Jump to content
  • Welcome to the TransPulse Forums!

    We offer a safe, inclusive community for transgender and gender non-conforming folks, as well as their loved ones, to find support and information.  Join today!

My first session of laser facial hair removal


Guest hoojee15

Recommended Posts

Guest hoojee15

Hey everyone, this is Jessie (used to be Jessica lol), I have not posted for a long time. Today I just finished my first session of laser hair removal so I want to share with you ladies some details of my experience.

I did that in dermatology department of Boston Medical Center (725 Albany St, Boston, MA). The procedure is super fast, only takes about 5 minutes and only needs one dermatologist and one nurse to carry out. The pain is not too much, completely tolerable even for me (I often burst to tears because of the pain I suffered when I need to cut my skin to do some blood test). The whole treatment will be 4 to 6 sessions, depending on individual situation. Each session will only take 5 minutes to finish, but the time between two sessions has to be at least 1 month (can be longer than that). The price is $400 per session (with a 10% discount if you are affiliated to BMC or BU).

According to the dermatologist (certified and with M.D degree) there, their laser facial hair removal for biological male is permanent, unlike previous laser approaches. Once all sessions are done, there will be either no facial hair at all, or at most some very scarce facial hair remaining. In case one is concerned about the little remaining hair, one can do the laser once again and get rid of what is remaining.

So if their claim is true, then this should be a fast and . I will see what the effect on me is and update this post telling you my latest experience.

Hug you all.

Jessie

P.S It cannot remove white, grey and blonde facial hair

Edited by hoojee15
Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

Please keep us posted. It sounds like a wonderful development.

Hugs,

Charlie

Link to comment
Guest hoojee15

Would like to know some of the specifications of the type and name of the equipment or treatment as I am in need of same here in CT.

I am not sure about the specifications of the equipment. I will take a careful look at it next time I go there. The website of them is below:

http://www.bmc.org/bu-cosmetic-laser-center/services/laser-procedures-laser-hair-removal.htm

And I am sorry I made a mistake in my original post. This procedure is unable to remove white, grey and blonde hairs. ("Please keep in mind that white, grey and blonde hairs do not respond to any laser and are best treated with electrolysis.") But it can be applied to any skin types.

I am still skeptical about if this LASER treatment has permanent effects, as from all I have read before LASER is not permanent, only Electrolysis is. I choose that just because it is convenient and does not confine my schedule. I will see what the actual effect is.

If you are in a different region then please contact your local professionals directly, as they know much more. I am only reporting my personal experience.

Good luck to you and hugs:)

Jessie

Link to comment
Guest hoojee15

D+2 day Update:

Suppose the day of my first session, 11th Dec 2013 is D day, then now it is D+2 day.

The pain completely diminished when I woke up in the morning of D+1 day, and now the area that received laser just feels and touches as normal and as nothing had happened. I have not shaved since D day and now my facial hair grows out a little, but far less than that can grow out after two days without shaving before the laser treatment. It is still visible yet, but looks sparse and like a shallow shade, not like a dense forest anymore as before. (I have black beard and mustache)

Can any moderator tell me how to edit my original post please? Thank you very much.

Jessie

Link to comment
Guest Melissa~

I was going to post something to that effect even the best unit on earth can't target individual blond hairs, I suppose someday an excimer type laser could "delete" indivdual hairs after making a hyper-accurate map of every follicle on the face, still probably 30 years from that level of technology.

Link to comment
Guest hoojee15

D+10 day update:

The growth speed of facial hair almost has not changed since D+2 day. It reduced to about half of the speed it used to be before the 1st LASER session. The treated area remains perfectly normal and well as if nothing had happened. Now at least I can save several shaves.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest ashleynikole

I am going for my 5th facial session on Jan 2 and I saw immediate results about the 3 wk mark (probably about now for you Jessie). However, I started noticing hair regrowth around the 3rd month and when I asked, they said that the hairs on your body grow in cycles so while you will kill off some of the hairs at a session, you will not get all of the ones that were not around during that first cycle. This is why you need 6-9 sessions, to cover all the cycles and make sure all hair is attacked.

I had about 10% blonde/gray hair on my face, so I still shave but it doesn't take near the time and I am WAY less irritated afterwards. it's also nice not having a shadow to try and hide with make up. Keep us posted on your sessions over the next 6-9 months. Don't forget your before and after pics (if you want them).

Link to comment

To the OP. I think they fed you some misinformation... and on top of that you are paying WAY too much for your laser. I pay $200 a session in san francisco (the land of outrageous pricing for everything). Back in FL I used to pay $115 a session for a place that used a diode laser, and $45 a session for a place that used a YAG laser. And as far as the equipment they are using, it has to be a YAG laser because on their site they claim that it is "the technology we use is safe for all skin types, even dark skin" the only laser that is true for is a YAG... and it just so happens that YAG lasers are NOT permanent and are basically completely ineffective for people with light skin tones (sure they are "safe" for light skin but they aren't effective on light skin). I do not know what your skin type is but I am sorta on the pale side (and Caucasian) and my beard was sort of a blonde/red/brown color and I was treated with a yag laser 5-6 times and it did absolutely NOTHING. I have also been treated with a diode laser which was only very slightly effective. It wasn't until I went to a place that operates several different types of lasers that I was told the only laser that will be effective on me is an alexandrite (low frequency red laser)... and guess what, they were spot on. The Alexandrite has been very effective. But I wasted a whole bunch of money on previous treatments because I didn't shop around properly.

Sorry if my post sounds a bit emotional I just kind of hate the hair removal industry, they have no qualms whatsoever on playing to peoples ignorance of the technology. They have made millions by tricking people into blowing their hard earned cash on expensive and ineffective treatments... all the while promising completely unrealistic results. Guess what ladies? Chances are that 90% of us will go through twice as many sessions as they say you will need and at the end still have to shave daily. Actual clearance of facial hair using laser is a rare rare thing (but if done right it will thin it out significantly and slow its growth).

Link to comment

Actually I was wrong, the are not using a YAG laser... in fact they are not using a laser at all, they are selling IPL treatments as "laser" treatments and those are NOT the same thing by a long stretch. Sure IPL is safer, but it much much less effective in fact it is generally considered worthless for beard removal. Not to mention the fact that IPL machines are way cheaper and generally IPL treatments only cost a fraction of a laser treatment.

It sounds like this place is running a scam... OP if I were you I would put my cash back in my wallet and run like the wind!

Link to comment
Guest hoojee15

Actually I was wrong, the are not using a YAG laser... in fact they are not using a laser at all, they are selling IPL treatments as "laser" treatments and those are NOT the same thing by a long stretch. Sure IPL is safer, but it much much less effective in fact it is generally considered worthless for beard removal. Not to mention the fact that IPL machines are way cheaper and generally IPL treatments only cost a fraction of a laser treatment.

It sounds like this place is running a scam... OP if I were you I would put my cash back in my wallet and run like the wind!

I have not been here for a while.Thank you so much for your two informational threads jodie. So far 25 days passed and my beard growth is still very slow, and I only need to shave every 3 days. So as far as I know it seems working.... Of course I do not know the long term effects yet. Can you please tell me why you think they are using not laser but IPL? Sorry I do not know too much about this.

Link to comment
Guest hoojee15

Just looked up some more information of the clinic I went. It seems the doctor treated me is a good one with lots of publications, honors and awards. So do her colleagues. So I would rather believe them for now..... Maybe there is a reason why they charge that much. Hopefully I am right lol.

Link to comment

Yea the first place I went to had all sorts of publications, certificates, and awards too... had a wall with a ton of them stuck to it. But guess what? Those are all awarded by the industry... that's like the National Restaurant Association giving Burger King an award for "health and nutrition"...

This is the link on their website that states the machine they use is IPL not laser... they are being misleading.

http://www.bmc.org/bu-cosmetic-laser-center/services/laser-procedures-starlux-laser.htm

The first time I had it done with a diode laser I saw results too, but they quickly reversed... when the follicle gets zapped it may get knocked out of commission for awhile giving the illusion of success. Then the hair follicle heals itself and starts pumping out hair again. Trust me, I have wasted thousands of dollars on laser, I have heard it all before... I have spent countless nights researching the tech and science behind it all. I am by no means an expert, but I know enough to be skeptical. You should do yourself a favor and shop around, what harm can it do?

Link to comment
Guest hoojee15

Yea the first place I went to had all sorts of publications, certificates, and awards too... had a wall with a ton of them stuck to it. But guess what? Those are all awarded by the industry... that's like the National Restaurant Association giving Burger King an award for "health and nutrition"...

This is the link on their website that states the machine they use is IPL not laser... they are being misleading.

http://www.bmc.org/bu-cosmetic-laser-center/services/laser-procedures-starlux-laser.htm

The first time I had it done with a diode laser I saw results too, but they quickly reversed... when the follicle gets zapped it may get knocked out of commission for awhile giving the illusion of success. Then the hair follicle heals itself and starts pumping out hair again. Trust me, I have wasted thousands of dollars on laser, I have heard it all before... I have spent countless nights researching the tech and science behind it all. I am by no means an expert, but I know enough to be skeptical. You should do yourself a favor and shop around, what harm can it do?

Thank you so much jodie88. I will definitely ask them about this. May I ask how long it took for the follicle to heal back for you? And since your beard is blonde/red/brown, as far as I know normal laser will not be so effective on you. I have yellow skin and completely black beard which I heard is the ideal to be treated by laser or IPL. If my beard was not black I would not even bother with laser. Also I cannot afford the time commitment required for electrolysis. Well I do not know now. My life is already busy enough, sigh.

Link to comment

Still my beard was pretty dark, they all told me I was the ideal candidate too. It will take about 2 months for the follicle to heal and then you are back where you started. Here check out this pic of me just prior to beginning transition...

muic.jpg

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest hoojee15

2D day update:

Today (Jan 13) is the day of my 2nd treatment. I took note of the machine they use. It is Candela GentleMax. It seems to be a new model of such euqipment. As far as I know, it uses two types of laser:GentleYag (an ND:Yag laser) combined with GentleLase (an Alexandrite laser). So I do think it may be effective after all and I will give it more tries.

I have attached a photo of the euqipment.

2014-01-13%2014.18.26.jpg

Link to comment

Yes that is an excellent machine! One of the best actually. The alexandrite mode will be very effective if you have light colored skin... the yag is for darker skin, make sure they aren't using that mode if you have light skin as it wont do much of anything.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Who's Online   5 Members, 0 Anonymous, 106 Guests (See full list)

    • Ashley0616
    • awkward-yet-sweet
    • Carolyn Marie
    • Abigail Genevieve
    • Karen Carey
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      80.7k
    • Total Posts
      768.4k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      12,028
    • Most Online
      8,356

    earthpatch
    Newest Member
    earthpatch
    Joined
  • Today's Birthdays

    1. Anyatimenow
      Anyatimenow
      (23 years old)
    2. Aria00
      Aria00
    3. Ava B.
      Ava B.
      (24 years old)
    4. Claire Heshi
      Claire Heshi
    5. CrystalMatthews0426
      CrystalMatthews0426
      (41 years old)
  • Posts

    • awkward-yet-sweet
      Interesting...never knew any of this.  Of course, in my girl form I never got breasts, so I never had to worry about it.  A couple of pieces of tape would have been sufficient...      Sounds like fun   It has been interesting for me since I stopped trying to do sex like a girl.  The real surprise was my relationship with my husband, as he has figured me out pretty well. 
    • Abigail Genevieve
      Women's jeans, soft t-shirt that could go either way, flip-flops. 
    • Abigail Genevieve
      They were sitting on the love seat, looking west out over Kansas.  Below them the busy city ran to and fro.   "They called.  My surgery has been rescheduled for May 8.  I need to be there at 5 AM for pre-op.  I start prescriptions and diet change on May 1."   "Okay."  Bob did his not-thinking-about anything look.  Taylor was always amazed that he could  actually be thinking about absolutely nothing. She was always thinking of at least six things.   "How can they be like that?" "What?"  He startled a little.  Contact with reality was reestablished. "Where does the hate come from?  Mrs. McArthur?  She was always polite, but I think she wasn't really.  Somehow she hated me even though there were no indications whatsoever." "Yeah, well, you know they are starting up that plant.  And my company is going ahead with their work there, down n Milliville.   I will have to go down there sometimes." "Oh, Bob." "Maybe I will stop by and ask her." "No." "No.  Cabaret is closed, I have been told.  Your transgender support group has scattered to other places." "What is wrong with those people?" "Same thing as Roosevelt, I guess.  You know all the racial comments against Blacks?  Like that game where our cheerleaders started this insulting cheer, an the opposite team was mostly Black? Teachers stopped it." "I didn't know.  I was staying away from that, remember?" "Yes." "You know all those kids at our church, the ones you called freaks the other day?" "I shouldn't have called them that." "Pastor tells me they are all from all over the Midwest.  These are kids who have been thrown out of their homes and were found on the street.  Other shelters would not take them, so they wound up here." "Not surprising." "I think we could do some good here." "What do you have in mind?" And she told him.
    • EasyE
      You are spot on here ... but also it seems like such a rigged game for the average person that it's hard to invest energy into the political arena -- too much big money controlling too many people/organizations/narratives for the common person to fee; heard...   In general, why we in America accept either candidate is baffling... for all our innovation as a nation, we can't do better than these two bozos?    The problem is, the political arena is such a sham -- again with large money controlling all aspects of the system -- that a common-sense, love-your-neighbor, make-reasonable-compromises, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-to-work candidate will never make it anywhere above the local level (if even there)...    Everything is a reality show, and boring ol' decision makers that try to benefit the most people don't generate enough clicks, views and retweets...  I am not sure it is so much about celebrity as it is about party politics at all costs - "my side must always be viewed as right and your side must always be viewed as wrong!" kind of thinking... there is no consensus building anymore because that will get used against you in campaign ads... When Obama took office and then Hilary ran again, it was like all Republicans want to do was to find someone loud enough to put them in their place. Forget issues, forget character, just win a debate and rally the base.    To get back to your original point, not enough of us care about politics ... and in some ways we've become fat, happy and entitled as a nation. The yearning to achieve the "American dream", which drove my parents and their parents before them to work their tails off and sacrifice and save, is now just "give me the American dream for free while I sit here on my phone and watch tiktok..."
    • Abigail Genevieve
      You are in the right place.
    • EasyE
      I am about 5 weeks ahead of you ... best wishes to you! For me it has been subtle changes at most so far (if any) ... but I am also on the "beginner's" level of patch, lol ...    Easy
    • Abigail Genevieve
      Oh, another comment.   I am a conservative evangelical with strong Republican leanings. So is my wife, my friends, my family. I disagree with a good amount of what the Republicans are doing, but there it is.  I understand the mindset, I think, a lot better than those who are outside it do.   When you insult Republicans you insult me, my friends, my family.   People like me can struggle with trans issues.   Please consider that in posting.
    • Abigail Genevieve
      Then you are in despair.
    • MaeBe
      I found this as well. No playacting, they just appear: the finger waggle wave; bracing my elbow on my other arm that's folded across my chest, wrist in the air half-cocked; walking a bit more fiercely... All that. My wife thought I was mocking her at one point!
    • Abigail Genevieve
      I find my lack of time to read the thing frustrating, and I will not really comment until I have read it.  This is a wholly inadequate response.   1.  I think there are some legitimate concern.   2. Thoroughly discussing this will consume many threads.   3. I disagree partially with @MaeBe but there is partial agreement.   4. The context includes what is happening in society that the authors are observing.  It is not an isolated document.   5. Trump, if elected, is as likely to spend his energies going after political opponents as he is to implementing something like this.    6. I reject critical theory, which is based on Marxism.  Marxism has never worked and never will.  Critical theory has problems which would need time to go into, which I do not have.   7. There are groups who have declared war on the nuclear family as problematically patriarchal, and a lot of other terms. They are easy to find on the internet.  This document is reacting to that (see #4 above).   8.  Much of this would have to be legislated, and this is a policy documented.  Implementation would  be most likely different, but that does not mean criticism is unwarranted. 
    • Abigail Genevieve
      Sort of bracing myself for flipping, because I am wearing f and of course I wear f and it is natural to wear f and what else would I wear?  The  novelty is long gone out on this.  I wore a bra most of yesterday but we had a Zoom call and I took the bra off because I was concerned about the straps showing.  I missed it.    My body is saying "I am female!  Treat me that way!"   In the past it has screamed about this activity that  I have done to it.
    • Ivy
      This is what I'm scared of.  And it's quite possible. Apparently Chicken Little was right.
    • Ivy
      Whether it was a hate crime or not, it's still horrible.
    • atlantis63
      Finally I  am back online   I had to use the help of the contact form (not proud  of that, I always feel embarrassed and shy about contacting people), but here I am   missed all of you
    • atlantis63
      I'm not happy to admit this, but I usually scream or break things.   Breaking things became a bit of a no no, because It was always a cd or something I liked and it got very expensive to replace stuff
  • Upcoming Events

Contact TransPulse

TransPulse can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: Click Here.

To report an error on this page.

Legal

Your use of this site is subject to the following rules and policies, whether you have read them or not.

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Community Rules

Hosting

Upstream hosting for TransPulse provided by QnEZ.

Sponsorship

Special consideration for TransPulse is kindly provided by The Breast Form Store.
×
×
  • Create New...