Question
Ok, so i'll be having my 3rd treatment in one month - in my bikini area. I have larger than normal pores and i haven't really noticed a decrease in my pore size - which was my major goal in getting laser. Can anyone tell me if pores do decrease with laser? Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks!

Answer
Ok, so i'll be having my 3rd treatment in one month - in my bikini area. I have larger than normal pores and i haven't really noticed a decrease in my pore size - which was my major goal in getting laser. Can anyone tell me if pores do decrease with laser? Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks!

Answer
that's not really a side effect of the hair removal laser. maybe you're thinking of another type of laser and procedure specifically for that purpose? are you talking about what look like "holes" where the coarse hairs used to be?

Answer
Oh yes, thats what i was talking about: "the holes" that previously held the hairs. Because my hairs are (were) coarse, the "holes" were darker and bigger. As my hair thins out with the laser, will the "hole" size decrease as well? And how soon?
~ Thanks!

Answer
hmm, i wouldn't expect the holes to descrease because of laser. maybe with time since the hair is not longer there the skin will adjust..

Answer
hi, blink888, maybe i am being confusing, ya? I know that the laser is to decrease the hair. But I was hoping that since the hair is removed and extremely thinned - that my hair follicles will become smaller and less noticeable because of the hair no longer being so coarse. I wanted to know if anyone out there has experienced that change after going through the laser process.

Answer
personally, i think i'm seeing a bit of that on my bikini line, but this really hasn't been discussed on the forum before. i know with waxing, the pores looked bigger to me and now after laser, they seem less noticeable..

Answer
Oh wow! interesting! Ya i noticed that with my skin there, even shaving and waxing makes the follicles look bigger. A few years ago, you wouldnt have been able to see a thing really. But after just 2-3 years of shaving occassionally and waxing, they have gotten bigger as well. I was told by the manager there that the laser would make the pores/follicles disappear, since there wouldn't be hair (or thick hair) to occupy it, but I wanted to get a second opinion. I mean she could've just told me all that to get me to sign up, etc.
I always thought if you waxed enough, you'd end up with clear smooth skin. That hasn't been the case for me, either.

Answer
no, waxing actually makes the hair stronger and thicker for most. it's an old-wive's tale that it makes the hair go away. you're actually stimulating more blood flow to the follicles which makes the hair stronger because that's what it feeds on. so, that tale is wrong, just like the one that shaving makes the hair thicker. shaving doesn't change the hair since you're only removing it from the top above the skin's surface.

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The follicles will eventually shrink. It just takes a while. Compare it to taking a thick tree trunk out of the ground that's been there for years and years. Eventually the hole where the tree was will fill in.

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In the beginning my tech also mentioned that skin looks great after laser is completely finished because since the follicles no longer have anything in them, they tighten up, or diminish or whatever you want to call it.
I've done 5 treatments and my skin is definitely much softer now...mabye that's because there's no hair there...who knows.

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Good analogy, LE. Thinking of tree trunks in one's skin can make us with vivid imaginations to shutter.

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Yes LE, that was really good! I see what you mean. I'm really glad I decided to go with laser!
However, I do have one more question. After my second treatment was done, back in mid-December. I was told that this would be the worst. I was told that it wouldn't be as smooth as it was the first time; that i'd have more growth and it wouldn't appear to be progressing - and that that was because of the growth of the hairs. But actually, I experienced almost no growth and no shedding. I haven't shaved in weeks and still nothing has happened. Is that normal? Or at least, is it okay?

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what do you mean no shedding? how did it become smooth the first time? i assume you had a treatment on shaved area, the hair shed. now you're waiting for new growth, then you'll shave it and go in for next treatment. correct?

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Yes. Thats what my process is. I have to shave before each treatment. And then in between treatments the dead hair thats been lasered falls out. But after my most recent treatment, i was told there would be a lot of growth and some shedding. I pretty much didn't experience either.

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after each treatment, less and less grows back. on bikini and underarms, you usually experience the least too. I pretty much got rid of about 80% at least the first time around and that never came back. random areas here and there came back after each treatment, but never everything that was there before.