Hi everyone, long time lurker here. I had my 4th treatment on chest/abdomen last month and the results have been pretty nice so far.
For info, I’m a Type II, the machine is an Apogee Alex and the settings have been 16-16-18 and 20 I believe. I’m not quite sur about the spot size.
I noticed a big reduction after the 3rd treatment, not so much for the first couple. At the present time, it seems I have about 60% reduction, and the remaining hair is very thin.
However, I have a few questions.
It seems some extremely thin hair are stuck in the follicle and not growing, is this normal?
Also:
This is hard to explain, but it seems like on most hairless spots of the treated areas, some follicles are still showing. They almost look like tiny follicle-sized pitts. Or better yet: Like pepperspots without the “pepper” ;).
Is this normal and if so, are these gonna dissapear overtime?
what you’re talking about first are pepperspots as you seem to realize. They will fall out with time. you can exfoliate to help them out.
what you’re talking about at the end are your pores that don’t have hairs in them anymore. it’s hard to tell what will happen. they might close up a bit. but it’s not caused by hair or laser, it’s just pores on your particular skin.
also, if you’re truly a type II, you can probably go higher on settings. The reason you probably didn’t see that much difference at first was due to low settings. 16 is on the low end for a type II on this laser especially if they’re not using a low pulse (which you should find out).
Thanks for the reply. I’m type II, type III. Not sure which one. I would say my skin color is “fair”, with an ever so slight olive tint.
Actually, it hurt “like hell” each and every time. Also, I noticed each time a good amount of redness. The first time, it itched for about a week. It was extremely painful during the treatment.
When I say I didn’t notice much difference, I did. The hair grew thinner, but the actual reduction was minimal.
Currently, a lot of the growing hair is extremely thin, and very light in color. I’m hoping I’ll be able to see even more reduction next time. What I’m looking for isn’t a completely bare chest and abdomen, I know this can’t be. However, if I get to 80%, I’ll be happy. Judging from the progress I’ve made, it seems like a realistic goal. I’m really excited to go forward with my treatments.
Sounds good. Do you see shedding of most hair every time? your goal is realistic. I would advise for you to wait longer in between treatments at this point so you don’t overdo it. Probably 16 weeks or so at least. Please continue to update us on your progress.
It’s hard to say. You won’t get a good idea until you let it grow for longer than 12 weeks. That’s why I’m suggesting you wait longer. It’s not going to affect effectiveness.
I’ve noticed that my hair has grown hard the past couple weeks, and it’s pretty long (about 1/8 inch, but thin) at the moment.
For info, my hair grows usually incredibly quickly, whether it’s facial hair or the hair on my head. Each time, hair as started shedding at the 1 week mark, and starting growing back at about the 1 month mark. Is this normal?
This time is no different, perhaps a bit later. So, I’ve been thinking on going back in the near future.
Since my last post, I’ve noticed a few new hairs coming out. I would say about 30-40% reduction on the chest and definitely 40+ on the abdomen. The treamtens for the abdomen seem more effective for some reason…my skin is smoother there.
shedding can last up to 4 weeks. that’s how long you should wait each time before concluding what has shed. if there are hairs at 1 month, something is not right. maybe the settings are a bit low and are not killing the hair, just damaging it a bit. can you find out exact settings?
Shedding only lasts around 2 weeks at most for me. I’m not sure if that makes a difference or not: I’m not very hairy overall, but my hair grows VERY VERY quickly. Always has.
I know the setting this last time were 20, and it hurt. I’m not sure about the spot size or pulse(?). I know that the first couple of sessions were done with the larger spot size, and at the above settings (16).
After each treatment, a few hairs were missed and kept growing normally. But the others were zapped and shed as they were supposed to. However, some didn’t grow back and some did.
Not all of the hair that grows back does after one month. I didn’t mean to say that. I find it’s pretty gradual. A little started at the month mark, but most did after 5-6 weeks.
It’s been around 7 weeks right now, and it seems all the remaining hairs are now growing. Which is why I’m thinking on going back. What do you think, lagirl?
I booked my next treatment for early May, which will make it 12 weeks since the last. I would have preferred earlier, but there weren’t any open slots for me.
Is 12 weeks too late, since I’m already experiencing regrowth?
Lastly, how long is a cycle for chest/abdomen hair in a male?
How long does the new hair stay in anagen phase in those areas?
the above site has a good diagram with growth phases on carious areas. you can definitely wait 12 weeks. i would actually prefer that if i were you since you’ll get a better idea of what actually remains as well as let the hairs get a bit darker, i.e. more pigmented and easier killed.
I had my 6th treatment 10 weeks ago, and I’m going back in two weeks for my next one.
Its getting better and better; yet some days I’m really happy of the result, and some days I wish more were gone…it seems that very fine hairs are beginning to surface even 10 weeks after, although there are few of those.
However, when I think about how it was in the beginning, the improvement is quite drastic.
I have had six treatments, and what I’m seeing currently is a quality of hair that is MUCH finer everywhere and less dark…it is slightly darker between the pecs and on the line to the navel (but that’s normal ).
I would say the abdomen has about 65/70% reduction overall, and the chest around 60% overall. Of course, some areas have only maybe 20 to 30% reduction (like between the pecs and center line) , and some much more.
The only sight dissapointment is the junction between the chest and the center of the neck/throat…I’m not getting the same reduction I’d like unfortunately. Is this area typically tougher to target or?
what settings are you using now? also, i would suggest waiting longer between treatments now so that the finer hairs have a bit of time to get darker and have more pigment. After 6 treatments, you can definitely wait 15-16 weeks now. I will help you assess true reduction better as well.
No, that area is not supposed to be necessarily harder to treat. My question would be is the hair there a bit different in structure and are the settings they’re using on all areas the same? also, are you have the same shedding on all areas? are they missing many spots each time or are they pretty thourough on all areas?
Not quite sure about previous settings, to be honest…but it did hurt a lot like each time. I changed clinics after the 3rd treatment by the way, as the current clinic is much closer to my home.
They also seem to be doing a much more precise job, and doing several passes on each area. (as opposed to one before)
-The hair is no different in structure, perhaps slightly more coarse.
-The settings are the same on all areas, yes.
-I do have (roughly) as much shedding everywhere, and there are several missed hairs each time, but very few.
without the settings, it’s very hard to give advise. the hairs there might be not as deep or deeper than the other areas and settings would need to be adjusted to get those. an experienced laser operator should be able to judge this and adjust as necessary if you bring it up to them.
Well, another update. I had my 8th treatment 5 weeks ago, and things have started growing back slowly. Overall, I have been pleased with the results.
I would say in general around 80% is gone, and what remains is lighter and shorter. Some areas are almost bare, like below the stomach area, and some are less, such as the “typical” male line from the chest to the bellybutton (around 60-65% gone).
My question is this: The last couple treatments, I noticed that the hair grew back slower then, than this very last treatment. Indeed, for tx 6 and tx 7, I recall not seeing any hair grow back until at least week 5 or 6. This time, it started around week 4.
Is there any reason for this, that you might think of?
anything coming back at 4 weeks is not actually new hair. it is either missed hair or hair that wasn’t affected by the treatment. what settings are being used?
I must have missed your question, Lagirl!
To answer it, the settings used were I believe 19 or 20J(?) with the Apogee Elite 9300. Not sure about the spot size, but it did hurt quite a bit.
I had 9 treatments so far. The last one being 11 weeks ago ago. It seems I’ve reached some kind of “plateau” for my removal. All the hair seems to have come out, and it’s pretty thin. Overall, I’m very pleased. About 80-85% overall I’d say.
The only area that has not responded well is on the sides of the chest, where hair is almost like peach fuzz…very thin.
It it even worth zapping those? or will they not dissapear for sure?
Also, will the hair that has grown back stay the same thickness it is now (11 weeks) or should I expect it to become thicker overtime? (the thickness is perfect by me at this moment)
By the way, it’s long right now, about 1/2"…so maybe it’s at its max size before falling out, and will continue to be that way…I hope!
