Question
For the longest time I've been shaving my shoulders and lower back. I'm sick of it and my time wasted doing this. The hair is thick and I have fiar skin. From the reading I've done it seems like I'll have good results. I have a few questions..
I'm going on vacation at the end of March. From the little reading I've done here it looks like it takes months to get good results. Say I started in two weeks-- what could I expect by vacation time? I know all results vary, I'm just asking for an estimate.
What's the basic price I should expect to pay for shoulders, shoulder blades, and lower back? I live in the Detroit area if that helps.
Any recommendations on places in the Detroit area?
Thanks for any help!

Answer
For the longest time I've been shaving my shoulders and lower back. I'm sick of it and my time wasted doing this. The hair is thick and I have fiar skin. From the reading I've done it seems like I'll have good results. I have a few questions..
I'm going on vacation at the end of March. From the little reading I've done here it looks like it takes months to get good results. Say I started in two weeks-- what could I expect by vacation time? I know all results vary, I'm just asking for an estimate.
What's the basic price I should expect to pay for shoulders, shoulder blades, and lower back? I live in the Detroit area if that helps.
Any recommendations on places in the Detroit area?
Thanks for any help!

Answer
in this short period of time, you would only be able to get 1 and at most 2 treatments, so it's hard to say what kind of results you will have since there is no way to know how many hairs are in anagen, first stage of growth, that will be killed in those 1-2 sessions. you'll definitely have a bit less, but hard to judge exactly how much.
are you male or female btw? that will help predict results. it's tougher for males to achieve reduction on upper arms and shoulders.
you need to find a place with alexandrite or diode laser. u can use the search feature on this forum and search "detroit" for recommendations

Answer
There will be a hair free period, providing that the tech does a thorough job. So, that might occur during the your vacation. However, you still want to stay out of the sun.

Answer
if you're serious about having your hair removed it will take probably 18months to complete a full set of treatments. Treatments are normally 6-8 weeks apart and you will most likely need at least 10. Having a tan will reduce the effectiveness of the laser and will increase the risk of burning to the skin.
I paid just under 500$ for full back, chest, abs and shoulders.
I posted a couple of weeks ago on a thread from someone in the UK having back hair removal, i think there's some good tips there on how to approach the whole thing.
For your vacation you could.
1. Just shave as normal then maybe start treatments when you get back.
2. Start treatments now and DO NOT TAN !!
3. Have a single treatment about 2-3 weeks before your vacation. If you do this you will need to go back in 2 weeks later for a touch up as there are often missed spots, you could have your touch up the day before you leave ! Don't expect any great reduction from 1 treatment, you probably won't even notice if there is or not.
Whatever you do make sure your tan has faded before starting a program to remove the hair.

Answer
So getting a tan after treatment is not recommended? I'm going to the ocean so not tanning would be hard to achieve.
I do shave on a regular basis, but in between shaves I have to wait AT LEAST a week before shaving again. Otherwise the hairs are too short and shaving hurts and causes bleeding.
I will be gone for 10 days-- the first 3 days are good but after that you can start to see it again. I don't want to be walking a busy ocean beach where you can notice my extremely hairy shoulders. Guess I have to wait till after vacation.

Answer
you can tan after laser if you like but you should then wait until your tan fades before you can have laser again.
The reason for this is that laser targets melanin in your hair which is what gives it its dark colour, melanin also gives your skin its colour. If you were to tan during vacation and then go for a treatment some of the laser energy would also be absorbed by your skin and could discolour your skin, hyper or hypopigmentation its called, not sure which. e.g. i had a dark birthmark on my stomach which took a laser shot and now i have doughnut with a perfect clear white cirle in the middle !
You could have a treatment just to get you through your vacation, wait until your tan fades and then start a program of treatments, during this program you should not tan or you'll be wasting time and money.
Search for a post i made a week or 2 ago to a guy from the UK and you'll find a lot of what you need to know before starting a program.
Any questions just ask , good luck !

Answer
for absolute best results, which you should want to achieve with the amount of money you'll be spending on this, you need to stay as white as possible for the entire length of the treatment process. laser targets dark pigment, and that should be only your hair, not your skin. the whiter the skin, the higher the settings that can be used, the less chance for burning and higher chance for actually killing the hair and faster as well. i would wait until you return from vacation, then wait it out until your tan fades (use sunscreen there too so you don't get too much) and then start your treatments.