Laser Hair Removal

Ok so you have clicked on Laser hair removal. Are you considering having it done? Well if you are then I hope you can benefit from my experience. I searched for quite some time before I found a place I liked. I tried several places. I even got ripped off once. Having had a bad experience I began asking around the club I go to for advice and recommendations. What I found was that all the girls seamed to go the same place. Beautiful New You. One of the reasons everyone seems to go there is because they are gender friendly and have the best price and program around. The way it works is fantastic because you only pay one price and you go as many times as needed for three years! UNBELIEVABLE. Most places charge for every visit and it can be very expensive. Also, knowing that once you have paid and you can go free for the next three years you are more likely to follow through with all the visits you need to remove the hair.

             UP DATE ON BEAUTYFULL NEW YOU. 
THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS TWO WEEKS AFTER I PAID MY $3000 for a THREE YEAR RE-NEWAL. 

I have put together some thoughts and suggestions for a more pleasant treatment session. One thing about laser hair removal is that it hurts. Can be very painful in some areas. 

Shaving. The first laser technician told me to shave as closet as possible so that the laser don’t have to travel so far to get to the root. So I shaved and shaved my face with a Gillett Mach 3 blade to get as close as possible. Damn did that laser hurt. 
When I went to Beautiful New You they told me not to shave for a few days prior to my treatment. I was confused. Being the stubborn person that I am, I continued to shave like crazy before each treatment thinking that the laser light would be more potent traveling through a short hair to the root. Damn did that laser hurt. After a while I realized that all that shaving was burning my skin and making the laser hurt like crazy. I then decided to take the advice of Beautiful New You and not shave for two days before my treatment. WOW, much less pain. Then I realized that the pain was from my skin being shaved away exposing nerve endings that the laser aggravated. So I stopped razor shaving and began using my electric shaver only. Wow even less pain. No more shaving with a blade ever. 

Face lotion. I learned that sensitive skin causes pain when having laser. I realized that the shaving made my face sensitive. I then realized that my face skin was dry and cracked. I guessed that the cracks would allow the laser to get into my skin to the nerves possibly, so I began putting on a real nice facial lotion thee times a day. After a few weeks I realized how bad my skin had been. My face began to feel so nice and soft. And so did my hands from putting the lotion on my face. Well guess what? The next laser treatment was not so painful. The lotion idea really helped. But it still hurts like crazy. 

Pain Killers. It has been suggested to me to try pill type painkillers. You know like Motrin, Advil, Tylenol, and Valium etc. for me taking pills proved no effect at all. What I did find worked was to drink a pint of Amaretto on the way to the clinic. Helps a lot!

Topical ointments. There are several numbing creams available like EMLA and Lidocaine/prilocaine 2.5%. These creams are available by prescription only. I simply wrote my doctor a letter stating that I was going to have some laser hair removal done and I needed some EMLA cream. On the letter I stated the name and pharmacy phone number for him to call in the script. I checked a few days later with Walgreen’s and it was there no problem. Unlike the directions say, you put a small amount on your finger and rub in on the area you want it. Apply your first application 45 minutes before having your treatment, and then follow up twice again every 15 minutes. Don’t use too much. Use it only where the pain is unbearable.

Ice. Fortunately Beautiful New You understands the necessity for cooling the area before a laser treatment. They use these 5 x 5 frozen gel packs to cool the area before zapping. The icy treatment helps tremendously. Without the skin being icy cold, laser would be impossible to endure. I bring my own gloves that have some crazy little silicone threads spread around on them that help hold the ice packs from slipping and insulate my fingers from the cold of the packs. I hold the ice packs on my face until the cold begins to burn. Then they go to work on that area that I just cooled down while I hold a pack on the next place to be lasered. The ice is the trick to less pain. Hold the ice pack as long as possible. Bring your own gloves.

     UP DATE ON THE ICE PACKS.. ICE PACKS REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LASER TREMEMDOUSLY.

Rubbing: Rubbing the spot right after treatment, seems to diffuse the pain a bit. Don’t touch it yourself, that increases the chance for irritation or infection. 

Something in your mouth: I find that having a breath mint or hard candy to melt and play around with your tongue can help. Careful with gum or something that requires chewing or moving the jaw– it may slow facial treatment down.

UPDATE 

I am disappointed that I spent over six miserable years going religiously every month for painful laser hair removal not to have so much hair. I have tried several recommended places and still have way too much facial hair.

I now go to American Laser Skincare. I have only had one visit and I KNOW I AM IN THE RIGHTPLACE NOW. When I went to Beautiful New You my technician was Nancy. Nancy and I became friends after all the years I went to Beautiful New You. After the place closed up Nancy went to several other places. Nancy called me from every place she went to. Disappointed losing three grand I did not go. Finally the hair got to me and I called Nancy and made an appointment. Nancy and I spent quite a bit of time reminiscing. But when we got to talking about the treatments she admitted that she was instructed all wrong by the other places she worked at. Nancy said that the American Laser Skincare have hundreds of locations all corporate owned. The equipment is replaced every year with the latest machines. Nancy told me that she gets extensive training by the Manufacturer of the machine she is using which is something she never had before. American Laser Skincare is a huge company that is really on the ball not a cheesy place owned by a rip off artist.

The down side is the pain is greater. They don’t use ice. That makes it hurt more. The ice makes the treatment do almost nothing. When Nancy did my face I could hear the hairs burning in my face. It made a sound. I never heard that before. The hairs literally blew out of my face. They were all over me. That never happened before. When I left my face was red in spots for a few days. Not bad but I could tell something happened. Two weeks later I was so amazed to notice a huge amount of my beard was gone. That never happened before either. I am serious when I say that a few more treatment I think this hair is going to be gone. 

Be motivated: This may sound silly, but those who really want this done are willing to deal with the occasional pain. If the pain makes you not want to go, perhaps you should step back and think about what you really want.