Laser versus electrolisys...

I just learn that my insurance will approve hair removal.
I'm so excited but it sure now what's the best electro or laser.
It your be initially just face, beard, moustache that's is reduced to a goatee because sides and under chins hair is white.
I've been plucking my moustache for more than a year and I got used to the "pain" but not in the other areas.
I had used hlp, home light pulse machine, silkn bellaglide mainloy in legs and almost no hair there. With HRT the rest of the body hair is very thin. No chest or back hair.
Hlp is kind laser so I know how it works and its effectiveness but no experience with electrolysis.
Comments?

That's great Vanessa. There are a few threads about this, but basically they both seem to be effective but different.

Laser treats patches of skin at a time, probably like your HLP. The only difficulty is that it does not work on gray/white hairs (because it needs the pigment to conduct the laser energy down to the hair root and kill it). Electrolysis uses a fine needle to treat hairs one at a time. It takes time because there are a lot of hairs on your face. But the color doesn't matter. So it depends how much gray/white you have. In both methods each hair will need several "zaps" before it finally gives up.

If I had a choice I would do laser and afterwards use electrolysis to "mop up" any gray ones. But I can't get laser for medical reasons so I am doing all electrolysis.

Electrolysis is also used for precision work like eyebrows and ear hairs, because you're doing one hair at a time, whereas the laser would blast the whole area.

I agree with Eemz to do laser first, or at least, at the same time. The best way is to let your facial hair grow some so that the laser specialist can see how much dark hair you have. Hopefully they will give you a truthful answer. Another suggestion is to stop plucking the hairs and let the hair removal processes do the work. Most specialists (laser and electrology) do not want you to pluck hairs. I am not sure exactly why, but do remember someone saying that it makes it more difficult killing the individual hair follicles. Also, killing the hair follicles also depends on the specific growth cycle of each hair follicle. As I understand, electrolysis kills the hair in the follicles new growth stage.

From a cost view, I think that even though laser seems more expensive, when compared to electrolysis, it is more economical. Yes, only electrolysis can "claim" that it is permanent hair removal, laser does permanently kill a lot of hairs with normally only a few growing back. Plus there are thousands of hair follicles on our face and some never grow hairs, even though they can and maybe will later in life of for some other reason, i.e. they may remain dormant all your life, or may not.

Laser will be less expensive where the hair is dark enough for it to be effective. Electrolysis is slower and more expensive. My facial hair is 80 percent white, so I skipped laser. YMMV. Consult a pro and go from there.

Vanessa,
If you want to know about the pain for example, then you could get an subjective advice. If you want to talk about the permanent effect of each option - you should talk to people who had it finished and few years went by. From personal experience of my electrologists and her patients - it is not uncommon for hair to come back year or more after being absent for those who did laser. As a result, it can only extend the total time it will take to permanently remove it. Finally, based on her personal experience - plucking hair should be a no no. It damages the hair follicles where hair is growing from causing new hair to not grow straight and otherwise make it more difficult to kill with electro later.

Laser is not guaranteed to be permanent...

obviously its way cheaper, and it can cover alot of hair quickly.

as people have said, it only really works on darker hairs...and its important to realize it the color at the root that matters... so many of your darker hairs may have gray roots...

finally, laser is simply not permanent for many hairs....many hairs will be killed forever but many wont...

DO NOT PLUCK....the gals are spot on....

Electrolysis can not only be costly but it takes up so much time....and it hurts like heck...

but it works...its permanent....


also for both methods its important to understand hair grows in cycles... the actual permanent elimination of hairs can only happen during the growth cycle of the hair, and at any given time this 30-40 percent of hairs...these phases last 6-8 weeks....
so to get them all, its a process...

whatever you decide get in there as fast as you can and get going.

Pain with electrolysis varies with each individual. Although I certainly had my moments(!), 99% of the time it didn’t bother me in the least, and I didn’t use any numbing creams, either. I fell asleep during sessions on occasion. I only had a single session where the entire appointment was painful, and aside from that, only the infrequent zap, usually on the center line of the upper lip.

According to my electrolysis tech - who endorses, and has had bodywork laser - laser hair removal on the face can result in denser than normal vellus hair, which is *very* difficult to remove. I’m not entirely sure why this is so, but would speculate that it relates to the partial kill and root color issues Kaitlyn mentions, together with laser’s much broader target area vs. electrolysis, which targets individual follicles. The result would be weakened follicles on a large scale, resulting in fuzz, long-term anyway. I suspect this would be less of an issue for those who only have very dark hair. I never used laser because my facial hair was light-colored and mixed-gray at that point anyway, but think I would have passed had I started younger because of my coloration. Had I had dark brown or black hair and was, say, 25-30 years old, I would have gone for it.

I thanks for all the wise answers.
I have one specific question about electro, because, as I said I've been plucking upon upper lip, I'm used to the pain but in the others area it was, first to time demanding and second too painful...the pain is for the pull of the hair or the needle going to the follicle?

Electrolysis pain is when the needle is in the follicle as deep as it may go and the short charge of electricity is turned on. It is isolated, meaning the pain is only in that one hair follicle and lasts only as long as the charge is applied which could be for a few short seconds. I am generally very pain tolerant, I can endure pain more than a lot of people. So I eventually got to a place where I would go the whole session (minimum 1 hour) with minimal extreme pain sensations. If they start working in one area the endorphins eventually start helping to reduce the pain being felt. Now, where I go in for a half hour treatment every 4+ weeks, the individual pain feels greater than before because she does one on my upper cheek, than the next one is on my jaw line and the next one is on my neck. I just do not get the chance to let my body and pain sensors adapt to the pain. If you climbed the mountain I would guess that you can endure this pain easily.

> the pain is only in that one hair follicle and lasts only as long as the charge is applied

Yes that's it. There's no sensation of pulling, it feels like they zap the hair at the root for a second until it lets go and comes out in one piece. Then you get to rest for a few seconds while they line up another one. For delicate areas they tend to do only a few hairs, then move somewhere easier for a while to give you a break, then come back for more.

I basically talk for the whole hour, which helps, and usually there's only maybe 5 or 6 in that time that hurt enough to shut me up for a few seconds.

When I went in for the first electrolysis consultation they did a few hairs for me there and then, so that I can see what it feels like, and they can see that I heal ok before we start for real. They also took off a few skin tags while I was there which was an unexpected bonus :) It was worth the consultation charge for that alone.

Or you could start with something simple like your ears, as a test. You're definitely not going to want hairy ears and it won't cost a lot to get them done :)

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Actually that's my recommendation for anyone reading this thread, CD, TG, TS, whatever.... get those ears done.

Especially if you're looking for something that you can "get away with in guy mode". Nobody likes hairy ears so it's perfectly reasonable that you sorted them out. If anyone even notices they'll assume you've started shaving or plucking them, like every guy over 40 who doesn't have a forest growing there is already doing, whether they admit it or not.