I just registered on this site. I’ve been reading the board for the last 2 weeks or so and am very thankful for all the helpful info. I’m located in Houston, TX…just had laser done today and thought my experience might help out someone else.
I’m a Indian female in my late 20’s…type IV skin. I had lower legs(above knee cap to toes), and a brazillian bikini done this afternoon. They used GentleMAXX…the woman told me she used the YAG at the possible highest setting (22). I did NOT have a face to face consultation or spot test before the treatment…the centers web site has all the detailed info. I called and made an appt. last week…I went in on Saturday to make payment…and went in today for treatment.
We started the treatment at 3:00 p.m. today and I walked out of the center at 4:10. She did my legs first and then the brazillian. I was told to shave everything before my appt. It did hurt…there were certain areas on my legs that hurt more than others…I was told its b/c the hair in those certain areas are more coarse. During the brazillian, a few areas did hurt quite a bit but I made it through. They didn’t use any numbing cream.
She applied 1% cortisone cream on the treated areas right afterwards. I look forward to seeing the hair shed within the next few weeks. Immediately after the treatment the area looked like I had tons of mosquito bites. The skin went back to “normal” within an hour.
Now I’m considering having underarms, upper abdomen, and full arms done!
Thanks for the report and come back to keep your journal up to date. Glad for you that you studied these boards before you made your decision. Hope that you get a good outcome.
It sounds like youv’e had a good treatment if the follicles were raised afterwards and there was moderate pain (no pain no gain eh? ).
Youv’e been treated with one of the best nd:YAG’s on the market so the results should be the best you can get, as long as the appropiate settings were used and the practitioner is skilled. Underarms and bikini usually get the best results on the body, but legs aren’t far behind at all either.
Let us know how the shedding goes, as well as any missed spots and so on. If all goes well after a couple of sessions would you be happy to let us know which clinic your using? It’s a bit harder to be able to find someone with a good YAG and good skill so could be useful for future Hairtell readers.
Thanks for posting your story and glad the forum helped you.
Can you find out what the exact settings are that are being used on you? 22 is probably the joules, but we also need the spot size and the pulse setting as it’s impossible to tell the overall power without knowing all three.
I would also wait until you’ve had 3-4 treatments and judged the results before adding other areas. There is no hurry! Also, make sure you only treat coarse hair (is that the type of hair you have on your abdomen?)
I wish you much success with your treatments. I hope your results doesn’t turn out like mine (fine facial hair replaced with coarse hair) but then again leg hair reacts better than facial hair with laser.
She used the highest setting in the first treatment? Very risky!
I am already aware that she is not getting her face done, instead she is getting her legs done as I acknowledged in my previous post.
In my experience, laser has not had much effect on coarse hair either, because my sideburns, my upper lip hair, and the new growth on my neck are all coarse hair, just as coarse as the hair on my legs, and after 13 treatments on my sideburns and upper lip hair, and 8 treatments on my neck, there is still substantial hair growth. I just I wish I spent my money and time on the more reliable electrolysis.
Have you posted your laser experience here? Can you please share it with us if you haven’t already?
If your hair was actually coarse (like that on bikini and underarms), the likely lack of result was due to machine, settings and experience of the laser operator and/or an underlying medical condition (which will affect your electrolysis treatments too if it exists).
Legs get some of the best results with laser btw. Of course, with the right machine and settings.
Hi SimpleSF - and hello everyone else! This is my first post here - this is a great site and am so glad I’ve found it!
Im in the UK and also have type IV skin (fair indian type).
I had my first treatment today for the chin area. They used an Nd:Yag on 32joules 20 wavelength. I could smell singed hair during the treatment and my skin had tiny lumps on it afterwards but returned to normal within an hour.
The lady was using a gliding action which was interesting as I thought it would have been more of a stop start routine.
I’m quite optimistic about the results but will see in a week or two!
Those settings are sort of low on a Yag for a type IV.
Is all the hair you’re treating coarse on your face? Your skin type and ethnic background is especially prone to induced growth on this area. Make sure to only treat it with laser if it’s coarse and on highest settings your skin can safely handle.
Today is April 11…I had my lower legs and Brazilian bikini done on March 31 so it’s been almost 2 weeks. So far I’m happy with the results…it seems to be working. I’m in Houston and I went to a place called Logical Laser located on Westheimer which is near the Galleria area. Their website has their complete pricing info.
Lower Legs: [color:#3333FF] [/color] [color:#3333FF] [/color] It was smooth for a few days…then I started feeling stubble. The hair growth is no where near what it was BEFORE I got the laser done. I think I have shaved the legs 2x so far. Also, I just shaved it with a razor/water…to my absolute delight, I had no razor burn! Before, even with shaving cream, I have painful razor burns. I can also pull out the hair manually so I guess that means the root is loose.
Brazillian Bikini: Hair grown seems faster here…especially in the pubic region. Umm…err…I kinda ended up with a few pimples in the pubic region. Last night I shaved the area for like the 3rd time…again, to my delight there was no razor burn and the area is baby smooth. Before I shaved, the hair that was growing out, I could pull them out with a tweezer or with hand easily w/o any pain…I’m assuming that means the roots are loose.
I’m definately planning on getting my underarms done within the next week. I would also like to get my arms done…the hair on my lower arm isn’t fine…but its not coarse either. And there’s a lot of it! My upper arms is a mix of fine hair and the hair similar to my lower arm.
If I do get my arms done and IF it doesn’t work…worst case schenario the hair will just grow back like before right? Will it grow back any thicker or coarser?
[b]I just called and made my appt. for underarms, entire arms, and upper abdomen (the brazillian included the lower abdomen area). My appt. is on April 22.
Since she had my file, I asked her to look up specifics on what was used during my lower legs and brazillian since someone here asked me for them #'s.
What the nurse used on my 1st treatment:
Spot size: 18mm
22 Joules
3 millisecond 1 hertz (I guess this is the pulse setting?).[/b]
Those settings are not bad on the Yag. I’m not sure that 22j is the max on 18mm. It should be 30j.
You should really avoid shaving for 2-3 weeks after the treatment to allow hair to shed and be able to see what was missed. Everything treated should shed and you should have a hairfree period for a while. When you shave, the hairs get stuck in the follicles for longer.
Don’t treat any hair that’s fine, especially on upper arms. Laser, especially a Yag, won’t affect them anyway. But it can also make it worse on some areas for some people. No point in risking it if you ask me. Electrolysis is best for finer hair. Without pictures, it’s hard to tell you which hair is coarse enough.
I have read that certain areas such as a woman’s face, man’s back etc. can have a “reverse effect” from laser where the hair grows back thicker/coarser.
Is a woman’s upper arm one of those areas that’s prone to a “reverse effect”??
Lagirl - I have coarse black hair on my chin and fair indian skin so I think I’m suitable for treatment. The full settings were:
Spot size: 10mm
Joules: 32j
Pulsewidth: 20
They were using as Cutera Nd:Yag…
I’m a little confused as you said 32joules is a little low for the Yag and then you said 22joules is not bad for SimpleSF? I can’t seem to find any other users on the forum that have quoted successful settings - it would be good to know what I should be asking for…
The Cutera has a 10mm spot size and the GentleYAG has a 18mm spot size. As spot size increases so does the power, basically. So for a 10mm 22 joules wouldn’t be considered high, yet for a 18mm it wouldn’t be to bad.
It is important to use the highest settings possible (of course the highest settings that are safe and tolerable) as it appears to be that the lower the settings the more chance you have of getting laser induced hair growth, particurally on the female face.
Settings are not comparable between machines. GentleYag has different pulse and spot size as pointed out. For Cutera Yag, those settings are on the lower end, especially since the spot size is only 10mm. GentleYAG has a spot size of 18mm with a max joules of 30j on that spot size (and as low as 3ms on the pulse).
It’s been 1 week since my first session and not a huge amount of difference in hair - still seems to be growing as usual.
I’m hoping I see shedding in a weeks time.
I’ll ask for a test patch at a higher setting - what should I be asking for on the Cutera ND:Yag? Closer to 40j?
They didn’t use any numbing cream.
).
Last night I shaved the area for like the 3rd time…again, to my delight there was no razor burn and the area is baby smooth. Before I shaved, the hair that was growing out, I could pull them out with a tweezer or with hand easily w/o any pain…I’m assuming that means the roots are loose.