Question
Hey there,
Im a male, apparently type 2 skin. I have the most chest hair/belly hair out of anyone I know. Also some back/shoulder hair. It would be nice if we were in a world were that means I'm very manly, but no its interfering with my love life and starting to really bother me.
My sister felt sorry for me and bought me a gift certificate for a Sona Medspa treatment. I suspect that her heart is in the right place but that a patient like me would cost way too much to treat.
Its really bothering me, I wont be caught alive at a beach. I went to hawaii and never went swimming! Its somewhat embarassing so I'd like to gather as much info in the comfort of the internet that I can.
I know there arent concrete answers but if anyone could give me a roadmap of how much it would cost, and how many sessions it would take for a patient like me to get treated with laser hair removal from Sona Medspa I would appreciate it greatly. Im looking for guesswork.
Thank you very much!

Answer
Hey there,
Im a male, apparently type 2 skin. I have the most chest hair/belly hair out of anyone I know. Also some back/shoulder hair. It would be nice if we were in a world were that means I'm very manly, but no its interfering with my love life and starting to really bother me.
My sister felt sorry for me and bought me a gift certificate for a Sona Medspa treatment. I suspect that her heart is in the right place but that a patient like me would cost way too much to treat.
Its really bothering me, I wont be caught alive at a beach. I went to hawaii and never went swimming! Its somewhat embarassing so I'd like to gather as much info in the comfort of the internet that I can.
I know there arent concrete answers but if anyone could give me a roadmap of how much it would cost, and how many sessions it would take for a patient like me to get treated with laser hair removal from Sona Medspa I would appreciate it greatly. Im looking for guesswork.
Thank you very much!

Answer
Chest and stomach area costs vary from $400-600 per treatment (together for both areas) or so. You will need at least 6-8 treatments for almost complete removal, but if you want just some thinning etc, you can probably stop after 2 or 3.
Sona does have a weird 5 month wait period between some treatments which is not recommended by anyone else in the industry, so I would try to avoid that if you go with them and just go in on your personal scheduled determined by your actual hair growth. That means going in for treatment every time after your treated hair sheds and you see a bunch of new growth appear. hair is best killed when it's new and vulnerable, i.e. when it just appears.
btw, I assume you have dark hair. Laser won't work on blond hair.

Answer
I actually had my first appointment with Sona the other day. They reccommended 3, not 5 months between treatments for the first couple times and then bumping it up to four or five months. The place seemed clean and professional. I was doing back and they did my shoulders too and even went a little into the arms. Its a nice contrast with the last place I went to which has very rigid definitions about where one body part ends and another begins.
The treatment did feel a little weak though, at least compared to the other place I went to. I glanced at the machine and one of the pulse settings was 17 J/cm squared and the one under it was at 33. Is this good for a person with light skin, dark hair and for the upper shoulders/back area?

Answer
17 is way too low, especially for a men's back. what laser are they using? joules for light skin shoudl be at least 25 joules, but better if they're in the 30's. at 17 joules, you're being grossly undertreated. also, i would advise not to wait 3 months for your next treatment. if you actually experience shedding at these settings (if u dont, i recommend demanding a free reshoot), go in for your next treatment as soon as a bunch of hair in the next growth stage surfaces. Hair is best killed when it's new and vulnerable, in the first stage of growth anagen. by 3 months, most of the hair will detach itself from the follicle and will go into tenagen phase of growth, where laser won't be able to kill it.

Answer
It was 17 on the top setting, 33 on the second and there was something at that bottom that was 2.0 HZ. I don't know if you got that second one. One was slow pulse and one was high pulse I believe. Does that sound better? If you want, I could call and see which was which. I signed a deal because their prices were the best. I don't want to get ripped off though.
It'll be real hard to tell if I have shedding because I have very little hair in the upper back/shoulders. I have no problem being assertive and demanding more frequent treatments or higher setting, but I want to be 100% sure I know what I'm talking about before I do.

Answer
17 J/cm are joules, i.e. power. high pulse is also more powerful. even if you have little hair, you should be able to tell if the hair has shed and is gone. there would be nothing there for several weeks if it was done right. how many hairs is "little hair" btw? At low settings, treating just a bit of hair can actually stimulate more growth. that's another reason to make sure they use high settings. not getting any results for your money is bad, but ending up with more than you started with is much worse. if you have 50 hairs or around there, you will probably be better off with electrolysis anyways. Laser should be done on dark coarse hair and in significant amounts. Also, make sure they don't treat any areas where there is barely any hair or very sparse single hairs. you don't want to stimulate more growth once again.

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Once again, there were two serrings. One setting was at 17 but the other was at 33. I've never counted the hairs, but its a lot more than 50.
Should I absolutley insist on more frequents treatments? Like eight weeks instead of 12?

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33 is probably the pulse speed. the joules is the most important in this case. you shouldn't be going back in for treatment on some random schedule. you need to watch the skin carefully, and wait until shedding occurs, which happens within 2-3 weeks after treatment. (if the hair doesn't shed, you need to ask for a reshoot, because that's money wasted for one treatment otherewise, as no hair was killed. no shedding=definitely not killing any hair). then you should have a hairfree period for several weeks. watch you skin and as soon as you see new hair come out, schedule another treatment within 3-4 weeks after it's out. that's the best time period to kill the hair, while it's new and vulnerable, in anagen stage.

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Both numbers had J/cm after them. Sorry if I wasn't clear. Maybe 33 was the Joules and 17 was the pulse? I really don't know. There were two numbers, one on top of the other both with J/cm squared after them.
I'll see when the hair returns and if shedding occurs.

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can you also find out what laser they're using? the model

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Will do tommorrow. Thanks.

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Should I also ask what the exactly how many J they used and what the pulse was?

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yes, that would be helpful

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I called the place. They used a Sonata machine made by O'Rien. I asked if it was any specific make or model they said no.
I apparentley got 50 J/cm squared on each body part. Their joules are broken up into long pulse and short pulses.
On lower back
38 J short pulse
12 long pulse
Upper back/shoulders
33 short
17 long
Arm pits
30 short
20 long
What do you think?

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this is a diode laser, so technically good for your skin and hair type. it sounds like the joules are ok. this is the only machine I've heard of that breaks down pulses...so not sure if it's good or bad. They claim it's less painful on their website. What were the effects after treatment? did you experience redness around the follicles etc? How long has it been since your treatment? I guess now we'll just have to wait and see if there is shedding.