Laser hair removal - Am I being conned here?

[Rattitude]

I have bought a 6-session laser hair removal package for my bikini area. I have had my third session and the results are pretty good already as my hair is dark but my skin is fair.

On average, I have spaced out the sessions every 8 to 9 weeks. I am getting a lot of pressure from the place to book my next session 6 to 8 weeks max. after the previous one. However, because the results are pretty good, I find that the hair has not really grown back much after 8 weeks.

I would prefer to go every 10 weeks or so to ensure that all the hair that is to come out has actually come out.

I have been told by the nurse that going every 6 weeks or so ensures that hair at various stages of growth is zapped. mmmm... not quite sure how that would work, as I would have thought after 10 weeks, all of it (or 90% of it) would be out and could be zapped.

I suspect that they are telling me to go every 6 weeks for their own benefit rather than mine: i.e. so that my package is completed in the minimum amount of time.

In a way, I would be quite happy to do 5 sessions and then wait quite a few months to see if there is any regrowth and use my final session at my own convenience.

So, am I unduly cynical and is there truly a scientific basis to their claim that I should go every 6 to 8 weeks?

Hi, If I remember well the first 4 sessions I was going every 5 weeks but Im talking about face here. Later it was 8 weeks between, so it does make sense.

Now I purchased Philips Lumea and I do it myself, pretty much same effect but tan again I had about ten sessions professionally done so it could be that both working together made the difference.

Thanks, Ilovecrossfit. I think I will increase the space between my sessions by stealth: I will reschedule it to a later date over the phone.

They kind of force you to book your next session as your appointment ends. I am a bit of a wuss to argue with them there and then.

A little bump in case I get some input from the Thursday evening crowd.

Another bump

Doesn't it have something to do with how long hair is actively growing for and how long it is in the 'resting' phase? am sure I have read something to that effect - that the laser will only permanently zap hair which is actively growing at the time, which is about 1/3 of your total hair, so you have to go back at the sort of interval which means that your hair will be at a different stage of its cycle - not to do with how much hair is visible.

However that is just how I remember it; haven't done laser hair removal myself (chicken) so could be totally wrong.

I think desertgirl is correct - there's no benefit of spacing out the sessions as its all to do with the phases of hair growth.

I double that desertgirl..thanks for explaining it clearly :)

So, even if there is no visible hair and there won't be any on a specific patch of skin for another two weeks, there is still hair there that needs zapping?

Have you asked them specifically that? if they can't explain it properly, maybe just double it and go every 12 weeks (should presumably have the same effect?)

I was going every 6 weeks religiously for the 4 treatments and then went after 3 months for the 5th treatment because I had almost no hair left and I never needed the 6th treatment. I am very fair with dark hair.

Best thing I ever did!

It's all to do with zapping the hair in a specific stage of it's growth. I can't explain it well but I had to Google the process for myself when I missed some appointment s and rearranged for the week after.6 week intervals are supposedly optimal but everyone's hair must grow at slight lay different rates... maybe yours is slightly slower than most? Try cancelling the week beforehand and trying to rearrange for a later date to suit you.

The nurse actually asked me how often I had had to shave it between the sessions, but I had not shaved it at all as there was not much hair to get rid of. I am wondering if her comment was linked to the fact that I might have shaved some hair a few weeks ago and they would have been at a different stage of growth...

I think the laser is working well on my hair/skin combination, a bit like what Maraki experienced. In an ideal world, I would want to save my final session/couple of sessions at times when I need them: as the process is not guaranteed to stop hair growth forever, I would have liked to have the opportunity to go again in a year (or 2!) if hair growth reoccurred by then. However, I appreciate that they want to make sure that any packages they have sold are used within a defined amount of time.

As I will be going away in the summer next year, I would want to have my final session as close to my holiday as I can (sometime in June), so I think I will spread out my last 3 sessions to achieve this.

I am also seeing a dermatologist who is doing laser hair removal in December. As she is not linked to the place where I am having my laser treatment done, I will ask her what her thoughts are on treatment frequency when there is no hair regrowth.

Thanks to you all for your input anyway!