I had my first laser hair treatment today

[Guest Melissa~]

Full face done at Bodyaesthetic. They have a nice staff there, the nurse that performed the entire treatment seemed to have plenty of experience and handled everything treatment related herself. This initial treatment session lasted an hour, 15 minutes of which was consultation that won't be repeated, there was also some time to determine the highest setting I could tolerate.

The initial electrolysis work on my upper lip was beneficial, in that the laser had less there to zap, it caused less pain than I might expect.

The pain in the end is quite bad,

I have to say listening to the hairs pops like popcorn under the gel is pretty cool ,

feeling them pop like popcorn in your skin not so much .

As expected redness from the session faded quite fast but the bumps have not. About the bumps, it has now been eleven hours, and the bumps that made me look approximately like an ear of corn post treatment have given way to more generalized low level swelling. The skin is moderately sore some areas, and worse in others. There is a bit of sensitivity around the margins of my lips indicating slight burning there.

The machine counted 1124 zaps, six different intensities(several right at the beginning), it boils down to 1 setting for the face and 1 for the neck that's in my chart for next time assuming the treated hairs shed out as expected.

I am not their only TS patient, there is another getting treatments currently there.

[Guest Melissa~]

It's been 31 hours since treatment, and it's finaly bedtime. I have numerous bumps and swelling still. I'm at 33 hours sisnce I got up. The conversion back to day schedule is brutal. gnight

[Guest angels wings]

Wow what an experience sounds soooooo painful . Glad ur feeling better hopefully today u wake up refreshed with no pain .

[Guest Melissa~]

Indeed a good nights sleep is an amazing restorer, my face it still slightly swollen and bumpy, but I'm shaving anyhow... Good morning.

[KathrynJulia]

Melisssa

You might have a chat with your doctor about a topical corticosteroid cream to reduce the swelling in a precription strength. It has helped me a bunch. Kathryn

[Guest Melissa~]

Bodyaesthetic gave me a sample of prescription cortisone cream . I used it after treatment and still had that reaction.

I should use this opportunity to provide one week later feedback. I still have a few swollen bumps, the same small areas show discoloration. Basically the skin just plain got overcooked there. On the other hand there is hardy a single hair even emerging in the over cooked areas. I have had some hairs shed out, nothing significant yet. Plenty of hairs are irritated and seem to be difficult to shave. I need to see a lot more shedding out to have any faith in this treatment. One area that seems to have only minimal treatment effects is my upper lip, as mentioned above it wasn't too bad, my lip had been entirely cleared with electrolysis before, surely that's not a detriment to laser treatment. I'm 5 weeks out from my next laser treatment

[Guest Melissa~]

At the three week mark, the effective removal seems to be 90% on the treated area. There are some interesting patterns where it's apparent the treatment didn't hit , I will point these out to the nurse next time. The upper lip area had limited efficacy, around 40% for it, and that is VERY frustrating. Anyway there should be ample oppurtunity for the next batch of hair to get growing in the next three weeks before the next treatment.

[Guest Maria_B]

Ooof! Well, at least it's done something

[Guest Melissa~]

2nd appointment was this afternoon, The pain was lower, there are many fewer bumps. The tech turned up my setting to "70" joules for the upper lip, a 9% increase over treatment 1. Plenty of popping and zapping, smoking still going on from various hairs under the laser.

Since immediate post treatment effects are lower I expect that to carry through the next few days.

Can't wait for more hair to shed out!

[Guest MsPerseveres]

I want to lose the hair, but... ouch :-(.

Brenda

[Guest KarenLyn]

Indeed a good nights sleep is an amazing restorer, my face it still slightly swollen and bumpy, but I'm shaving anyhow... Good morning.

Shaving? I wish I could remember the type of laser used for my treatments. After treatments, there wasn't anything to shave for days and no hairs to "shed". After a treatment, I used an astringent soaked gauze to remove the "soot" from my face. I was only red for 30-40 minutes and there weren't any bumps/swelling.

It makes me wonder what they're selling these days.

Just my opinion,

Karen

[Guest Melissa~]

Check the posts dates, I shaved three days after the procedure, yes hairs were emerging. My original post was at 1 in the morning day after( I was still calling it the same day. )

The hairs that I shed post laser are nearly 1/4 long from under then skin, it's very deep rooted hair. If it was turned all the way to soot under the skin I think there might be a problem... I go into the procedure fully/closely shaved, there was very little "soot", post procedure, most of it was wiped away at the office.

With my very deep rooted hair(1/4" below the skin) is likely a significant reason why my shaving shadow is highly unsatisfactory, even with hair shaved off clean.

[Guest LizMarie]

Deeply rooted hair does indeed cause the beard shadow effect. This weekend I expect my electrologist to finish the initial clearing of the upper lip. Areas that are cleared have to have followup care, of course, as successive waves of hairs begin their growth cycles but already most of the lip is fairly free of beard shadow and it's a liberating feeling. I've got months to go but I'm already thinking about makeup in terms of simply highlighting my good features rather than using it as a covering mechanism. And I can eventually see being able to go mostly makeup free if I choose, something totally impossible right now. Getting rid of the facial hair is a very happy thing, at least for me. I hope it it for you too, Melissa. You're lucky that laser is an option for you!

[KathrynJulia]

I've also found that if I head right home after electrolysis and ice down the treated area, I have so much less swelling from the treatment and less irritation to. I like to wait until the next morning to shave even though I detest all the facial hair. My skin just isn't ready to run a razor over it, hence ice and shaving the next morning.

Kathryn

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

My face would get iced down immediately following a laser treatment and I wasn't allowed to leave until my face had cooled off. Once we were finished zapping, my tech would go to the freezer and get an ice pack and I'd bury my face in it at first and then hold it on areas of my face until the ice pack warmed up (didn't take very long). The she'd get another one and I'd continue holding it on various areas of my face. It took about 10-15 minutes to ice my face down and then she'd let me go. Then I'd hop in the car and rub aloe sunburn gel on my face, that usually helped too.

Then we'd go get ice cream. Of course I wouldnt run in to get it, we'd go through the McDonald's drive thru and I'd lean back in the passenger seat so noone saw me and my red, swollen face.

[Guest WendyJean]

My second one is coming up soon. Recently I've noticed a major texture change, it is easier to shave, and it gets closer.

My advice, use moisturizer every morning, it has a SPF and is good for the skin.

[Guest LizMarie]

I'm doing electrolysis because of hair color and texture and I'm also noticing slow but steady skin changes. My electrologist is nearly done with the upper lip and both cheeks have had an initial clearing and both those areas are already softer and show almost no hint of beard stubble. It's pretty obvious when you look too as the chin and neck clearly have that blue/black shadow look (even though about 50% of my facial hair is grey).

My electrologist has been urging me to use a moisturizer with an SPF as well to protect the healing skin from the sun and to promote healing. Personally I've been using Gold Bond Healing with Aloe in the evenings before bed and a generic moisturizer with SPF during the day.

[KathrynJulia]

I'm picking up a couple ice paks tonight. Not icing my face down has resulted in a badly swollen right cheek. I've got a couple comments today at work. Usually I go right home and get ice on my face and it make a real nice difference in reducing the swelling. Yesterday I ran some errands after my electrolysis appointment and it was 3 hours after my treatment before I got ice on my face.

Between my face and some chest development this week. I've also made the mistake of wearing a form fitting shirt to work today. I'm feeling pretty self conscious at work right about now and it's not a very comfortable feeling either. One more hour, just one more hour........... Kathryn