Question
Hi all! I just came across this site and have spent probably the last hour or so reading everyone's experiences about LHR. I have a consultation tomorrow for laser hair removal on my face and decided to search the web to find out more info. After reading some experiences posted on here, I'm starting to wonder if maybe electrolysis is a better option for me....
I have light skin and coarse, dark hair on my upper lip and chin. I started messing with it about 5 years ago after someone made a comment. My friend said, jokingly, that I had more of a mustache and beard than her husband. I laughed it off but that night I went home and waxed it with a home wax kit. I wish I never would have done it!!! The dark hairs on my upper lip are limited to the corners only, whereas the rest of it is blonde. I'd say a total of 10-15 hairs that really bother me. However, my chin has more density and I'd guess there are more than 50 in that area.
I stopped plucking them but the urge to do it is really getting to me. It is almost like they are itching and it will not go away until I get the tweezers out. Did anyone else feel like this before they had their treatment? I really don't know if I can let them be for much longer! And how do you go about your daily routine without the hair making you want to bury your head in the sand?
I don't want to waste my money on LHR if electrolysis is better for the face, thus I am wondering if anyone out there has had a positive experience with LHR when treating this area. The place I am going to uses the LightSheer laser. I have read some of the stories about more hair growth as a result of the laser treatments and I do NOT want that to happen to me....the thought of it disgusts me even more than the hair I have already!
I just know I can't let this control my life any longer. I'm tired of spending time every day (sometimes twice a day) in front of the mirror messing with it. It has interfered with my relationships as I don't want to get close and cuddly with guys. Nobody has ever metioned anything to me about this problem which makes me think I am good at hiding it, but I know it is there and I can't take it anymore. I get worried that if I get into a car accident and become unconscious, after three days in the hospital, the nurses will start to wonder if I'm really male!
Thanks for any feedback you can provide. This is a great website and everyone here seems so knowledgeable. I enjoy reading your stories.

Answer
Hi all! I just came across this site and have spent probably the last hour or so reading everyone's experiences about LHR. I have a consultation tomorrow for laser hair removal on my face and decided to search the web to find out more info. After reading some experiences posted on here, I'm starting to wonder if maybe electrolysis is a better option for me....
I have light skin and coarse, dark hair on my upper lip and chin. I started messing with it about 5 years ago after someone made a comment. My friend said, jokingly, that I had more of a mustache and beard than her husband. I laughed it off but that night I went home and waxed it with a home wax kit. I wish I never would have done it!!! The dark hairs on my upper lip are limited to the corners only, whereas the rest of it is blonde. I'd say a total of 10-15 hairs that really bother me. However, my chin has more density and I'd guess there are more than 50 in that area.
I stopped plucking them but the urge to do it is really getting to me. It is almost like they are itching and it will not go away until I get the tweezers out. Did anyone else feel like this before they had their treatment? I really don't know if I can let them be for much longer! And how do you go about your daily routine without the hair making you want to bury your head in the sand?
I don't want to waste my money on LHR if electrolysis is better for the face, thus I am wondering if anyone out there has had a positive experience with LHR when treating this area. The place I am going to uses the LightSheer laser. I have read some of the stories about more hair growth as a result of the laser treatments and I do NOT want that to happen to me....the thought of it disgusts me even more than the hair I have already!
I just know I can't let this control my life any longer. I'm tired of spending time every day (sometimes twice a day) in front of the mirror messing with it. It has interfered with my relationships as I don't want to get close and cuddly with guys. Nobody has ever metioned anything to me about this problem which makes me think I am good at hiding it, but I know it is there and I can't take it anymore. I get worried that if I get into a car accident and become unconscious, after three days in the hospital, the nurses will start to wonder if I'm really male!
Thanks for any feedback you can provide. This is a great website and everyone here seems so knowledgeable. I enjoy reading your stories.

Answer
if your hair is coarse and the skin is light, you will have good results with LightSheer. Just find an experienced tech that knows how to use the right settings and you will be fine. The problems of more hair on the face are rare and usually a concern for someone with a few fine hairs. Coarse dark hair will do fine. You can slip the hair for now if you don't want to shave, but you will need to shave before the treatment is performed. You want all of the laser power to hit the roots, not the hair above the surface. That is why you need to stop plucking and waxing for at least 1-1.5 months before you do this to kill the most hairs each time.

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I would recommend electrolysis. If its the amount of hairs you say. Electrolysis is permanent. I've done the laser on my face and wished I never had. So I wasted time and money now I'm doing electrolysis. People on this site say if you get an experienced technician it works fine, but why take the risk. I wished I would have done the electrolysis from the very start. Just my opinion.

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electrolysis takes longer on dark coarse hairs and laser kills those first. it makes sense to do laser first and finish with electrolysis if you have to if you do in fact have coarse dark hair and light skin. will probably be cheaper too.

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Yes the above post is true, but laser isn't proved to be permanent. Me personally I wouldn't want to do it (laser) and then go back and do it again when it eventually grew back. I want to be hair free in that area i've done and be done for good. I just wanted to share my experience with any body who wants to hear it since I've done both and wasted over $1,500 on laser (for the face).

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I would definitely suggest electrolysis. When you're talking about such specific areas like lip and chin, it just seems to make more sense if you get electrolysis. You may end up neednig 5-8 laser sessions to remove the facial hair. If you cleared your facial hair with electrolysis 5-8 times, you'd also notice a HUGE difference. Plus with electrolysis you don't have to worry about any potential disasters with laser (like INCREASED hair growth, becuase it HAS happened to some ppl).
I would really recommend electrolysis. That's my opinion.

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I really don't understand why people have to be so discouraging. It is totally safe and effective to do laser on the face. I just had my second treatment as most know from my personal "Diary of treatments". Laser has definitely saved my life. At this stage of treatments I couldn't ask for better results. Silverstarr, since I am personally at the moment undergoing treatments I can say from experience it is absolutely worth the plunge. no offense to you Blink; I always appreciate your input.
Ann- do you have a hormone problem? Usually hair grows back if there is an underlying medical problem. Something to think about. Besides what kind of hair growth do you have?

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extrovert, I actually agree with you on this as I mentioned above. There are many women on this board getting LHR on their face and are very happy with it. If you have a lot of coarse hair and light skin, it definitely makes sense to do laser at least to kill the hairs initially and if some finer hair still remains, finish with electrolysis. cases of more hair growth are rare and I suspect a lot of it has to do with underlying medical conditions that those women are not treating before getting this done in addition to low settings and inexperienced techs.

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in responce to extrovert to introvert, No I do not have hormone problems. And about the comment about Why do people have to be so discouraging. Thats what this site is for, to share experiences. That's what I am on here doing. Whether it be just peaches and cream or the truth. Again laser has been proven to be only permanant REDUCTION AND EVENTUALLY GROWS BACK. Again, me personally I only want to mess with it once. [/quote]

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there are people on this and other forums who would attest otherwise regarding permanency from their personal experiences. it hasn't been "proven" one way or the other. it varies on an individual basis. the reason the FDA grants just "permanent reduction" is because LHR hasn't been around long enough to make definite claims about permanency. i am reading posts from people who haven't had regrowth for 2 or more years. i doubt that hair is going to grow back later if it hasn't for that long. "reduction" usually means that laser will probably not be able to get rid of ALL hair in one area that you have. after a while, you get diminishing effect when some hairs that are left get very thin and fine and laser can't target them anymore. that's when it's good to finish with electrolysis. btw, with electrolysis you get red dots and scabs etc after treatments, so it's not just with laser that there are side effects.

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Dang blink, Which laser chain do you work for? I'm not posting to be right or wrong, just to give a personal experience.

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read my posts. i'm a consumer. i don't think i would be saying that permanency hasn't been proven either way with lasers if i were working for a chain, don't you think? haha

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Thanks for sharing your experiences, everyone. I appreciate all your feedback.
I had my consultation today and they said I was a great candidate for the LHR so I went ahead and had my first treatment. I was concerned about it not being effective but I voiced all my thoughts to the staff and they addressed all my concerns. I felt confident in their abilities and so I decided to go with it.
I am having my chin and upper lip treated for $950 total - that's for six treatments. They gave me a discount on the lip because it's pretty limited to the corners. I am going to Esprit Laser & Med Aestethics in Omaha, NE.
I wasn't really sure what to expect but the PA that treated me was very good. She herself had the same problem as me so it felt good to have someone that has first-hand knowledge treating my problem. I'm not sure what setting she used (I forgot to ask) but I do know I endured 116 pulses today. I felt each and every one of them. And it is true that it feels like a rubber band snapping against the skin. I thought the upper lip portion hurt a lot worse than the chin, especially right under my nose. That area isn't very hairy at all but I could still feel the hairs that were being targeted. I'm glad I don't have to go through this every day - I'm definitely glad there is a 7-week waiting period!
If it turns out I have to follow up with electrolysis then I guess that's just what I'll have to do. I probably could have tolerated it on my upper lip but with the density of hair I have on my chin it just sounded so painful and time consuming. If I can get "most" of the icky-ness gone with LHR I will be happy. I'm glad I decided to take the first step and call....now the hardest part will be keeping the tweezers locked up and for use on eyebrows only!

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thanks for sharing. please keep updating on your results. you will have to wait 2-3 weeks for shedding to occur and DO NOT tweeze at all. only shaving is allowed. just think of the final result . go back in for treatment when you have new batch of hair come up after the shedding and the hairfree period.
btw, they shaved the area prior to treatment, correct? do you know what laser was used?

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I don't have a laser. And I don't work for a laser company. I have yet to see one person have more facial hair because of laser.
As far as permanency, laser hair removal treatments result in destroying follicles of dark hairs permanently. Maybe not 100% for 100% of the people, but neither does electrolysis, especially in 10 treatments or less. It has been proven. A dead follicle is a dead follicle. They don't regenerate after 2 years.
If you research enough, you will find that electrolysis has never had to prove itself to be permanent to the FDA. When the FDA was formed, electrolysis was grandfathered in. And because Jane Doe said electrolysis is permanent, the FDA said, okie dokie.