Had my first laser hair removal appt...that, or I gave birth

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Seriously. I have had years dealing with waxing and all that crap, so epilation pain is nothing new to me. But never have I had to slather my legs with lidocaine an hour beforehand (I put it on too thicky when I started and didn’t have enough for the back of my calves)–and when I told the receptionist I didn’t treat the back of my legs at all, her eyes bulged. When I told the nurse who did the procedure, she ran off to get ice packs to rest my legs on. Uh oh, I thought.

Then when she gave me goggles, and two stress balls, and then said she was running off to get ice pops, I nervously chuckled, “Ummmm…am I having laser hair removal, or am I giving birth here today??” Seriously, way to spook a gal.

(Turns out, the ice pops are part of the laser procedure–she rubs the area to be treated with them, and they lubricate the skin while also providing yet another form of pain relief.)

Now, let’s make it clear: it hurt. It truly did. Felt similar to a bee sting, or getting snapped with a rubber band a few hundred times in that hour. But it wasn’t that bad (knees and ankles sucked, though). Good conversation is always a good distraction from pain, and really overall the pain level experienced was akin to when I’d get leg and bikini waxes (nothing extravagant, just tidying up the place) together. Not horrible at all.

But good NIGHT–all the prep started to make it seem I was attempting surgery without anesthesia.

FTR–I decided to get this because I’m tired of bending in the shower to shave my lower legs (I put them on a stool and bend forward), and it has twice caused my back to go out. Two back surgeries in 16mos mean I’m more protective of my back these days–annnnnnd with the possibility of a second pregnancy in the next year, I don’t want to deal with shaving and bending with a big belly (that’s what caused my back to go to shit the first ime)…and I’m too friggin’ furry to NOT shave (I shave in the morning, and feel stubble by bedtime). While it’s pricey, so is a lifetime of razor blades and shave gels.

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I’ve been thinking about getting this done too, but worried about the pain & healing afterwards.

Please let us know how things go (pain and otherwise) in the next few days.

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Sorry, that was me accidently posting under hubby trupa 's account. :smack:

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Wow, fascinating. Please do keep us posted. And possibly a follow up thread in six months to let us know how satisfied you are with it? Pretty please?

Of course, unless I win the lottery, this is never going to be in my budget, but if I do win the lottery it’s got to be in the top ten first things I’ll do.

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Will do, Blue Kangaroo. Heh heh–Serious Lark, are you suuuuuuuuure you’re not just covering for hubby trupa? :wink: Although really, men get this done a lot too.

You should see the menu for this stuff–the one that kills me is “genitals (male).” I can’t imagine some guy allowing his scrotum to be zapped like this for a half hour. Ouuuuuucccch.

We didn’t win the lottery, but we did buy a condo and sell it at the right time in the market, so we had a large chunk of equity cash to “play” with. Most of it will go toward remodeling our new home, but, heh…I also bought a horse trailer, hubby bought 2 guitars, and I decided to take the lasering plunge.

I bought a series of 6 treatments. Hair has to be in the actively growing (anagen) phase for the lasering to be effective, and body hairs grow at all different rates, so one treatment won’t be enough. Plus, well, I’m hairy–I have multiple hairs in each follicle, so I was warned 6 might not be enough (my research says it takes anywhere from 3-8 treatments; I’m guessing I might be in that “8” category). Although–this might be countered by the fact I’m also an ideal candidate: I’m fair skinned, have dark hair (the laser targets melanin), and the hair is coarse. Never has that been in my favor, so hey, sweet.

Right now my legs are still a bit swollen (though you can’t see it; I can just feel it) and it feels rather like I’ve been sunburned, but they look more or less the same. The damaged follicles will be shedding the hairs over the next two weeks (it will seem like new growth, but won’t be), so I don’t anticipate seeing much of a difference until after the second treatment in four weeks.

I didn’t realize that the lasering would result in some follicles “spitting” out the hairs right then and there–the nurse showed me the little bits of pepper she wiped off after one swipe with the laser. My legs looked like there are itty bitty scabs (kinda like razor burn) in some spots, but looking closer it’s that expelled hair again. Cool.

I’ll keep you posted, literally. :slight_smile:

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Thanks, Ruffian.

I knew it took multiple rounds of laser treatment, but this is more in-depth than I’ve heard about before. I appreciate it.