Numbing cream is fine as long as it’s not a badly compounded cream with a proper amount of lidocaine (that’s what caused those few deaths) and not used on huge areas. If you need to, you can definitely use a good cream on the areas that hurt most.
Alternatively, icing before and after and taking an ibuprofen beforehand helps.
haireverywhere,
i wish you luck with your future treatments. i know i look very funny too. no hair on chest but arms full of hair till my shoulder lol
dont think i’ll be going to the beach this summer!
by the 18, trying 18j? hhmm i dont even think that i can handle 16. bear in mind that i can usually resist to pain but think pain is something else…
lagirl,
yeah i am scared of numbing creams. prefer going in a little bit drunk or on ibuprofen!
also do you think it will be ok to go to the touch-up session not in 2 weeks as recommended by the center but in exactly 3 weeks. i wanna take some holiday. thats why.
anytime between 2-3 weeks is fine.
Just as a little note, I would avoid going in even a little bit under the influence. Alcohol dehydrates you and laser certainly doesn’t hydrate your skin either. Also, I found when having large areas lasered I felt quite physically drained and tired, alcohol may possibly amplify this.
Just my thoughts.
Regards,
Benji
I would think drinking Alcohol would be very dangerous before laser. On the day of, drink a lot of water, no caffeine, and pop 3 pain killers 1.5 hours prior (Motrin worked well for me). It’s going to hurt no matter what but like anything else - no pain no gain.
On the plus side, there was no difference in pain from 16J to 18J for me They were both equally borderline unbearable. LOL. I remember dropping a lot of F’ bombs during treatments and then apologizing to the tech - I didn’t want her to think I was cursing her
out.
yeah i wont be drinking alcohol then. i thought it could have been a good pain killer! since i dont wanna use any numbing creams taking some strong pain killers is the choice then.
regarding the higher jules than 14, lets see if i can bear the pain at 16 first.
Hmm I thought 25j was the way to go?
On the GentleLASE 18mm spot size the maximum is 20 joules. The larger the spot size, the more power, so therefore the maximum amount of joules are lower.
Regards,
Benji
Hiwr, settings vary based on each specific machine.
in terms of reducing pain, the following helps:
I had one place use some sort of spray can on me with really cold air. Not sure what they are called, but I’m sure someone here knows what I mean. They would spray that, and then right away zap me. I tell you it cut the pain down about 50%, not sure if it would effect results though.
its been exactly a month and about %40 of my hair are still there!
the thing is they are still short. they have grown. but just a little bit. so they seem to have been affected. i know this cos on my treatment day i have trimmed somewhere where they didnt apply laser and they are 3 times longer!
-does it mean the laser threatment doesnt really work for me?
-or a too low setting(14jules) has been used?
-they will all shed in a few weeks maybe?
i was told at my touch-up session(3 weeks after the treatment) that that they will almost all shed soon. except for some since they might have blond roots or something? but they seem to be all dark?
Some hairs remain as pepperspots (hairs stuck in follicles, but not growing) and will get burned off at your next treatment. If they’re not growing, they’ve been affected. I would still increase the settings next time if your skin can handle it.
ok thanks. so as far as i understand higher the jules the better, isnt it? better meaning: less treatments?
Yes. Better meaning there is a bigger chance of disabling the hair permanently on the first try.
hi all,
I’ve had my 1st session on the 13th of may with %60 of my hair shed within 4 weeks. however, the rest has remained. i thought they were also gonna shed with time but weren’t. having not grown for 5 weeks they started to grow back and are about 1cm long now.
i was told by the center to come back for my 2nd session in exactly 2 months. my question this time is; could i go back later? for example 3 months after my 1st session? or even later like 4 months?
thanks
What happened to the other 40% of the hair? Did it continue growing as usual or it remained as pepperspots (dead hairs stuck in the follicles)?
Treatment spacing should be 8-12 weeks. You should go back when you feel there is enough hair to justify a treatment.
hi lagirl,
well the %40 of hair have never shed. they remained really short(like 2mm length) for a month then started to grow back. they are all about 1cm in length now.
as for the %60 affected hair, they shed within 4 weeks and started to grow back only recently(they are about 1mm at present)
is this normal?
hi lagirl,
well the %40 of hair have never shed. they remained really short(like 2mm length) for a month then started to grow back. they are all about 1cm in length now.
as for the %60 affected hair, they shed within 4 weeks and started to grow back only recently(they are about 1mm at present)
is this normal?
If that hair didn’t grow as usual for a month, it was affected. We call those pepperspots, i.e. dead hairs stuck in the follicles. The hair that started growing are just hairs in the same areas coming in from the next cycle.
hi, i got my 2nd session booked for next monday. listen, i wanted to ask you an advise on whether getting my legs done or not. i’d had my full chest, upper back, bottocks and legs till down my knees done. all my hair are grown again except for the ones on my upper legs! after my session about %80 of my legs hair have shed. the ones shed have not really grown. i can see the roots though. its like they have remained shaven 2-3 days ago but they have been like this for about a month?
only %20 of my leg hair are in 1cm at present. the rest looks either shaven or very but very short.
i should get them treated on my 3rd session maybe?