-this may just work.
5th tx: 9/15/06, 25j/5ms/15mm spot
OK-pain is back again. Follicles red-fried everywhere…I am happy about it though. I am at max settings for this laser at this spot size. Nurse states further tx wil be at this setting as she won’t go to a smaller spot size for me cause of depth of hair…need larger 15mm spot.
I may or may not get further treatments. We’ll see how this goes for a few months. Overall, experience interesting-an emotional rollercoaster as hair sheds and returns. I do see a change for the better as thinner hair. Maybe not my perfect ending yet but acceptable. I will post again on long term results and if I have anymore treatments. As the treatments ran their coarse I had a lot of mistrust-anger-excitement and am encouraged at the present time. Hope my experience will help with yours.
thank you for giving us this info im still considering laser and this makes me feel even sadder lol…
i mean 5 treatments in 9 months and still not satisfied results?? thats so scary to me cause thats like $3000 and not great results yet…
i have just a question you said it took like 4 weeks to grow back was it completely hairless in those 4 weeks?? or was it stubble from when they shaved it??
i mean does it look good enough to go to the beach?? or does the skin look bad from the sunlight cause of the laser work done to it?? does it look completely hairless? for that time before it regrows?
Just a note-it cost me $2000 for a 5 treatment package, free touch ups, and any treatments from now on will be at $200. So $3000 sounds high if you’re treating the same areas.
I got lasered and it was like a healing zit for about a week. Then hair shed for next 2 wks or so. So not hairless at all, more like in between with half gone with shedding and half still there with a tiny black pepperspot/stubble for the 3-4wks right after treatment. I may have had a smooth hairfree week or so but hair started growing at various times from 4th wk on.
That initial growth stage at 4wks the hair was just starting so I think you could go shirtless etc and not feel too odd. I would stay out of the sun thoughout your treatment though. Laser techs will not be able to up the power on any tan skin and your ultimate goal of less hair will suffer in the long run. Good luck.
Just a note-it cost me $2000 for a 5 treatment package, free touch ups, and any treatments from now on will be at $200. So $3000 sounds high if you’re treating the same areas.
I got lasered and it was like a healing zit for about a week. Then hair shed for next 2 wks or so. So not hairless at all, more like in between with half gone with shedding and half still there with a tiny black pepperspot/stubble for the 3-4wks right after treatment. I may have had a smooth hairfree week or so but hair started growing at various times from 4th wk on.
That initial growth stage at 4wks the hair was just starting so I think you could go shirtless etc and not feel too odd. I would stay out of the sun thoughout your treatment though. Laser techs will not be able to up the power on any tan skin and your ultimate goal of less hair will suffer in the long run. Good luck.
which laer did they use on you do you think you would of got better results with a different laser?
Apogee 9300, it’s an alexandrite laser. Another laser which seems to get good comments from some on here is the Gentlelase alexandrite laser.
An alexandrite type was what was said to be the best for my skin type and hair coarseness etc. I’m going to believe I used the best available of my options.
Sounds to me like you had the case of them using the wrong settings. I think this is why so many people say stick with the Candela Gentlelase b/c there’s only 1 setting they can fool with (the joules) The ms is set at 3 or 4 (not 100% sure) and can’t be modified. Of course they could mess with the spot size but luckily the girl I go to only has a 12mm spot size <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I know what you mean about the emotional rollercoaster. I was soooo excited when the hair first started shedding and got even more excited when a lot of the pepper spots disappeared. And then was so frustrated when I realized there was so much that wasn’t going to shed <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Just got zapped again though so hopefully I’ll see a period in a couple weeks where I’m mostly hair free
Good luck on future treatments and hopefully now that they have it on the right settings, you will experience proper hair reduction.
Here’s my thoughts start to finish. Hopefully this helps someone out there. I have had issues since I was about 21 years old. I am now 34 years old. I am a Type 2, coarse black hair on flanks of back, shoulders, and upper arms. I used an apogee 9300 alexandrite laser. I’m not pro or con laser-just want to be somewhat hairfree.
I did have electrolysis done when I was 22-23 years old. It was extreme torture and did not work. I went 10 times and could not handle it anymore. I believe I had a crappy electrologist which was unfortunate-but I did not know any better at the time.
Laser-
1st tx: 1/6/06, 21j/20ms/15mm spot
Hurt bad, edema, red follicles lasted 2-3 days, hair grew back a little thinner on back-no change on shoulders or upper arms, full shedding and saw hair starting to grow again at 4 wks, got excited and then depressed as hair grew again.
2nd tx: 3/18/06, 23j/20ms/15mm spot
Not as much pain, still hurt, same redness and follicle irritation for apprx 2-3 days, noticed missed spots and got touch-ups for free after 3 wks, hair shed-grew back thinner on back and slightly thinner on shoulders/up arms, once again excited and then pissed as it grew back at 4-5wk mark, noticed major ingrowns that start at 3wks and resolve at about 6 wks, still unhappy…feel I made a bad choice in laser.
3rd tx: 5/26/06, 25j/20ms/15mm spot
Hardly hurt at all. I keep telling my nurse to up the power so it works-she seems to have her own protocol and won’t change, hair shed and ingrowns majorly this time, hair grew back at 4wk mark, really ticked off now…this is BS…it is a scam or something, hair on back is thinner and less dense but shoulders/up arms seem more dense…thinner but it seems like hair is everywhere, frustrated-hopeful-am I doomed?
4th tx: 7/21/06, 25j/10ms/15mm spot
Medium pain. I don’t seem to be quite as red but follicles are fried, Nurse lowered the ms to 10 which seem to change my reaction, shed and hair started in at 6-7wk mark, not too many ingrowns this time, hair is definitely thinner and more sparse on back-shoulders are thinner as well as upper arms-not all that I hope for but finally a somewhat positive response-A little more encouraged-hopeful-this may just work.
5th tx: 9/15/06, 25j/5ms/15mm spot
OK-pain is back again. Follicles red-fried everywhere…I am happy about it though. I am at max settings for this laser at this spot size. Nurse states further tx wil be at this setting as she won’t go to a smaller spot size for me cause of depth of hair…need larger 15mm spot.
I may or may not get further treatments. We’ll see how this goes for a few months. Overall, experience interesting-an emotional rollercoaster as hair sheds and returns. I do see a change for the better as thinner hair. Maybe not my perfect ending yet but acceptable. I will post again on long term results and if I have anymore treatments. As the treatments ran their coarse I had a lot of mistrust-anger-excitement and am encouraged at the present time. Hope my experience will help with yours.
It’s been about 7 wks since 5th treatment. Hair is growing in all over. It is thin, dark. All areas treated do have regrowth that appears no different than after 3rd or 4th treatment. Interesting-my left upper arm has more growth than my right. Really am doubting any more $ and treatments will change anything. Definite improvement from before treatments started but not worth 2000$. Just my thoughts at the moment.
Grumpy i feel for you and i know how u feel. I had around 8 coolglide treatments on upper arms, shoulders and back with very little improvement and more hair growth especially along the spine where i had no hair. I think the settings used were too low and i dont think its a very good laser anyway.
Hows your back getting on? I’ve decided to do electrolysis on upper arms and shoulders (just waiting for my student loan to come through before i get started) because these areas just don’t respond well to laser, however im going to get gentlelase treatments on my back. Do you think your back has had better results than your shoulders and upper arms?
I haven’t really heard very good things about electrolysis. When you said that $2000 is approx 20,000 i thought electrolysis is not permanent! if they treat one hair, is it removed for life?
Yes. Any hair that is properly treated in the growing phase is a goner - for life.
Have you invested some time reading www.hairfacts.com and this hairtell site? Electrolysis IS permanent hair removal. It is the real deal and the gold standard for all hair removal. Where did you come to understand that it is not? You will be short-changing yourself if you don’t educate yourself well.
Yes. Any hair that is properly treated in the growing phase is a goner - for life.
Have you invested some time reading www.hairfacts.com and this hairtell site? Electrolysis IS permanent hair removal. It is the real deal and the gold standard for all hair removal. Where did you come to understand that it is not? You will be short-changing yourself if you don’t educate yourself well.
Dee
Has anyone really used electrolysis on their back and shoulders though?
Saf-
I seem to have a little better results on my back. I’ve been treating the flanks-patches on each side under shoulder blades. Thinner on all spots but still visible from across the room.
I’m going to wait a month or so and see if the growth stops…if it doesn’t I’m jumping off a bridge <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
[quote]Yes. Any hair that is properly treated in the growing phase is a goner - for life.
Have you invested some time reading www.hairfacts.com and this hairtell site? Electrolysis IS permanent hair removal. It is the real deal and the gold standard for all hair removal. Where did you come to understand that it is not? You will be short-changing yourself if you don’t educate yourself well.
Dee
Has anyone really used electrolysis on their back and shoulders though? [/quote]
Yes, electrolysis works on any area. read the electrolysis part of this forum. there are many posts from those doing it.
grumpy, are you talking about laser or electrolysis?
Laser treatments handle a huge bulk of my hair. Unfortunately, I had to have electrolysis done on all the remaining white hair that laser treatments couldn’t touch. I had to go through three bad electrologists, before I could find one who was competent enough to eliminate the white hair on my chest, shoulders and upper back. The highest number were on the upper right side of the chest. My current electrologist knows her stuff and did a darn good job. Her kill rate has to be unbelieveably high.
As I was told, a good well trained electrologist WILL get the job done. The others were using the wrong method, tweezing the hair or missing the follicle all together. What help me find the right electrologist was learning about the methods and how they are used just as Andrea suggested. This will ensure you don’t get blindly scammed out of your money.
[quote]Yes. Any hair that is properly treated in the growing phase is a goner - for life.
Have you invested some time reading www.hairfacts.com and this hairtell site? Electrolysis IS permanent hair removal. It is the real deal and the gold standard for all hair removal. Where did you come to understand that it is not? You will be short-changing yourself if you don’t educate yourself well.
Dee
Has anyone really used electrolysis on their back and shoulders though? [/quote]
There was a member on here named TomGraham who was getting his full back electrolysis. He kept a dairy on the electrolysis board about his journey. I don’t think he’s updated it recently but he posted pictures of his progress. You can search his name in that board to see that thread.
