September 9th, 2007

 

Ok, sorry for the goofy title, but it's an inside joke with my son.  But this topic is going to be all about my first laser hair removal treatment.  Lasers sound pretty cool, and the sessions  only last about 15 minutes, and you only go every 6 weeks (this is to accomodate the growing cycles of all your hair).  It's also suppose to reduce the growth, and works on your whole face each session, and by most accounts, 10 sessions with this method should yield good results and my main goal right now, is to not have to shave every day.  So going laser sounded pretty good.

I usually do well with most things, and as I'd handled the electrolysis just fine, I didn't expect to have any problems with lasers.  Everyone says it feels like a rubber band snap.  I guess 'rubber band snap' = 'jolt from a taser gun'.  Ok, I've never been tasered, and I'm sure that's worse, but I sure felt like every burst was like being electrocuted.  I had these squeeze balls in each hand and with every jolt, my body twitched and I squeezed the balls tightly.   I'm not really looking forward to my next treatment.  I envision crying.  Maybe before I go in, or perhaps while it's going on.  Maybe I'll hold out until afterwards.  :(

Laser only works on dark hair, and even though I have a variety of hair colors, most of what I have is good old brown.  Therefore, I was told that the more hair it works on, the more it tends to hurt.  That day I went in (4 days ago), I was a bit absent minded shaving, and didn't really do the far left side.  And yes, it hurt worse there than the other areas.  Also, I heard that if you've been on hormones awhile, your face is a bit softer, and more sensitive and will likely hurt more.  A common side effect of this treatment is that your skin reacts a bit like it was sun burned.  Amongst the various symptoms are redness, bloches on the skin, and these raised bumps as if you got a bad sunburn.  My face is a little blotchy, but very bumpy now.  I have trouble shaving with my face being this way, and makeup can't cover it all.  I can fix the blotches, but the bumps are noticable.  At least it doesn't hurt.

So it's been 4 days now, and it finally looks like it's subsiding.  I hope I can be smooth & clear by Friday, when I'm at Southern Comfort.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not against laser hair removal, but I think if I had it to do again, I'd have started before I went on hormones when my face was tougher.  Also, I may ask if she can use a lower setting next time.  The higher the charge, the more hair affected, so I'm hoping a whole bunch got zapped this time.  I guess we all have a different imagining of what a rubber band snap feels like, but to further describe that, imagine a thick, tightly strung band, held back about 8 inches and let loose.  Then do that like every 3-5 seconds for 5 minutes.  Have fun.