Laser Hair Removal Diary (color, guys, reviews, gel)

[Chi-turtle]

So before deciding to have Laser Hair Removal I had a hard time finding really information regarding personal testimonies and experiences, especially from men, so I decide I'm going to start this thread and let people know my experience.

I got some extra money through a good sales month at work and removing the hair on my back and shoulders was something I was embarrassed about and always wanted to do. I've played baseball all my life and have excellent arm and shoulder flexibility which allowed me to shave my own back. I'd usually do it once a week or so in the shower, but it takes like 20-25 minutes and grows stubble usually within a day or two. Girlfriends while understanding, were turned off by it. They wanted me to grow it out so it wasn't stubbly, but I find body hair disgusting, so I wanted to keep it clean and trim.

Last week I went to a clinic that happened to be really close to my apt, only 6 blocks away. I looked on yelp and it happened to have more positive reviews than most of the other places. I went in for a free consultation. The woman who runs the place has been doing this for 9 years, had a very good understanding of achieving the best results and reducing the pain process and side effects. She was very nice, informative, and she said I was a good candidate because I had light skin and dark hair. She said many men have the back and shoulders done, usually takes 6-10 treatments for it to have the best results. At that point it would probably only grow back between 60-95%, but it depended on my skin tone and hair color (which I was a good candidate for). I cost me $500 for one treatment which included back, shoulders, and a topical anesthetic cream they applied for an hour before the treatment.

So today I had the treatment. I was worried about the pain, they say it's comparable to a hot rubberband being snapped against your skin, but it's bearable. When I first got there, they put me in a room and they shaved my back because the shorter the hair, the better access to the pore and more effective the treatment. Then they put a cooling gel or topical anesthetic over my back and shoulders that is sort of a 'numbing' bream. They put seran wrap over the cream to help apply it better and I waited an hour to have the treatment.

When I got in, she was very friendly, explained to me what she was doing. She used a light cream to mark 'sectors' on my back so she could use that to track treatment areas. Then she started on my lower left back and worked her way up. It didn't hurt too bad on the lower back, and hurt less as she got to the sides, but it hurt more and more as she got higher up the back where there was more hair. If I had to describe the pain, I would say it's more like a super thin needle that pierces your skin for less than a second. The pain goes away almost right way. It just hurt as she reached more sensitive areas like the shoulders and neck, but those areas were smaller than the rest of the back areas so it wasn't long to bear. The worst part: it itched like hell. As she was doing it, she would do a sector and immediately apply cream right after which made the itching go away in a few seconds, but still, as she got higher up it itched more and more, it even itched like immediately as she was doing the area and the worst part was wanting to scratch it (but you can't, obviously, because she's using a laser. Again, she was really good at applying the cream immediately after to make the itching stop, but for those few seconds of waiting for her to finish the area it was tough. Other than that, it made a 45 minute session seem like 15 minutes.

It's been about 3 hours later, my back is really numb, it's itching a little on the edges of my back but not too bad. She said over the next 2 weeks hair will start to fall out, but eventually it will ALL fall out. Then in 6-8 weeks it will start to grow back in, lighter, less thick, she said about 10+% will not grow back, so roughly each treatment will reduce my hair by 10%. After 10 treatments (+ or -) I will be hair free, maybe have 5-10% still there but will be very light, and it will be a matter of only coming back once a year to touch it up, usually before summer time to get it removed.

I've scheduled my next appointment for 7 weeks from now. I will go back because I'm committed to seeing this through. It was painful, yes, but not so bad that I won't do it again. It goes by quicker than you think, the pain isn't unbearable, it's no picnic, but if you're committed to getting it treated then it's doable.

I'll post again in a few days with an update, try to give an idea of how much has shed out and any skin side effects.

[Chi-turtle]

It's day 2, the day after the lasering:

My back feels a little bit like a sunburn. Not painful, but a little sensitive and dry. No hairs have really fallen out yet, and even if they did I probably wouldn't know it. It really isn't red in color and there's no swelling or anything like the doctor said there might be. I think she did a really good job with the cream during the operation to help keep my skin in good shape and moisturized.

One observation I forgot to mention during the treatment: the smell is really really weird. It smells like burning hair. If you don't know what this smells like, think of a very sour smelling bag of popcorn fresh out of the microwave, but it smells bad instead of good.

[Chi-turtle]

Day 3: Pretty much the same as Day 2. I haven't noticed any hair falling out, but it is still pretty short so I guess it would be hard to tell. The doctor said it would all fall out eventually over the span of 2 weeks after treatment. Probably still too early to be judging.

Anyone have questions so far?

[Chi-turtle]

So it's like day 6, and I can't really tell if hair is falling out or not. Seems like some of the hairs are still at that short "stubble" length and some are a little more grown out. One thing I can tell you is that some of the longer hairs are really annoying right now as they feel a lot thicker feels like I'm growing nails out of my back. They are catching on my t-shirts which is really really bothering me the last day or two. Hopefully these things shed soon, the doctor said within the first week or two they should all fall out so I'm hoping that happens sooner than later.

Has anyone NOT had any hair fall out after laser hair treatment?

[chuck_steak]

It can take several weeks. Also, you'll need a round of like 6 treatments for all the hair to go away. Hair grows in cycles. The first few treatments get most of the hair and then the other treatments get less and less.

I only had one treatment because I couldn't stand the sunburn and pain during treatment. Doubt I'll ever get the courage to go back to do it, but will probably stick with electrolysis.

[calel]

The first treatment didn't do anything for me that I could see. It wasn't until the 3rd or 4th treatment that I really noticed a reduction. I'm on my 7th treatment and to the point where remaining hair is really sparse and fine...I can get away with not shaving that area for several days now. I'm finishing up with 2 more treatments to get any stray hairs and then I'm done in my opinion.

[Joke Insurance]

For guys, would a electrolysis pen be a good way to go?

[Peerage]

Thank you, Chi-turtle for sharing your "Laser Journal"

I'm very interested in know more from you and others here, since this is something I plan of doing in the near future.

There are several body locations that I like to remove hair from, and I figure let me start with my underarms see how that goes and go from there.

[Branson456]

I think laser hair removal can be done in a better way through any laser clinic.