My experience was almost 3 years ago. I went to a plastic surgeon who had someone in office who did the laser removal. It was costly and I had several areas done over a 5 month period. (I ran out of money). I will say from experience.....the laser works best on really course black hair and fair skin. Not much response at all with reddish hair/blond hair/gray hair. It's true that parts of the body has different response (thickness of skin and deepness of follicle). With that, the areas that respond best showed about 98% permenant removal.....3 years later. Other areas, while not permenant, created finer hair......which is still better than really course hair.
Preparation for the lasering.......Since each hair grows at a different phase, you have to wait about a month before first treatment so that it gives hairs that had been recently waxed, time to grow. The day before treatment, I was told to trim the hairs (not shave) close to the skin with scissors. Thsi will allow enough visible hair for the laser to find color (which is what the laser is looking for). There is a cooling gel (like gel used during an ultrasound) that is applied to the skin to keep the laser from frying you. The less gel, the more potent the laser. The problem with this was while the gel prevented burns and possibly pigment discoloration, it also decreases the potency of the laser and makes it necessary for more treatments. (would rather have more treatments than scars). The gel does not keep the "snapping" of the laser from hurting. Yes, it does hurt, but when you have an area that you desperately want hair free, you would be willing to endure anything.
Post laser...........Took about an hour for the areas to not be red. I have very fair skin (which is ideal for the laser as the laser is looking for color, so all the potency is going to the hair and not my skin). I did not go out of the office looking like a scaled victim, but rather slight red coloration. After about 10 days, the hairs will begin to fall out. Not all of them will fall out though. Some hairs require multiple treatments before they fall out and some require a simple touch and they slide out of the follicle.....all depends on the courseness of the hair. DO NOT USE TWEEZERS AND FORCE REMOVE THE HAIRS! THAT WILL STIMULATE GROWTH! Treatments were one month apart...it allows for all hairs to complete a growth cycle. While I did not get 100% perm removal in all areas, I am happy with my results. I would definitely do it again if I had the money. I'm sure if I was able to finish my round of treatments (I was told about 9 would be needed and I agree with that), I would have gotten the full perm result. I was only able to do 5 treatments. Hope this helps answer any questions.
Also, what were the prices and how many treatments did you need? I am guessing this will depend on the area and on the person. Is there anything I should look for when choosing a place for this? Thanks in advance!
I'd like to know, too.
