So I Had A Consultation This Month...

[Guest Fanta]

Well, let me start out by saying that I'm nineteen and have been on hormones the day I reached that age. I have very pale skin and dark-brown hair.

I have hair on my face like many MtF transsexuals, but it's not an adult amount. The spaced-out hairs that I do have are so dark that no amount of makeup is able to hide it, even after shaving. The upper lip is the worst. It's making me very self-concious and I don't even want to leave the house unless I've had three days to let the hair grow out. I noticed the longer I go between shaving, the less noticable the follice is under the skin.

Anywho, I had a consultation at the A&E NYS Center here in Syracuse. My consultant was a very nice woman with a lot of spunk in her and pulled a few awkward laughs from me. The center does a lot of proceedures, from microderm abrasion to skin rejuvenation. They sound experienced, which is a plus. :3

They have nice payment plans through some organization (I don't remember the name). The price and time to do my entire face is $100 a month and will take 10 months to do. That's great for me; so little of a monthly dent in my possible paycheck since I live with my parents and am between semesters.

Next we talked about the possibility of legs. It's same price of ~$100 a month no matter how many things I get done. It takes 36 months to do the legs, she says, and the total must be paid in 2 years or the interest on my plan will get nutty.

So for ~$100 a month, this is what she offered (she through in some free areas )

1. Full Face - 10 months

2. Legs - 36 months

3. Arms (free) - I didn't ask how long

4. Feet (free) - I didn't ask how long

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(What I might ask for as well)

5. Lower back

6. Chest

7. Abdomen

I'm so excited that I can afford this on an undergraduate job! This is what would help me go out without feeling so paranoid. I'll need a job first but they're so scarce in this town. My mother has a friend who knows my situation and might let me work at their restaurant.

Questions:

- Does anyone who has had experience in this sort of thing feel it's worth that price?

- Mid-treatment, did hair removal cause a lot of in-grown hairs from the weakened follice not being able to poke past the skin?

- Post-treatment, was the hair still there in some places? Was electrolysis the only permenant answer for those?

- Did laser hair removal damage your skin long-term that you can tell? Short-term? Things like discoloration or rough skin.

Some advice from a transgender site suggested to laser off as much hair as it could, and then later on use electrolysis for hairs that were left over.

Thanks for any help you can spare!

[Sally]

You have the perfect combination for laser hair removal - dark hair and light skin.

I am not sure about your other questions but I would hold off on doing body parts until you have been on your hormones for a while longer, they do effect body hair.

So if you spend 10 months on your face that gives you almost another year on hormones so you will have a good idea of how much change there will be - and less hair to remove anyway.

Love ya,

Sally