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Laser Hair Removal

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: Health Center: Laser Hair Removal users admin

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Beachcomber
Member

08-26-2003

Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Beachcomber a private message Print Post    
Has anyone had this and would you recommend it? I am thinking about having my underarms done first and then maybe the legs if the underarms go well. I am sick and tired of shaving!

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
I've considered it too and I don't know much about it, money or pain wise.

I do think I saw a brochure at my gynecologist's office. She is Iranian (and her mom.. they share a practice) and of course some of their patients have very dark hair. Anyway, the brochure said that it didn't work on unpigmented hair (meaning all the white ones..)

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 10:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
just recently both holly and myself had some of this done. holly had between her eyebrows, and i had chin hairs done. it only works on dark hairs. it feels like someone snaps each pore with a rubber band. holly only had 4 zaps, where i had 34. cost... $100 a visit + $5 a hair was the cost up here in napa. it took holly 4 visits and i may possibly need another one for about 10 hairs.

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 11:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
So the moral for us oldies (and too late for many) is zap 'em while they are dark

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 5:44 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
lolol

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 7:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lumbele a private message Print Post    
My doctor does some of these beauty treatments (Epilight). Remember, these prices are in CD$.
Since I am light blonde she told me that I would have to use a cream for a few weeks first or it wouldn't work. Also, she expects I would need 2-3 repeats.

Beachcomber
Member

08-26-2003

Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 5:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Beachcomber a private message Print Post    
They are several spas that offer this, but I am thinking of sticking with my dermatologist just for safety reasons. The spas have deals where you can do the whole body (legs, bikini line, and underarms) for around $2,000. Several radio deejays (ladies of course) have had it done and rave about it. I have heard that the dead of winter is the best time to have it done so I am going to have it done the first of the year.

I been able to get rid of periods and tampons, so the razor is next on the list!

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 10:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
So.. some questions.. I assume since it zaps the root what matters is the color/pigment at the root of the hair.. well not that it matters since I don't bleach the hairs that would be on my zap list..

Wondering why dead of winter is best?

Do you have to grow the offending hairs out a bit?

Lumbele, would that cream work on white or grey hairs?

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 10:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
AH well, that link Lumbele posted answers most of my questions but if landi has info from her experience, would love to hear it too.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 12:02 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
Does that mean I am SOL since all of the hair on my body is blond except for my head and the "other" place which is red? Is blond not a pigment?

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
Checked the definition for you Twinks:

In biology, pigment is any material resulting in colour in plant or animal cells which is the result of selective absorption. Some biological material has so-called structural colour, which is the result of selective reflection or iridescence, usually done with multilayer structures. Unlike structural colour, pigment color is the same for all viewing angles. Nearly all types of cells, such as skin, eyes, fur and hair contain pigment. Creatures that have deficient pigmentation are called albinos. Because pigment colour is the result of selective absorption, there is no such thing as white pigment. A white object is simply a diffuse reflecting object which does not contain any pigment.

So blond is a color containing pigment, but not as absorbant as brunette, I guess.

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:29 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
something like what urgrace said. you can use the old fashioned electrolysis on blond or light hairs. as for the dead of winter thing. YES you need some growth, so they can best see the pore that way.

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
So does that mean that the zap, rubber-band type snap, stings a little, Landi? Or after a few have been zapped, it is not so bad? I imagine getting all the hair pulled out with waxing is not any worse, pain-wise, but the zap does the job once and it's over with.

ETA: That reminds me. I was told that when your eyebrows are waxed, the hairs that were removed are not the same ones that grow back the next time or the next time.

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
i've never been waxed, so i wouldn't know. some places it didn't hurt, the one over my right lip hurt like hell. the next day i couldn't feel anything. i did have electrolysis between my eyebrows when i was 18 and that hurt worse. looking at what has returned on my chin/neck, i'd say about 1/4 so i will have a return visit, but doubt there will be more than that.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 11:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
I've had this done also. It doesn't hurt as much as waxing as long as the nurse is paying attention, it is a rubber-band snap type feeling. I had one session where she wasn't paying attention and despite my protestations about the pain she carried on and I had oozing blisters for about three weeks. (Actually that sounds worse than it was, but still, it was very unpleasant.)

I think I had a slightly different process to Landi. I went to a mall office, it's now called Luminosity Med Spa or something like that, but it's only recently been taken over.

Here are some things to think about:

It's a long process, expect up to seven sessions each spaced six weeks apart. Yes, that adds up to about a year. Less sessions may be needed for darker hair (but don't bet on it, that's what they told me and it didn't work out that way) and lighter hair may never go away.

Between sessions you cannot tan the area. It's the contrast between the skin and hair that is important, so the lighter your skin and the darker the hair the better it works.

The hairs have to be present when you have the procedure, so if you're used to plucking or waxing hairs you have to stop that for at least two weeks before each visit and shave, if needed, instead. (That's not so bad for body areas but is a little traumatic when the hairs are on your face.) Ideally you shouldn't pluck or wax between procedures but they say you can as long as you don't wax/pluck for two weeks before each zapping. That can limit the effectiveness a bit because some hairs sleep for a while before they grow again, hence would not be zapped in the next session. The heat from the laser supposedly travels down the hair to the root and kills it, so you cannot bleach the hair either, or if you do you have to make sure you have a stub of unbleached hair by the time you have the procedure.

New hairs that haven't formed yet will not be removed. If any of you ladies are going through that time when a few hairs grow wait until you think they've stopped growing and get them all done at once, otherwise you'll have to go back and do it all again later to catch the new hairs.

It is not guaranteed that your hairs will respond to the laser, although the technology seeems to be improving all the time and becoming efficient. They told me seven sessions would completely destroy all the hair and it hasn't. Some hairs have gone, and the rest of the darker hairs have become slimmer, but they're still there. I was given two more session for free because of the one where they burnt me and a second one where the cooling fan didn't work so she couldn't turn the laser up very high. Also they've just started using a new laser which is better than the one I was on for the first six sessions.

At the very best so far it has improved the problem but not in any way solved it. I'm a little disappointed by the results. Maybe these last two sessions will do the trick though. I can tell you in 12 weeks if you're interested!

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 11:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lumbele a private message Print Post    
Sea, I don't know about grey or white hair, but I figure if it works for blonde it probably works for those, too.

Twinkie, the cream is supposed to help the blonde pigment to get recognised by the laser, if I understood my doc correctly.

Old-fashioned electrolosys didn't do anything for me. 20some years ago, it just emptied my wallet.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 1:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Just one more teensy point...be certain to tell the nurse or technician if you have any dental fillings so s/he can provide a mouth guard. All that zapping can wreak havoc with a sensitive mouth.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 5:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
I think the cream Lumbele mentions is like a dye that makes the hairs darker and therefore makes the laser focus on them. I think it works on any lighter coloured hair.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
Thanks, guys! I'd love to get my eyebrows done. Heck, if I could afford it I'd get my underarms and legs done too. I hate shaving! Of course, in the winter I don't shave my legs anyway. Nobody sees them but hubby. LOL

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 8:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
ACK! about the fillings. I still have at least one silver amalgam filling in my mouth and lots of gold and porcelain, including a bridge....

Lumbele.. that would be interesting to make sure..about the grey or white hairs.. the brochure at my gyn's office for laser removal flat out stated that it wouldn't work on white hairs. But it seems like they are continuing to improve the techniques.