GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

thanks nachelle! =]

The effectiveness of laser is determined, in part, by the color of the hair. The darker the hair, the more laser light it will absorb, and the opposite for light hair. Similarly, darker skin is more prone to damage by the laser. A laser operator told me the "perfect" person for laser is like an italian - dark hair/light skin.

My hair is light to white, and my complexion is fairly pale. Laser did absolutely nothing for me. After the whole sequence of laser treatments, and several into the 2-year guanantee, there was zero reduction in hair. In desperation the laser tech. turned up the power so high I got a string of burns along my jaw bone at each place she applied the laser. I got a refund for the treatments and started electrolysis...

what'd the treatments feel like? like, does it hurt? painless? etc.?

Some people say that laser feels like a rubber band being snapped on your face. For some it's not that bad and works great. Some people find electrolysis to be far more painful.

Laser, for me, hurts. A lot. Electrolysis, for me, is far less painful; I am doing both all over my face. Laser for the dark hairs, electro for the light "laser incompatible" hair. I'm visibly shaking every time I walk in for a laser treatment, whereas I have nearly fallen asleep for electro (ok, a little bit of a stretch, but not by much!)

There has been only one thing I've ever felt that has been more uncomfortable than laser on my face... genital electro. OMG.

There is something you can do for the pain: Ben/Lido/Tet#3 (20%/8%/8%) also known as BLT. It makes the area entirely numb and it really does work. You need a prescription, but it makes it completely a painless experience. Lido by itself did nothing for me.

Sadly, I'm allergic to something in the BLT - my skin turns beet red almost immediately and I broke out in incredibly itchy hives that lasted for many days every time I used it.

I used it anyway. It was worth it.

If any of you are doing electro it's totally worth trying!!

But while it's great for electro and works for laser too, sadly you're really not supposed to use much in the way of numbing creme when doing laser so you can offer feedback to the operator. If you're numb you won't know if it's turned up too high. It's supposed to average a 7 on the 1-10 pain scale. The one time I decided to use the stuff on my face I was burned because the operator had no feedback.

on the blt... that kinda got me thinking, do you think there's some sort of cream that numbs the skin that it's applied to? that'd be pretty nice to be able to massage in a simple cream on your face or wherever before going to a treatment.

That's the BLT, it's just a cream... you don't massage it in, just put a really thin layer on. Some people use Lidocane alone, but the women I know all say it doesn't really do much for them.

And you can put it on and it works 25-30 minutes ahead of time... whereas with Lido you're supposed to keep it covered with plastic two hours before hand. A little impractical for the face, imo.

so, since its a prescription, is it usually referred by the one doing the treatments? or is it something sought out from another venue?

Neither laser nor electrolysis is painless. A gel is applied before laser to help protect the skin, but it does not anesthetize the skin. Check with your laser salon before trying to apply an anesthetic under their gel. Laser will burn your skin (I had blisters once – see my post above).

For me, laser hurts all over. It is somewhat like getting snapped by a rubber band, but it’s a pretty big rubber band. Electro hurts me more than laser in some areas, and less in others. The hurty bits are the upper lip, around the mouth, in front of the ear and down the edge of the hairline on my neck. I have used 5% Lidocaine for electro, with limited success. It’s a pain having to cover it with plastic wrap to keep air out because it only works anaerobically, and stops working about 30 minutes after the plastic wrap comes off - hence the limited effectiveness for a 1 to 2 hour session.

I initially asked my doc for "Lidocaine", and he wrote a generic script for that name without specifying the concentration. Buzz. The pharmacy filled the script with a very low concentration intended to be applied to a child before getting a shot to take the needle prick away. IT DID NOT WORK FOR ELECTRO. I had to go back to my doctor and specifically request a new prescription with highest concentration he was comfortable with on my face (5%).

One last caution, when applied over a large area of skin, Lidocaine can have serious side effects. It is an anesthetic after all. If you get a dosage that’s OK for the face it may not be OK to apply over your whole chest, back or legs. It will require a prescription anyway, so check with your doctor about concentrations and the size of the area you’ll be applying it to.

In the end, I just suck it up, and think of it as re-birthing pains.

I cant say much about laser cause I have never had it done but I can say quite a bit about electro and I must say that it is berry painful in some area's and not so bad in other area's. I have never used any numbing cream's or anything like that, but about 2 mths ago I started takeing xanax and if I take an extra 1/2 one or even a extra whole one then I usually fall asleap while haveing it done, and if I am sleeping then it isent hurting. But the bottom line is in some area's no matter what you do its going to hurt(To me it feels like yellow jackets stinging me everytime she shocks a hair).....................

Erinn try this stuff you can buy it on the web from a place out of Fla.

Topicane 5.
http://www.esbalabs.com/top4.htm I hope the site owners wont be mad at me for posting the link but here it goes anyway.. its about 50 dollars for a tube of it.

was the very best thing i have found.No need to wrap the area under plastic, Better than the Emla cream of olden days that requried a script from the doc and to wrap yourself in saran wrap. (thinks back to stopping at the rest area between tulsa and Oklahoma city (1/2 way) to apply the emla to the genital region and trying to wrap it all up in saran wrap in the confines of my Geo prism, and laughs now)But was scared poopless out of fear of arrest.
But it was worth it to help endure the worst pain i ever endured.

Topicane 5 is just a clear jel you can put it on a hour before then again 30 mins before .. and i held the tube in my hand to apply to areas of my face since we would do 2 hours at a time and i wanted to keep it numb. some say one must be careful with the amount you use. I guess this is true but i didnt care lol so use your best judgment on your tollerance to it.

I did lazer back in 98 when it was first approved in the States and every one was like you fool you waisted your money. Thing was back then only the lazer light and other inferior non lazers were be passed off as ligit. The came along with the Palamar lazer also known as the Ruby lazer since it't light was red when they fired it.. It worked wonderfuly took out a big majority of the dark folicles ( you know the ugly blue under the skin that not even the closet of shaves can get. with in the first 4 treatments ... Aw but alas folicles are fickle feckers. seems it turns out as many as 5 folicles can be in one opening andonly one growing at a time thus the need to space out your treatments over a year or so. to ensure you get the dormant duds.

So then missing seveal of the lighter and dormant ones .. i tried the Alexandrite lazer ... nice pretty green light when it flashes ... it too was excellent results finished off the last of the pesky dark hairs ..

That left shock treatment for the remainders with electro... For me the region right below the nose and under the lower lip . I use to wear water proof mascara cause i knew i would tear up when they went to work on those. Then came TOpicane

And i truly wished i knew now what i didnt know then

then again its been a good 4 years since the last needle was sent to terminate the pedicle of persistance.