With that being said, I do wish to have SRS, and have been targeting 2016 as my goal for that. The surgeons that I've looked into all at least recommend hair removal in the area if not flat out require it. To be clear, I'm not saying that *all* surgeons suggest/require it, I know for a fact that some don't - and I even believe there's at least one or two who discourage it, but the surgeons *I've looked at*, do at least recommend it. I had been holding off on it both do the cost - since I'm still working on my face - as well as the fact that I wasn't sure where I could get it taken care of. After much consternation, I finally decided last November to see if the same place that was doing my face could also handle this. In hindsight I guess I was a bit embarrassed about broaching the topic, but my laser technician was wonderful about it and said it wouldn't be a problem. The only real concern was my orchiectomy as they prefer to not touch any area that's had surgery until a year has passed and that won't be until the middle of February for me. We agreed that I'd run it by at least one of my Doctor's - either my GP or the Doctor handling my HRT and get their opinion and assuming they had no issues, then we'd see about doing at my next session which would be in January.
Well, as it was I had appointments with both Doctors in the interim and neither one had an issue with it, so I was prepared to go forward when J and I had our appointment about 10 days ago. After taking care of J and then my face, we had a quickie consultation. It was similar to the one I had for my face a couple of years ago - basically she looked at the area in question to see what she would be dealing with, though in this case she also wanted to check the incision area to ensure she was comfortable with how it had healed before committing to work in that area; we also discussed cost as while they do post costs on their website - which by the way is something I wish more companies would do, their costs are always a "range" and they don't commit to a specific number within that range until they know what they are dealing with; and lastly we discussed what exactly I wanted done. By that I mean, using Dr. Bowers for an example, she an outline of what she recommends on her website and in her case she suggests leaving some hair along the sides to help cover up the surgical scars. However, I opted to have everything removed as I'm not really worried about visible scars down there as I'm happily married to J, so it's not like I'll be out dating/etc.
With that out of the way we made me a subsequent appointment for my first session in that area. That appointment was last night. Do to poor planning on our part, we scheduled the appointment without checking J's schedule rotation and she had to work which meant that best case was that she might be able to leave directly from work and meet me there. I considered re-scheduling to make things easier as I not only wanted J there, but I knew I'd need her help in advance to ensure the area was completely shaved since portions of it weren't going to be easy for me to get to on my own. But since I was eager to get this process started we elected to keep the appointment, which meant that not only would J have to meet me there as I said above; but that J would have to help me shave that area before she left for work which meant us getting up at 5am. As usual, J was great and did get us up early and actually did most of the work for me - I simply cannot say often enough how much I appreciate all she does for me and how supportive she's been and continues to be. I know there are plenty of great SO's out there, but I have a hard time believing that there are any that are any more supportive and helpful than she's been. :)
As it was, the laser place called about moving my appointment up some. The initial time they suggested simply wasn't going to work as it was 15 minutes after J was to be off of work and she's nearly a hour from there, so we settled on 7pm which was a hour after J was off of work. I knew it would be a stretch, but they have been so good to work with I went ahead and committed to that and hoped J would be able to make it. Well, as she always does when I need something, she did get there right on time and we headed in. The prior client was checking out (paying/making her next appointment), so we pretty much went straight on back to get started which was strange for me since normally I get there a hour early to have numbing cream put on my face. That was/is an option for this, but just as with my face I wanted to try it at least once without the cream so that I'd have an idea of what it would feel like. If it was too bad I figured I could opt for the cream there in the future, or do that myself since my GP had written me a prescription for Lidocaine cream which I have had filled.
Now at this point, I'm going to get into the actual process as it went for me. I will point out that just as it was for my orchi, I didn't really "watch" the process as I'm a bit of a baby. Most of what I'm going to say is based upon how "it felt". However, as J was there and did actually help some - which I'll get into in a moment - if there are any questions about the process I can have her answer them and I'll update this accordingly. So with that being said, here's how it went for me.
In one corner of the room there is a stool which is secluded by one of those three panel privacy screens. The process started as it did for my consultation the session before. I went back there and removed my clothing from my waist down. In this case it was my shoes, socks, jeans, and panties. Actually, I guess this is a good point to share a picture of what I was wearing as I just realized I haven't shared any pictures of me in a while:
The jeans are actually new and in hindsight were a poor choice when matched with those shoes they are longer jeans and with the wedge sneakers it made them ride up a bit (you can see the wrinkles around my thighs) - I should have worn a pair of flats or heels instead, but I digress.
Once I had removed things, I wrapped up in the sheet and went out and got on the "treatment table". Our technician got J and I the protective eye wear and then had me shift into a better position which in this case was for me to fold my right leg up some and tuck my right foot against my left leg - sort of like a "Tree" pose in yoga, though my foot was more at the knee level than the inner thigh. At that point she pulled the sheet back and took a look to ensure I was shaved sufficiently. As it was, we hadn't been diligent enough in a few spots, but for the most part she said it was pretty good. Now they will do the shaving for you, but if they have to, there normally is a charge for that; but even though she ended up having to touch up some places, she let it go - though she did point the areas out to J so we could do a better job next time.
At this point, she did clean up the missed areas, with some assistance from J as I am still a "bigger girl" and even in those areas where that wasn't a concern, it's easier to shave skin that is pulled taught that, so J was generally either helping keep things out of the way or pulling things taught for her. This took a couple of minutes and then it was time to get started. Now, as I said above I was NOT watching, but from what I could feel she was using a mid-sized attachment - it wasn't the small face one that I'm used to, and it wasn't the larger one she's used on the back of my neck, but it was similar to the one that I've had on my neck in that it uses the vacuum technology where it "sucks the skin in" and then zaps it. She started on the area above the "parts" and really that didn't hurt much at all. In fact, I suppose it almost made me cocky that this would be a piece of cake. I'm not saying I couldn't feel it, but the suction wasn't bad and even the actual zap was more than bearable. On a 10 scale with 10 being the most painful, I'd rate this area as a 1 or 2. As she moved down the sides and around the parts, things did change.
Not to be too blunt, but when she moved down to the spot right above the anus and zapped there - well that was among the most exquisite pains I have ever felt - on my 10 scale from above, this was easily a 9, if not a full on 10. The suction hurt some, but the zap - well, words can't really describe how it felt, but I definitely lifted up off the table. Once I convinced the tech that I was fine to proceed, she continued on. Suffice it to say the area between the anus and the testicles was fairly painful for me, these areas ranged from probably a 5 to a 7 on the 10 scale. Not so much the zapping, but rather the suction as it seemed like no matter what they tried to do that it was pinching my skin. I probably should have said something, but I didn't want to seem like a baby and as such I kept my mouth shut, but it did hurt. However, not nearly as bad as the zap above the anus so I continued on. Finally she came back to the penis area and the scrotal sack. This was actually the area that concerned me - not so much for the incision as that has healed so well it's hard to even see now - but rather because without the testicles in there there is nothing to hold the area snug. This made it it hard to shave and I feared it would make it even hard to laser because it would be hard to get the vacuum seal on the area. This is where I really think it was beneficial to have J there. I probably could have done what she did myself, but it was much easier to lie back and deal with the pain as it came and to let J help get things taut as needed. She and the technician did such a good job that there wasn't any pinching as there had been in the area below that; but the zaps did hurt worse in this area. Not as bad as my face does, but I also doubt the machine was up as high as it is for my face at this point either. For this area I'd probably give it a 4 to a 6 on the 10 scale.
All told, we were in and out of the office in 25 minutes or so and this included a couple minute wait when we got there, me getting undressed/re-dressed, the process itself, and paying/scheduling my next appointment. Now to mention some time dealing with the spots that were missed when shaving. So I'd say the actual process itself was between 5 and 10 minutes. Overall, I'd say it was probably about a 4 on the 10 scale of pain, but there were definitely some areas that were significantly more painful. That being said, as it sits now I'm going to try another session without using the numbing cream to see how it goes. One concession I did make is that I'm scheduling the appointments for this separately from my face as I don't think I'm up for that much pain at the same time; though if I do end up going for the numbing cream I'd probably consolidate them at that point.
As far as pricing goes, Infinity does publish their prices, though this procedure is sort of "off the menu" so to speak. That being said, they do use "price ranges" to allow them some wiggle room based upon the client. As an example I was paying more for my face than my friend D was - but I have a much bigger (ie fatter) face than she does and a *lot* more facial hair, so it is what it is. For this procedure, it's running me $199/session - now assuming it takes more than 5, this should drop (I believe to $149). Yes it's not exactly cheap - but when I was dealing with my face I tried a couple of cheap places with poor/no results. Infinity came highly recommended and while they are a little pricier that many other places,there is no commitment, it is pay as you go, and they have gotten me results so it's been worth it for me. And I cannot say enough good things about the people there, especially J and I's tech Susanne. I'm not here to make a sales pitch for them, this is more about the procedure than anything, but if you are in the St. Louis area, I do strongly recommend at least having a consultation with them.
All told, I'm happy with how the session went, though J and I do need to be more diligent with the shaving next time. I'm curious to see how things look down there in a few days, I will probably update this then. With that I'll bid you adieu. As always, if there are any questions feel free to ask here or via e-mail and I'll do my best to answer them. :)
- M
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