Laser Hair Removal Diary: Treatment #1

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Welcome to my second diary entry about laser hair removal! If you haven’t read about my consultation and learned the basics about laser hair removal, check out my first diary entry: Laser Hair Removal Diary: Consultation.

As most of you know, I’ve been keeping this blog pretty regularly for over a year. I talk about beauty products, treatments, fashion, and really whatever else pops into my head. And overall, I’ve made the decision to disclose some fairly personal information here. Posts such as these laser hair removal diaries are not for the faint of heart. Anyone who has known me in the past and feels weird about hearing me talk about my bikini area should probably stop reading now.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
———————–

Background: A few months ago, I took advantage of one of the LivingSocial deals you probably saw me tweet about and purchased six laser hair removal treatments for one area for $79 from Body Sculpt MD in northeast Portland. The deal seemed too good to pass up, considering single treatments are usually hundreds of dollars.

I don’t know how much you know about laser hair removal (I knew almost nothing before this), but to my dismay, hairless-ness is NOT guaranteed. The best candidates for laser hair removal are people with light skin and dark hair. And they recommend having at least six treatments in order to yield maximum results. You’re also supposed to wait eight weeks in between treatments, so the whole thing takes about a year.

Anyway, I decided to just go for it and the area I choose to have my treatments done on is my Brazilian area.

Because these diary posts will have months in between them, you can search for all of them in the Tags on the right side of my blog. Look for “Laser Hair Removal Diary.”

———————–


What to expect after your first laser hair removal treatment: I’ll start this out by telling you what my doctor told me I could expect from my first laser hair removal treatment. She said that after this first treatment, I could expect about 20% less hair. After six treatments, I could expect about 80% less hair. But 100% hairlessness is not guaranteed after any number of laser treatments.

I’m not a particularly hairy person, so I figured I could live with these results.

Apparently, there are three hair cycles (or did she say four??) total. The laser sessions target the hair cycles individually, which is why they need to be so spread out. She told me that I wouldn’t see any difference in the hair growth until two weeks after this first treatment. But after two weeks, the laser will have worked it’s magic on this hair cycle and hair will start to, um, fall out. Or I can pull it out. Grossed out yet?

So, that’s what she said to expect after this treatment. Now on to the treatment…

My experience: Thirty minutes before my appointment, I took an Ibuprofen and applied numbing cream, like Doctor Sarah had advised.

I walk in to the doctor’s office to see an irritated woman who was, unfortunately, 15 minutes late to her appointment. The receptionist is not letting her go in to see the doctor so the frustrated woman storms out of the office.

I then come to the realization that the office has scheduled these 30-minute appointments back-to-back with no time in between. After the woman leaves, the receptionist explains to me that 1600 people bought the Living Social package that I purchased, and the doctors are booked solid. She suggests I don’t hesitate to schedule all 6 of my appointments up front. I take her advice and book appointments through September.

Right when the clock strikes 5 pm, Doctor Sarah is ready for me. Sarah can tell that I’m nervous so she tells me to relax and hands me a “skirt” and sunglasses to put on. I lay down on the table and she gets to work.

I’d like to say up front, thank gosh for numbing cream! I don’t think I could have gone through with this without it.

All in all, I actually thought the laser was less painful than getting a Brazilian wax. But then again, I’ve always had allergic reactions to waxing, so maybe I’m not the right person to be making that comparison. The nice thing about laser is that although it hurts when you’re getting it done, the pain is over immediately after. I experienced zero soreness or discomfort leaving the doctor’s office, which was a relief.

Sarah starts with the “top area” of my Brazilian region, which she says is less painful than the lower area. She distracts me during the procedure by telling me about the trip she is taking with her boyfriend to Seattle, and about her new apartment. Although she’s a master of distraction, the laser still hurts.

She goes over the upper area twice and I’m squirming and swearing the entire time. By the time she’s ready to do my lower area, I’m considering telling her to leave it alone. If it was really going to be more painful than what I just experienced, I didn’t think I could take it. But luckily, the numbing cream really took in that area, and the laser wasn’t that bad.

I’m sure you’re all dying to know about the pain, so I’ll tell you. I’ve heard laser compared with a rubber band snapping on your skin, but I wouldn’t describe it like that. I think it felt more like little stabs of needles. It’s different than getting a tattoo because a tattoo is a constant stream of pain. This is more like stabs. It’s interesting. And it feels really different on different parts of your body.

So, I survived my first laser hair removal treatment! My next treatment isn’t until March 31at, but I’ll update you guys soon to let you know if I really did experience a 20% decrease in hair from this treatment.