Question:
Would appreciate any feedback that any of you may have on hair removal
using the laser hair removal system.
I have very dark coarse hair and over the years have always had the
challenge of upper lip and chin hairs..however since menopause ( 4 years
now), it has been increasingly growing back. I am truly tired of
tweezers and razors and has left my chin especially irritated. Am
seriously considering laser hair removal but would like to hear from
anyone who has tried this and the success rate of it. It has become a
bothersome and embarassing issue for me. Thank you for any information
that any of you can share.
Answer:
Loretta, yes, yes, yes, by all means do it, and do it *now* before the
hair starts turning white (it does not work on white or blonde hair).
But: have a *doctor* do it, don't go to a salon. I don't know where
you live but there is an absolutely fabulous dermatologist here in San
Francisco who charged very little more than the salon where I had my
first experiment, and her system is an advance over the laser hair
removed -- it's a pulsed light system which is more effective. I was
told I would need three visits (hair grows in cycles) and I only
needed the salon one and then hers. She also cleaned my skin (which
the salon did not) and provided me with a topical anesthetic (Ela-Max
-- I have no commercial connection to this product). After the
procedure (both the salon and the doctor) my upper lip was swollen and
my chin turned red and I got little white blotches, but that went away
in a day. Only one caveat: if you are sensitive to pain you will find
the procedure painful, but not intolerably so. I am a complete wuss
for pain and generally use both painkillers and alcohol before an
electrolysis session (I still have monthly "touchups" with
electrolysis, to remove the occasional stray which grows back and also
to work on the white hairs). But after *years* of weekly electrolysis
and having to bleach *every other day* this is one of the best things
I have ever done.
