I wrote last week with some questions with regard to laser treatment and got a couple of replies. Thank you.
I have shopped around and have made a choice. I have read a lot of articles about IPL vs Laser and from what I have read it seems that the expected long-term results between the two are about the same with all other things being equal (level of experience of tech., patient, etc).
I decided on a place which uses a Starlux, Palomar IPL.
A bit more about me:
-32.5 years old
-skin type is between II and III, but closer to II
-my hairs throughout are mainly dark, and long, and above average thickness
-some hairs are thin, long and dark, but with blonde bases just above the skin- I am worried about these.
-unwanted hair on neck, upper chest, stomach, upper/lower arms, hand, and back.
I am still unsure what to expect. The person doing the work showed me a patch of fine hair on my arm and said that an end result similar to that patch throughout my desired reduction areas would be a reasonable goal. I am hoping to thin out my lower arms and upper chest, while reducing/removing as much as possible in the other areas. I also have a large white patch of hair on my right upper chest/shoulder that I will have to deal with if I achieve any success with the IPL treatments.
I have taken sever pictures of myself.
I am still interested in getting more feedback and will post some folow-up photos about 4 -6 weeks after 1st treatment.
Wish me luck!
your assumption is not correct. IPLs are less effective than true hair removal lasers, all other things being equal. You should get some results, but not as fast and not as good as you can with a true laser that’s best for your skin type (in your case an alexandrite). I would also highly recommend not to spend so much money at once and try one area first to see how things go and how your hair reacts, before expanding to other areas.
Haven’t been able to find any research reports within the last five years that says laser is significantly better than IPL. I have seen some reports of marginal differences for both technologies in both directions. I haven’t read anything that makes me feel like IPL is inferior.
What I am skeptical about is how long my success, if any will last. If I could achieve 50% reduction that lasted 10 years, I would gladly go in for 10 or so treatments.
Another concern that I have is with the areas that I am hoping to thin out, and not achieve a total allowable hair reduction. The hairs on my lower arms are rather long and I am wondering if people have had problems with achieving an appearance that is desired, while still leaving some hair behind.
I want to take down the hair as much as possible without being left with that sparse, oddly placed hair look. Any suggestions??
Thanks.
you have a good skin and hair combo for laser. I would strongly recommend treating with a proven alex laser like GentleLASE though. You will get some results with an IPL, just not as fast and not as permanent (some people report IPLs often damage the hair but don’t kill it completely like high settings on true lasers would.)
I don’t have any studies on hand right now, but this topic has been beaten to death on this and cosmetic enhancements forum. If you run a couple searches, you should find some. You can also PM SSLHR on either forum and he should be able to point you to some good studies as he’s owned clinics since 1998 and have tried almost every machine on the market. Most good studies are not online and you have to go to a library to read them.
In terms of even results, the tech should overlap and use high settings, and not miss areas. Then the reduction will be even. You shouldn’t need 10 treatments for 50% reduction with a good laser btw. Go to cosmetic enhancements forum and read posts by “Osh”. He had a similar situation as you. Also, keep in mind, that shoulders and upper arms are hard to treat.
I would still highly recommend you don’t treat all areas at once to start and see if you at least get shedding of all treated hair first.
lagirl- Thanks for your responses. I really appreciate them.
Other questions that I have.
If hairs are not properly treated, meaning damaged instead of destroyed, and they grow back thinner and finer, then is it possible that they have missed their window of opportunity to be destroyed by LASER or IPL? So it is important to do it right from the beginning?
I ask, because, lets say that you are right and I am wrong-IPL turns out to be not as effective, but many hairs are damaged into thinner and lighter hairs. Can LASER clean that up afterwards, or is it too late?
On a side note, beta carotene affects pigmentation on the short term. Is it helpful to avoid excessive beta carotene before treatments (carrots etc.)?
one treatment won’t affect the overall results that much. so if you switch now, you’ll be fine. but yes, if the hair remains finer, it has less pigment, so harder for laser to target. sometimes it’s fine in the beginning but gets thicker back with time too.
yes, it’s probably a good idea to avoid anything that can affect your skin’s pigment. no tanning most importantly.