There are many ways to handle hair, in the short term that might include shaving, waxing, depilatory creams, and so on. However, for the most part long term hair removal is generally the goal and that leaves two real options: Laser Hair Removal (LHR) and Electrolysis. Both of them have their pros and cons and but the focus here will be on LHR since that's what this topic is about - mainly because that's the route I initially chose and am still pursuing (though I may be moving to Electrolysis on my face soon).
Now before I get into LHR, let me say one thing. Quite a bit of what I write about in general tends to be "Your Mileage May Vary" (YMMV). The same can be said for a great many things in life, but when it comes to transitioning, it seems to me to be even more common. Well, I believe that LHR falls at the far end of the YMMV spectrum. I believe a large portion of that is a result of there being so many variables in play. Among them would be skin tone, hair color, amount of hair in the treatment area, type of laser used, skill of the technician, HRT, and on and on. So while I tend to say it a lot, it goes double here - my experiences are simply my experiences - anyone else's experience will almost certainly be different. Maybe better, maybe worse, but in all likelihood different.
So lets touch on a couple of the pros and cons of LHR first:
- Pro - can treat large areas fairly quickly, especially compared to electrolysis which is a hair by hair process.
- Con - generally isn't considered "permanent hair removal", but rather "permanent hair reduction" - though many people believe the former statement over the latter.
- Pro - unlike electrolysis, laser doesn't require multiple days of growth for treatment - in fact normally the cleaner shaven the better.
- Con - laser works best with certain hair/skin combinations. Now, it's my understanding that some of the newer lasers can handle lighter hair and such; but in those cases the effectiveness may suffer.
So beyond those couple of pros/cons, what else should be considered? Well among those things, at least for most of us who are transitioning, would be cost. From my research and experience, there tends to be a huge variance in costs when it comes to LHR. Since my primary focus early on was the face/neck region, I'm going to use that as an my example here. I've seen people quoting costs under $50/session to people who have paid the equivalent of several hundred dollars a session. For myself, the places I've dealt with including my current technician who I've been using for 2+ years now, my price has fallen in the middle to upper end of that range. I say that because the first five sessions were a bit pricey, but the ones since then have been significantly reduced.
So what causes the disparity in those figures? Well there are a lot of variables to that. Obviously, among the biggest ones are location and competition. In my case, I believe that the location has a bigger role in what I've been paying as the particular business is located in a "higher end" area and while I don't normally like to make generalizations - especially based upon appearance - frankly from the other clients that I've seen in passing, it doesn't seem that cost is necessarily an overriding concern for a great deal of them. I have found other options that were cheaper and in fact tried one of them, but I wasn't happy with a lot of things and only did one session at each, before settling on my current provider.
Additionally, often those extremely low figures are the result of things such as using a Groupon (and note I said "often" not "always") and/or securing a "package" of sessions which often needs to be paid for up front (again I said "often" not "always"); or even something as simple as a bit of haggling - especially if there is competition around. However, paying for a "package" of sessions is no guarantee that you'll get a "great price", so you'll definitely want to shop around. For me personally I prefer to "pay as I go" so the place I'm currently using works great for me in that respect. There are other concerns such as the type of laser, the technician who will be performing the service, and even your comfort level with the location itself. So while cost will be a factor for most of us, is should not be the "only factor" as with almost anything there is a possibility of things going wrong with LHR.
So what causes the disparity in those figures? Well there are a lot of variables to that. Obviously, among the biggest ones are location and competition. In my case, I believe that the location has a bigger role in what I've been paying as the particular business is located in a "higher end" area and while I don't normally like to make generalizations - especially based upon appearance - frankly from the other clients that I've seen in passing, it doesn't seem that cost is necessarily an overriding concern for a great deal of them. I have found other options that were cheaper and in fact tried one of them, but I wasn't happy with a lot of things and only did one session at each, before settling on my current provider.
Additionally, often those extremely low figures are the result of things such as using a Groupon (and note I said "often" not "always") and/or securing a "package" of sessions which often needs to be paid for up front (again I said "often" not "always"); or even something as simple as a bit of haggling - especially if there is competition around. However, paying for a "package" of sessions is no guarantee that you'll get a "great price", so you'll definitely want to shop around. For me personally I prefer to "pay as I go" so the place I'm currently using works great for me in that respect. There are other concerns such as the type of laser, the technician who will be performing the service, and even your comfort level with the location itself. So while cost will be a factor for most of us, is should not be the "only factor" as with almost anything there is a possibility of things going wrong with LHR.
Another consideration, especially for those that are full-time, is scheduling. I know plenty of people who walk out of a LHR session and basically look as good as they did when they went in. Myself on the other hand, well my face shows some wear and tear for at least a couple of days. In a pinch I can put something my GP prescribed on it afterwards and be makeup ready the next day - and I've done so a couple of times when I've had appointments the following day, but when possible I try and let things work themselves out. In fact after this past Wednesday session, I held off until this morning (Sunday) before I put on any makeup. I probably could have worn it prior to today, but my face was a bit rough up through yesterday so I went ahead and held off since I didn't need to go anywhere. If I had a customer facing job I'd probably look to schedule my appointments for Friday/Saturday to give myself a couple of days to get over the session versus early/middle of the week as I often do now.
Speaking of appointments, as I mentioned in the pros/cons, every LHR place I've dealt with wants as clean a shave as possible. Now, I always believed that was the case everywhere; though recently I ran across a couple of people that insist that their technicians do want some sort of growth. I'm not quite sure I understand why they would, but I'm not going to say they or their technician are wrong - it's just not been my experience. The reason I mention this is that back when I started I could shave in the morning and have 5 o'clock shadow by noon. So if I would have been scheduling my appointments in the evening I would have had to have re-shaved before going or my technician would have done it. During my search, I ran across some LHR places that if they had to shave the treatment area they would charge a fee for their time; though most of those places did exempt the face from that; however, it is something to perhaps inquire about when looking around.
As far as the actual process, I won't really delve into that. I've touched on it in other posts here and it's obviously going to differ for everyone. However, I do want to make a few points based upon my experiences and questions I've seen elsewhere. I'm going to do this in sort of a Q&A format as I did with some of the other posts in this series. And again, these are my experiences, YMMV.
Speaking of appointments, as I mentioned in the pros/cons, every LHR place I've dealt with wants as clean a shave as possible. Now, I always believed that was the case everywhere; though recently I ran across a couple of people that insist that their technicians do want some sort of growth. I'm not quite sure I understand why they would, but I'm not going to say they or their technician are wrong - it's just not been my experience. The reason I mention this is that back when I started I could shave in the morning and have 5 o'clock shadow by noon. So if I would have been scheduling my appointments in the evening I would have had to have re-shaved before going or my technician would have done it. During my search, I ran across some LHR places that if they had to shave the treatment area they would charge a fee for their time; though most of those places did exempt the face from that; however, it is something to perhaps inquire about when looking around.
As far as the actual process, I won't really delve into that. I've touched on it in other posts here and it's obviously going to differ for everyone. However, I do want to make a few points based upon my experiences and questions I've seen elsewhere. I'm going to do this in sort of a Q&A format as I did with some of the other posts in this series. And again, these are my experiences, YMMV.
- Does it hurt?
While I've ran across people that maintain it doesn't hurt at all. *I* on the other hand think it hurts *a lot*. So why the disparity? Perhaps they have a higher pain tolerance than I do. Perhaps it's the amount of hair I have versus them. Perhaps it's other reasons. I can't say for sure; but I can say that it's painful to me. As to how painful, it varies for me by session and even within a session. I'm at the point now where it doesn't really hurt at all on my cheeks, it's a touch painful on *parts* of my jawline, and it's still very painful on my upper lip area. Now that's for my face. I'm also started having my "private parts" done a couple of sessions ago and that's a different experience. Much to my surprise that really doesn't hardly hurt at all. It's a bit of a different process and in reality the only pain I've had has came from two things. The first being when the laser suctions in the skin to zap, it's pinched a bit; though this last go around we did a better job and that wasn't really an issue. So the only real pain is the zap or two down around the bottom of the area she's doing. Once she gets that far down she has to switch back to the non-suction method and use something that just zaps like she does on my face (and no it's not the same piece she uses on my face). Well that zap or two down there is probably more painful than anything on my face, but thankfully it's the last zap or two of the session.
- What can I do about the pain?
Well, after my first face/neck session, I started opting for the Lidocaine numbing cream for my face and that helps; sometimes more than others. I also take a couple of Ibuprofen beforehand if I think about it which seems to help as well. I know others have had prescriptions written for pain killers and I'm sure those help as well; though I can't comment personally on that. My technician keeps a set of stress balls as well as a set of those hand squeezy things around - I usually opt for the stress balls and sometimes those are really helpful. For me the biggest help is actually when I'm in a nice calm state of mind rather than being stressed about things. So when I'm in the "holding room" waiting for the Lidocaine to take effect I try and listen to some calming music and relax rather than thinking about all the things I have to do the rest of the day or anything else that might stress me. To each their own, but that helps me.
- How many sessions will it take?
Truthfully I don't believe anyone can give you an answer to that with 100% certainty. I've seen lots of people that say 5 (or less), I've seen plenty that say in the 6-10 range, and some even more than that. For me I'm around 15 for my face (give or take 1), and now 3 for my other area. Now I don't want to scare people off with that 15 figure; as I believe there are several things that have factored into that; though those are better discussed in a different post than here. I will say that I probably could have moved to electrolysis a few sessions ago; though I do have my reasons for not doing so as of yet. That being said, I do believe that anyone who says it will take exactly "x" sessions should be taken with a (rather large) grain of salt.
- I need/want to have my "private parts" done, how can I deal with showing them to someone?
I'm the first to admit that I don't have a whole lot of dysphoria at all, much less about what "equipment" I currently have. That being said, I definitely understand where the question comes from. For me, it was actually more stressful broaching the subject with my LHR tech than it has been actually having the process done. But even with that being the case I won't say it doesn't bother me at least a little to have the procedure done. Now I realize I don't technically have to as many SRS surgeons don't require it, but the ones I've seriously looked at do recommend it; so I see this as something that needs to happen and while it is a touch uncomfortable for me, it's simply another check box to mark off so I deal with it. Regardless of that my technician is wonderful, and frankly I'm pretty sure she's seen it all. I can't/won't tell anyone else how to handle their business, but I will say that sometimes we simply have to do things that we may not like in order to accomplish what we want and I see this as one of those things. If you really and truly cannot bring yourself to have LHR or electrolysis down there, then perhaps you can opt for a surgeon who doesn't need/want that done; but if your surgeon does recommend or require it, then - well it is what it is.
- What about those home lasers, can I use those?
Of course you can use them; however their effectiveness is questionable at best. There are people that swear by how wonderful they are; but the general consensus is that they are not nearly powerful enough to accomplish what a professional LHR technician can do. Additionally there are many reports of poor experiences, including burns, with some of these devices. So while the price may make them seem attractive, I would advise thinking carefully before investing in one of them.
I guess I should wrap this up, it's went on far longer than I intended. As always dissenting viewpoints are welcome; I realize that this topic lends itself to that even more than most of my posts. Either way these are my thoughts and experiences when it comes to LHR. As always thanks for reading.
- M
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