Question:
I wondered if some who have had laser hair removal before could share your
experiences with me. I have been looking into it and reading up on it. I
think I am ready to do it, but don't know where to start. How do I go about
finding someone reputable to do it? Do I call my dermatologist? I don't
know anyone irl who has had it done, so I can not ask for recommendations.
Any information would be really helpful!
Answer:
Yes, you could call your dermatologist for recommendations - or maybe he does
it in his office. Unless you have unlimited funds, do some comparison shopping
in your area, because while competition has driven laser prices down, some
still charge too much. It's really a very simple procedure not worth paying
megabucks for.
We do laser surgery in our medical office (not a derm but a physician/surgeon),
and how it works on hair is that the laser targets the melanin in the hair and
follows it down to the root, where it pulverizes it. According to the charts,
each laser treatment permanently eliminates 70 to 80% of the hairs actively
growing at the time, and there are three stages of hair growth, so
theoretically you would need three treatments, maybe more, to get every hair.
That's the theory. In practice, one treatment got rid of I'd say 80% of my leg
and underarm hair and the second treatment eliminated virtually the rest.
My experience is that I was thrilled. It didn't hurt exactly but there was a
sensation akin to a rubber band snapping against your skin - or you could bend
our thumb and index finger into a circle and snap that against your skin -
that's the same feeling. But it's minor compared to the benefit of being
blissfully hair free.
