I’m a reporter working on a story about teens and kids who’ve gotten laser hair removal. I’m looking to talk to kids who’ve gotten it and WOULDN’T recommend it (because they had a negative experience, it hurt, etc), or parents who wouldn’t want their children doing it.
I’m on deadline and would love to hear from anyone who falls into either of these categories.
My email is: [email protected].
Thanks,
AJG
I haven’t come across many other younger ones on this forum really or at least under 18’s who have been through LHR.
Regards,
Benji
Here’s a link to the finished article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/fashion/05SKIN.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Interesting. A little bit of everything here. There is a quote from Andrea about this forum. There is a quote from one of the doctors who wants LHR to be only MD-operated. There is some misinformation about electrolysis. But it’s good to see that there are some limitations to laser pointed out as well, so it makes it a bit more balanced.
I had the same thoughts, lagirl. How many non-physicians are performing laser hair reduction everyday with excellent outcome?
How many times do physicians take the wand in hand and burn or undertreat consumers? This is “thinking” at it’s worst.
Ms. Grossman may want to conduct a better investigation that will serve people better and not rely on a laser dermatologist for inaccurate, terratorial information that brings attention and increased “sales” for her practice. Here’s some more free advice: the good doctor may want to explore electrolysis for her daughter. My guess is, she will need it in the future.
Anna Jane Grossman, did it ever occur to you to contact the American ELectrology Association for your information about electrolysis? Better yet, why not do a “skin” piece on electrolysis and compare it to that sexy new ‘thang’ called laser hair reduction and talk about how the two modalities used together is a great strategy for certain cases. There is a plethora of posts on hairtell from regular consumers about their outcomes for both electrolysis and laser, both positive and negative. Can’t say that teenagers are posting here in record numbers, since that was your focus, but there are many twenty somethings. Unbiased reporting would serve ‘The New York Times’ well at a time when they should be trying to restore their credibility and increase their readership whether it be about hair reduction or politics.
I was contacted about this story as well but obviously not included.
I just read that article. I hated every bit of it. What i hated the most is the last sentence , about DRAWING the line. I am a parent of a beautiful 11 year old girl. Not because shes mine, but in reality shes pretiest girl in her class. Even so, no one can seem to overlook her upper lip hair and hairy arms, and for two-three years now ive been dealing with this issue and guilt, watching my 11 year old ponder about why is she the only girl in her class with mustashe. So you bet i am going to do whatever is neccessary to make her have more self confidence, and not be bullied like i was. Her unhappiness is one of the reasons i decided to become electrologist and take care of her, and other peoples problems as well. When i was a child, i had no options other than shaving, and idea of shaving was just horrible, so i never got anything about it. I just went thru life, avoiding certain places and people. So i dont think tha there was ever a time and place when people didnt care about each other imperfections. I think it just gets erased in our memory once we grow up, and we start to think how looking different “back then” was normal. It never was. My mom, whos now 55 years old, was tormented in school due to excess hair as well. Something to think about... And id definitely recomend spending more time on research about things you`re not familiar with.
I have a 12 year old who is mortified when she has to put a bathing suit on, or when she has to get changed for gym class because her pubic hair is growing down her leg and coming out of her underpants. I have bought her “boy shorts” --it just bums me out that she’s so young and has to deal with this. She tried to shave and that gave her a rash… UGH! I feel so badly for her. It’s such a self-conscous age already…
Lucky for her, she is very fair with dark hair and will be a candidate for laser hair removal when she is old enough. I will gladly let her do this.
Why can’t she do this now? I have a client that had laser hair reduction on her forearms when she was in 6th grade.
Yes, if she’s willing to put up with a little pain, she can do it now. As long as the clinic has your permission, they will do it. Many teens are doing it nowdays.
Has she tried waxing?
She HATES pain. She is so sensitive. My other two kids have a much larger tolerance for discomfort. I really can’t imagine her handling a bikini wax.
I did ask at the place where I just signed up, and they said they don’t do it until the kids are 15. I assumed, wrongly, that all places had that age restriction.
I would let her do this in a heartbeat. She’s too young to have to worry about putting on a bathing suit or changing into her gym clothes in front of her friends…
Anyone know a good place in the Philadelphia or Wilmington, DE areas?
I can’t help with the last question, but if any place says no lasering until age 15, ask them why? Let us know what they say if you would.
We all hate pain, so it becomes a matter of how motivated one is to get the hair off, no matter what the age or tolerance for “pain”. As she gets older, she may become more mature about accepting the pain part. If she doesn’t want to do this now, then I would guide her through shaving the area correctly until she decides that she is ready for Laser hair reduction.
If you set the example for her with your laser experience and show positiveness toward this even though it can be ouchy, she may come around. Daughters closely scrutinize their mothers, at least that has been my “wonderful” experience.
I actually use lidocaine/prilocaine cream and don’t feel a thing duriing LHR! I’d let her do the same thing.
Now waxing…that’s the pain I was referring to in my last post. I can’t even imagine her getting waxed.
I may ask the nurse during my next LHR visit why they won’t treat girls younger than 12…
I remember when I first explored electrolysis for tummy hair when I was 15 or. I had a 10 minute sample treatment and decided it was too expensive and hurt too much. Now fast forward over 10 years, and I’m willing to take any pain to get rid of it 
Run a search here for discussions of clinics in Philly. I think there were definitely a bunch. You can also go to Candela Corporation website and run a search for GentleLASE using their provider search option.