Changes after starting laser

[Guest Promethea]

I've been having a really hard time dealing with facial hair, and with having to cover it with about two pounds of makeup everyday for work, so I finally went to my first laser session.

The practitioner told me hair would appear to grow normally after the first session, but after 10 to 15 days I would be able to pull the hairs she zapped out with my fingers. I'm at day 10 now, and I tugged on some hairs gently with tweezers yesterday, but they were still too firmly attached.

At first I didn't notice any changes, but some people have told me they see them. Now I think I am seeing some changes, but I'm not sure if I'm just being influenced.

I feel as if it is growing slower, and probably thinner too, specially on the sides of my face. I shaved yesterday morning, and when I went to sleep 18 hours later, even my upper lip didn't feel as rough as as it normally would at that time of the day. Right after shaving my cheeks feel really smooth, which is something I never achieved before, no matter the type of blade of technique used. You can still see the hair, though. But late in the day, with no makeup on, it looks like I have a moustache, meaning the rest seems lighter than that area.

I just hope I'm not making it more difficult for the dead hair to fall out by shaving really close...

How long did it take you to see the first changes?

[Carolyn Marie]

Shaving close should have no effect on your laser treatments, hon. It just takes time to really start seeing noticeable results, as in 3 months or more. As you've already noticed, shaving will become easier all the time, with less and less beard shadow. My face took almost a year of monthly treatments to complete, but my beard was much improved after just six months. So be patient, and you'll have good results.

Carolyn Marie

[Paula ult]

Hair growth has 3 cycles and it takes 3 -4 months for laser to get all cycles, each month you should see results, i had 8 laser sessions which took care of the dark hairs but because i am older and had grey hairs which laser does not touch i needed to do electrolysis.

Hair Growth Cycle

Hair on the scalp grows about .3 to .4 mm/day or about 6 inches per year. Unlike other mammals, human hair growth and shedding is random and not seasonal or cyclical. At any given time, a random number of hairs will be in one of three stages of growth and shedding: anagen, catagen, and telogen.

• Anagen

  Anagen is the active phase of the hair. The cells in the root of the hair are dividing rapidly. A new hair is formed and pushes the club hair (a hair that has stopped growing or is no longer in the anagen phase) up the follicle and eventually out.

  During this phase the hair grows about 1 cm every 28 days. Scalp hair stays in this active phase of growth for two to six years.

  Some people have difficulty growing their hair beyond a certain length because they have a short active phase of growth. On the other hand, people with very long hair have a long active phase of growth. The hair on the arms, legs, eyelashes, and eyebrows have a very short active growth phase of about 30 to 45 days, explaining why they are so much shorter than scalp hair.

• Catagen

  The catagen phase is a transitional stage and about 3% of all hairs are in this phase at any time. This phase lasts for about two to three weeks. Growth stops and the outer root sheath shrinks and attaches to the root of the hair. This is the formation of what is known as a club hair.

• Telogen

  Telogen is the resting phase and usually accounts for 6% to 8% of all hairs. This phase lasts for about 100 days for hairs on the scalp and longer for hairs on the eyebrow, eyelash, arm, and leg. During this phase, the hair follicle is completely at rest and the club hair is completely formed. Pulling out a hair in this phase will reveal a solid, hard, dry, white material at the root. About 25 to 100 telogen hairs are shed normally each day.

Paula

[Guest Promethea]

This is getting real. I haven't been able to pull any hairs out, but when I went to shave this morning I noticed a clear spot in my soul patch area, about 4 sq mm. The hair must have fallen out during the night.

It probably has also happened in other areas that aren't as evident. I see some bumps in the skin, so it won't be long before the hair that was dormant shows up, but wow!

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

It took me about 3 treatments before I started noticing a change. Then after that, after each session I'd see a gradual reduction. I was told hairs grow in cycles and not all the visible hairs grow on the same cycle so it's important to keep coming back every 4-6 weeks so you can zap hairs in each cycle.

[Guest Kayla Grace]

I've had 2 laser treatments so far. The first one was just an uncomfortable experience. I didn't really see anything different. I had the second one, and it hurt worse then anything physically I've ever felt. I find that certain patches grow slower then others one day, then another day, a different patch will grow slower. Weird.

As always, YMMV

[Guest Promethea]

It took me about 3 treatments before I started noticing a change. Then after that, after each session I'd see a gradual reduction. I was told hairs grow in cycles and not all the visible hairs grow on the same cycle so it's important to keep coming back every 4-6 weeks so you can zap hairs in each cycle.

Yeah, I bought a pack of six sessions. I'm going in again on the 14th, every 30 days or so.

Hair is definitely sparser on the sides of my face now. There's still a lot, but it's a lot less. The center of the upper lip, although it was never as hairy as the sides, is noticeably clearing up too.

[Guest Jamie61]

Hi!

I was not given any instruction about tweeting hair after laser.

My experience has been that after I receive a treatment the result appeared and improved for about 3 weeks, where I see less dark shadow ( I shave very closely ever day). Then as it became time for the next treatment, the dark shadow areas start to reappear, however the pattern is different and slightly less.

So I would say I notice some result after about a week. I just grew my 'beard' out for an evaluation and treatment by an electrologist. There were zero dark hairs and they used to make up about 1/3 of the total. This is after two treatments plus 2 weeks after starting monthly laser treatment.

I hope you get some results soon because it feels very nice to see the improvement!

Jamie

[Guest Promethea]

I went in for my second treatment last night. There was a different tech, who said we should go up in power because the first one had been too soft (which was a concern of mine).

Heck, did it hurt this time. I couldn't hold still. She had to stop a couple of times to let me take a breath and cry. I could smell the burnt hair and even hear the sizzling. She felt horrible when I started to cry, because she had never had someone cry before, but she only had one other trans patient who was getting a different area, with sparser hair.

She thinks the extra pain was not because of the higher setting, but mostly because of something she hadn't realized at first: that she was using a machine with a bigger head than the last tech, so she was zapping a larger area.

Unlike the first time I felt the heat on the first passing, but also I had reddening on my face, which I didn't have last time (one sign it was too soft), and as soon as I looked into a mirror I noticed a difference. It's like some hairs were vaporized or something. For me it was totally worth it. She had me book the next treatment with the smaller head, but she referred to it as "the slow one" when talking to the receptionist, so I think I'm calling in and changing it.