Laser Hair Removal

jenh111

Has anyone had any recent experience with Laser hair removal? If so which machine was used?
Any experience with the Soprano XL?

M.Holloway

jenh111 wrote: »

Has anyone had any recent experience with Laser hair removal? If so which machine was used?
Any experience with the Soprano XL?

From what I can tell the Soprano XL is a pulsed diode array laser operating at 810nm (the wavelength of the laser).

While pulsed diode array lasers are more effective than IPL (which isn't technically a laser anyway) they are still less effective than an Nd:YAG laser. This operates at 1064nm.

A diode, like IPL, is limited in the Fitzpatrick skin types it can be safely used on. You need a longer wavelength like the Nd:YAG to treat darker skin.

The whole XL gold standard schpeil is just marketing talk. It's a pretty good laser but not the best.

clays_mummy

i had a years worth of laser treatment, cant remember what kind it was but just wanted to tell you that IPL doesnt work in the long run

Toothsmith

TBH - nothing would work in the 'long term'.

The body is genetically programed to have hair, and the body will always try and recover from 'injury' which is basically what hair removal treatments are.

There is no treatment that will remove all hair forever.

VfM4meplse

Toothsmith wrote: »

TBH - nothing would work in the 'long term'.

The body is genetically programed to have hair, and the body will always try and recover from 'injury' which is basically what hair removal treatments are.

There is no treatment that will remove all hair forever.

And most importantly, we have no long term safety data on laser treatment because it's not regulated in the same way as medication. Worst case scenario: imagine being zapped all over, and then finding a trend emerging after 25 years of an increased incidence of malignancy following that procedure. There's no way of "undoing" it.

Whilst you might trust a dizzy 16 year old (or 25, 32, 43 yo for that matter etc) in a salon to wax your legs, why would anyone trust the same person behind technology they do not understand? You will find that regular removal of hair by the root by plucking waxing eventually reduces growth but there are always unwanted effects - such as ingrown hairs and loosened skin.

Depsite claims to the contrary, no-one is an expert on laser treatment. We just haven't had sufficient patient years of exposure.

DanE2010

Toothsmith wrote: »

TBH - nothing would work in the 'long term'.

The body is genetically programed to have hair, and the body will always try and recover from 'injury' which is basically what hair removal treatments are.

There is no treatment that will remove all hair forever.

I thought Electrolysis is permanent? It is according to the FDA.

Toothsmith

I'm not an expert on hair removal, but I know a bit about lasers.

IIRC, electrolysis will permenantly destroy a hair folical (as does laser or IPL), but if you are genetically programed to have a hair folical in that particular place, then another, brand new one will eventually generate itself. The new one often produces a much finer hair than the old one though, so is often virtually invisible anyway. But it just depends on how determined a particular body is to repair itself.

So whilst in the majority of patients it may well be as close to 'permanent' as you can get - there are a significant proportion of people who will have a noticable re-growth eventually.