need more information

[brunetti]

Hi doctor,

I am female, and I am interested in underarm hair laser removal.
I have very ugly underams, dont remember how it started, but at this moment, the skin are rough, feel like the follicle is coming out, rashes, and lots of ingrown. This has cause me having uneven and dark underarm skin color obviously. I have tried ingrown go and scrubbing, but still doesnt seem any better. I dont use shave because the bumps make it not a very good idea to shave because it is not a smooth surface and i dont want to cut my skin. My whole life I used shave only a few times as i remember and that was long time ago..I have no idea what the first cause of these. maybe hair removal cream or deodorant. Now I am using plucking to get rid of the hair. But often it cause rashes or sometimes it bleed a bit. I really dont know what to do with the ingrown, So i guess laser removal is the best options.

according to the price I see, 150$ means just for 1 treatment? and 1 treatment usually takes 15 mins? I am aware that it is impossible to get it done with only 1 treatment. for example say I need 4 times, so $150x4=$600 and i got the fifth treatment for ****? usually how many weeks gap between first and 2nd treatment?

and also, I was just wondering, as budget is kind of a problem, is it still better do it once than never? and will it become useless after a short period of time?

and I also have read the pre requirement before laser removal..no plucking up to six weeks..and my underarm hair growth is fast...and i feel itchy whenever its like 2 mm length..so leave it for 6 weeks is not a good idea...what should I do then..

cheers :) sorry for the long posts.

[Heidi42]

Hi Brunetti,

I've had laser hair removal underneath my arms and on my legs.

I got the underarms done first for 2 reasons

1. It was the most noticeable area to have hair!
2. It was the cheapest area to try out first!!

I figured I might as well start off with the underarms. Least amount of money to give it a go. It worked great for me so then I went on to try the legs. I couldn't have been happier. Its two years now. I don't need to wax or shave in those locations at all anymore. So I guess it is kind of saving me money. My ever cynical husband once did some quick calculations for me and informed me that in about 11.5 years we might actually be ahead on money. Not counting interest. So its not really that great a decision from a money POV. But the convenience is priceless. My hairs haven't grown back at all. And I haven't had any ingrown hairs underneath my arms or on the legs. I really recommend it if it is affordable.

According to my doctor you can't wax or pluck the hairs for up to 6 weeks before treatment. Money was tight for me too so I slavishly followed all instructions.

[starfish]

Hmmm I know I was warned off waxing, electrolysis and sun. Especially the sun!


I can't remember anything about plucking the hairs though.

I think it was explained to me as needing a short hair still there so the laser could go down to the follicle. A long hair is bad because it takes too long for the laser to get there. No hair is bad as there is nothing to take the laser down to the follicle.

I would guess that plucking would be bad because there is no hair there to take the laser down to the follicle

[claudia]

I had it done for my underarms too.

It was great 6 months later I haven't had to shave or wax.

What actually spurred me on was the fact I kept getting really bad ingrown hairs, especially in summer. I play a lot of sports and I think the sweating really set it off.


Its been great. Really great. I can't recommend it enough.

So far I haven't had any problem with regrowth and the dermal therapist who did mine assured me it wouldn't ever grow back.

[Fran]

I concur with starfish.

My GP actually did mine. He assured me the laser actually destroys the whole follicle and the stem cells inside it that allow the hair to grow in the first place.

He says unless there's something fundamental missing in our understanding of cell growth it is impossible for the hairs to ever grow back.

[helen]

I got laser hair removal on my legs.

I'm sure plucking was one of the not to do things. Along with waxing.

I've recommended it to everyone though. I love it. Like what someone said before it doesn't really make thattttt much sense to get it done from an economic point of view. (though my partner isn't so good at maths so its was easier to convince him!).


But for the first time since I was 13 I haven't had to worry about if I remembered to wax my legs. Its great. Ingrown hairs were never a big problem for me.

Some of my other friends got it done solely to avoid ever having to put up with ingrown hairs again.

[brunetti]

thanks guys for your reply...=)

I think i will go laser...means from now on no more plucking till 6 weeks later?
6 weeks later i think the hair is quite long? I heard shave is alright. but I wonder, with my conditions right now, rashes, ingrown, rough skin (it's like chicken skin) is it alright for me to shave? or there's other way to do it better than shave?

cheers :)

[Dr.Grace]

Hello Brunetti,

Shaving, using little clippers (to trim the hair to <1mm long) or depilatory creams are all good options for preparing your skin for laser hair removal. Waxing and tweezing are unsuitable because they remove the hair roots from the hair follicles.

Light-based treatments (Lasers and IPL/Intense Pulsed Light systems) depend on the difference in colour between your skin and your hair. The laser simply has no way of telling what's skin and what's hair - all it does is heat up a specific coloured "target". For hair removal, the target is melanin - the pigment that gives us our hair and skin colour. When the laser/IPL is applied to the skin the hair roots heats up quickly to around 60C and passes the heat to the hair follicles to destroy them, while the skin is barely warmed.

In terms of efficacy and safety, to receive FDA-approval an IPL system has to demonstrate through clinical trials a 80-90% permanent hair reduction in patients with the right colourings. So when you speak with a clinic, make sure you ask about the qualifications of the person performing the treatment, whether there is any medical supervision, as well as the equipment used.

Annoying and painful ingrown hair is a common reason why people choose to have laser hair removal done. Laser/IPL hair removal certainly are great to solve the problem at the roots! In the mean time, you might like to try using an antibacterial shower gel which contains glycolic acid or an exfoliant to reduce the ingrown hairs after shaving. Using a non-alchoholic deodorant may also help reduce the irritation to the sensitive underarm skin.

If you'd like any further information please don't hesitate to post again. At Kiora we also offer complimentary consultations where we can chat about the proceedure and you can ask all the questions.

Take Care,

Dr.Grace
Clinical Director
Kiora Medical Spas
www.kiora.com.au
T1300 55 98 96

[brunetti]

Thank you Dr. Grace for the reply.

I would like to know what is depilatory cream? example? and may I continue use Ingrown go?

Do I need to make an appointment to go Kiora for consultation or I can just drop by anytime?

cheers :)