Question
Here is my question. I'm a male, light skin, dark hair. Want to do the back. If I go with six "treatments" over 12-18 months, what is the long term result?
In other words, what can I expect five years after the treatments are over?

Answer
Here is my question. I'm a male, light skin, dark hair. Want to do the back. If I go with six "treatments" over 12-18 months, what is the long term result?
In other words, what can I expect five years after the treatments are over?

Answer
laser hair removal is supposed to be permanent, but results really vary from person to person. you won't know until you try it unfortunately is the answer. there are some success stories that you can find on this and other boards where people haven't had regrowth for several years, but in general, those who are happy don't look through these boards and move on with their life. for your skin and hair type, you should achieve good permanent or at least long-lasting results. most would say that on a large area like that, you might need 1-2 touchup treatments per year after you are done just because you will probably be developing more hair as you get older. you need to find a good tech with a good laser to do it and they have to be aggressive about it. good luck.

Answer
Hi,
there are a few things you should know before starting, first is that I don't believe many men get the results they want with 6 treatments. It really depends though how hairy you are to begin with. I have had 12 and have had good results but then I have not stopped yet and so my real results are not known until 6-9 months after I stop treatments. Right now I would estimate that over 85% is gone 8 weeks after my last treatment but this figure would drop if I stopped treatments now and allowed the remaining hair to grow back. Blink888 is correct though, most men will require a few sessions a year to keep things tidy. If I was only half as hairy then maybe I would have great results after 6 but its impossible to say as everyone is different.
If you're serious then I would wait until you can budget for more than 6 treatments, find someone you can trust to do your treatments i.e. someone who will take a personal interest in your success, not some spotty teenager working at lasers R us who couldn't care less if they never saw you again. A small privately owned clinic will often give better service and comparable prices to the big chains. Remember, the experience and attitude of the tech is probably the most important thing to look for in a clinic. You should also ensure the laser they use is approved by the FDA for 'permanent hair reduction', as there is a lot of pseudo 'laser', type equipment which is not approved. Last thing to remember is always use the highest energy settings your skin can take safely. Low energy settings will not do anything and will set you up for disappointment. Many of these big chains try to treat you with low settings and can be reluctant to put it up. Using high energy settings is crucial, if you can't take it then don't do it as low energy settings just plain don't work on a guy.
good luck
Osh

Answer
your post a great and very helpful. thanks!
maybe you can post an outline of your experience so far with details like your skin/hair type, laser used, recommendation for the good clinic that you found etc. it would be great to have a personal experience to refer to since you seem to have good results. thanks again.

Answer
Thanks for the info. I was thinking of going to Advanced Laser Clinics (they use a diode) but I think I'll investigate a dermatologist.
Even if I get an 85% recuction and only then have to go one time per year to keep things "clean" for the summer, that seems somewhat reasonable to me.

Answer
I have a good friend who has been having treatments at the Advanced LC in the Lynnwood area of WA. The results appear to be pretty good, if you ask me. I have been there though I've not had any treatments and they appear to be professional.
I've had treatments at a nearby place in the mall and they use the Aurora. My results have been pretty good as well but, I have to say that there seems to be no consistency with technicians. There have been some really good ones who take there time and are very thorough. On the other hand, there have been some others who kinda hurry through the procedure and miss spots. It seems to me that the good ones don't stay as long possibly because of the pressure to sell and move on to the next client. Of course, this is just my perception from the outside looking in. However, the prices are good but I don't know if that is a consolation for not having a tech do a good job.
The place where I went that provided the worst service (for me) was a place that starts with the letter Q in Honolulu. The procedure was done by an RN with 6 or so years of experience in LHR. I certainly was not impressed. I think I would rather stay with technicians, thank you.
My best experience was at a place in Bellevue where a person with a number of years of both laser and electrolysis did the procedure. She was very thorough and conscientious and I was impressed. That's not to discount the really good techs at the place in the mall as they were very thorough and conscientious, too. Among the procedures there were procedures on the bikini line. I've had 7 of them. The last one was probably six month ago and the area has been fairly hair free (just some fine, light ones remaining). Of course, I understand that the bikini line tends to be more responsive than other areas, such as a back.

Answer
Hi Blink888,
I have very pale skin and dark hair although not jet black. Skin type ii/iii probably as I can tan. I have used the Gentlelase GL+ and have had 12 treatments on full chest, abs, shoulders and back.
My treatment history is
Treatment Spot size Energy level
1&2 18mm 18J
3&4 18mm 20J
5 - 10 15mm 30J / 35J (not sure now)
11 & 12 12mm 40J
I think this is about right, might have switched to 15mm at treatment 4 but not sure now
% Reduction by body part ( This figure is approx 8 weeks from treatment 12)
Chest 85% +
Abs 85% +
back 80% +
shoulders 50% +
Please remember these figures are an estimate and conservative. Remember also that real results are not known until you wait for at least one full growth cycle after you stop treatments, this can be 6-9 months. As you can see my shoulders have not responded as well as other areas. We switched to 12mm @ 40J a couple of treatments ago to try and target these lighter finer hairs which have their root closer to the surface than dark thick terminal hairs. After the first treatment at this level there was a noticable improvement but I now notice an area on the back of my left shoulder which seems to have more regrowth this time.
This brings me to good point about results. You can look great 8 weeks out from a treatment but then 8 weeks out from the following treatment somehow things looks worse than last time. I believe this is due to the different cycles of hair growth, the hairs that are growing back now on the back of my shoulder were not in the right cycle on the last treatment and so were effectively missed. This is one of the important reasons for going regularly, i.e. so that you synchronise the growth cycles so that your treatments can be most effective. Remember the hair can only be treated by the laser when in the first stage of growth aka anagen phase. Another key here is to not allow the tech to miss too many of your hairs as this can throw the synchronisation effort off track. Some unsrupulous tech use this technique to cause you to need more treatments that you would need if they had taken more care.
Another thing is energy levels. If you use low energy levels this will probably not kill the follicle, it will likely just weaken it causing it to grow back lighter and finer. This introduces a new problem and that is that the new lighter finer hairs now have less melanin in the them and this is the target for the laser. With less melanin to target, less of the laser's energy is now directed down into the follicle. This gives less chance to kill it and so the hair gets lighter and finer and harder to target etc etc. Over time the blood supply can be restored and so darker hairs may eventually grow back. Its hard to tell as you can't really track a single hair.
So the best thing to do is to hit them hard in the beginning and try to kill them outright. So take the highest settings your skin can take SAFELY.
best of luck

Answer
thanks a lot for your very descriptive post. this pretty much confirms a lot of responses to questions with actual facts. hope this helps others.