Laser Hair Removal

[Melanie Moxon]

Its approaching that time in my transition plan when I am looking at spending the money on Laser Hair Removal (LHR). I am seven months (give or take a couple of weeks) away from starting my social transition where it will all kick off and I will start living full time as Melissa (incl name change etc.). Naturally I want rid of my facial hair before then, however it could be 12 months (if I go private) or two years (soley NHS) from that date. Am I going to have to budget for a large number of top-ups before I get the anti androgens and the requisite hormones?

Yes I am excited!

[pamela7]

beard removal is a many-year process I believe. it only works properly on very dark hair, not on grey/blond/white. There are many who say laser damages the collagen permanently. I suggest thorough research, and expect a long duration.

[Devi SM]

Wow! Jentay, I like your post for open and sincere, in especial the last advice on asking for references...

[Ashley in Virginia]

While laser wasn't a fun experience, it did work well for me. And it was relatively cheap as well, in America I was able to find deals on packages on Groupon. I did nine sessions in total, my face is 95% clear. I have some grey hair that I have to knock off in the mornings, but I can live with that.

Most will suggest to start laser and let it do as much as it can before electrolysis. It will save you money in the long run.

[KymberlyOct]

Hi Jentay, Yeah Belle did my left side and Irina did the right. They were both very nice. Irina's side had better results.
I looked like I was in a car accident for weeks. I do think that the reviews are overstated and the negative after effects are understated. Also afterward Belle was very dismissive about the condition of my face.

Enough of that, sorry, anyway I think you and I make a great point. Mass clearing is just too much on the skin at one time. We both had bad results.

With electro stick with one hour appointments.

[Diane Smith]

BTW, Belle passed away a few days ago at age 60 here in her downstate home town of Champaign. She had been splitting her work between Dr. Z's and an office here for a few years. The obituary in the local paper was very brief and I know no details. It's a loss because it leaves our community without any truly competent electrologists (again).

- Diane

[jentay1367]

Oh my god, that's the worst kind of news. She was sweet and funny and she made me laugh. I'm so sorry to hear this. But thank you, Diane, I appreciate your telling us. She's safe on the other side now, I suppose. Just terrible news, heartbreaking.

I found this: )-:


https://www.renner-wikoffchapel.com/notices/Belle-Brine

[KymberlyOct]

I haven't done laser but from reading comments here and researching it sounds like you have a good plan. Laser apparently works on dark hair not blonde or grey. Electro works on all but takes FOREVER .......

I had a mass clearing and I strongly recommend against it. With electro I have switched to traditional one hour appointments.

You have a good plan in my opinion - knock out what you can with laser and then go electro.

You mention hormones. They don't do very much for facial hair. My experience is that my beard grows in more slowly that's about it.

Your plan of transition sounds very similar to mine. I like it. But we all do it differently. I had a plan and executed it - with some unexpected curves in the road. But for me having a plan helped with the nerves and fear of transitioning. For me I was on a mission. Spiro - come out to people - part time - full time - name change - face injections - orchie - estrogen - birth certificate change. All in that order. FFS was supposed to be in there too but alas that's another story.

Good luck and keep moving forward.

[Melanie Moxon]

Thanks for the responses

I have dark hair that is why I am going laser my facial hair isn't overly dense either so I am hoping the removal will be fairly complete, there are a few grey ones but I can just yank them out/shave them off so that is no real problem.

The reason I mention hormones is because I am concerned about the growth of new hairs rather than the old ones coming back, which the hormone therapy does prevent.

[Dorit]

I can share my experience, which might help. I began laser hair removal on my upper body a year before I began HRT. I began laser beard removal after three months HRT. I am currently 11 months HRT. My upper body hair is gone, after about 7 sessions every two months. I thought my dark beard and mustache hairs were gone after 6 monthly sessions. I had to take a three week break from HRT because of surgery about a month ago. I was very surprised and upset that my dark mustache hair and some beard hairs came back, clearly visible! I had to deal with concealer before I went out, something I had stopped doing months ago. It seems that the HRT had suppressed my face hair growth, so the laser had nothing to zap. So I went back to the laser early this week and had a face session that was just like the first one, lots of pain and burning hair. On the plus side stopping HRT allowed me to discover that I had dormant roots and could attack some of them.

The bottom line of all this is to do laser hair removal as soon as you can, preferably before HRT.

[Melanie Moxon]

Sorry for the late response, Thanks Dorit.

I will be starting it as soon as it is practical to do so

[Melanie Moxon]

LHR starts in less than a month I have my consultation booked in and a week later my first treatment session.

[Katya@]

I just hit 1 year of 1hr/week facial electrolysis (just above 50 hours). I am at the point, where can not shave above the jaw line for several weeks, and we started on my neck about 5-6 hours ago, so I expect at least 50 more hours of similar appointments. I had average density beard. Haven't had any scaring, and healing usually is fast. Within 2-3 days, it is not very noticeable. My electrologist is doing a great work to optimize power, while still have very high hair count which is just as important. On average, on the face, I get 700-800 hairs removed, and had even as much as 1000 hair follicles removed in 1 hour session. It all depends on the area and whether it is new area or re-clearing mostly clean area. So keep it in mind when you compare prices. If all you get in 1 hour is 300-400 hair follicles, it will take you twice as long to clear the face. It is painful, no doubt about it but pain is usually not the same. Some areas are more sensitive than others. The good thing is that since you work on one hair follicle at a time, if it successfully removed, chances are you will never see this hair again.

[Eemz]

that's great, good for you and good luck with it. I started electrolysis recently - can't have laser due to my medical history - and that'll be once a week for up to two years. But if you have stray white/gray ones left after the laser then electrolysis would be a good option for those because it targets individual hairs one at a time.

[KymberlyOct]

Thanks Diane for the sad news about Belle. As I said in my post I liked her and Irina they were both nice to me. I wasn't happy with Belle regarding the services but business and personal are two different things and I am sorry to hear of her passing. For the 10 hours I spent with her I got to know her a little bit and she seemed like a good person. We talked a lot trying to get my mind off the pain.

Regarding your comment about the loss to our community of a competent electrologist, while the loss of Belle is certainly sad on a personal note I would like to mention that many people in the cis community that provide these services are happy to work with us.

My experience after my session with Belle is that I simply called an electro salon / clinic in my area and told them why I was calling - stated that I am transgender and asked if they had anyone that would be interested in working with me.

Easy peasey. Really. They connected me with someone and I was her second trans client and now she has 5 total. That's part of the deal for any early or pre-transitioners reading this. Eventually you just have to deal with telling people that you are trans. It's going to come up.... alot. Name change, medical stuff, personal business on and on.

Anyway just call and say I am trans. Most will be fine and if you run into someone who is not well then give your money to someone that deserves it.

[Eemz]

Eventually you just have to deal with telling people that you are trans....
just call and say I am trans. Most will be fine and if you run into someone who is not well then give your money to someone that deserves it.

That's what I did too. I called a local electrolysis place and said hello I'm trans so I'm going to need hair removal. A lot of it. No problem, when do you want to come in. If they hadn't I'd just go somewhere else.

Actually one of the staff told me she loves working with trans customers because she feels like she's really helping someone, rather than just doing a beauty treatment which much of their work is. She also said they get cis-male customers all the time for things like hairy cheeks, ears and "crazy old man eyebrows".

[Eemz]

Well here's the lunar landscape that is my chest at the moment, ongoing electrolysis. I shaved it on the 23rd I think and you can see the "normal" regrowth in the bottom half. The treated upper part is a bit red with very attractive spots scattered in, but that'll all fade. The important part is there's very little regrowth on it, and it used to go right up my neck and join the bottom of my beard line, poking out of my shirt. We're getting there. Next round tomorrow.

IMG_1029.jpg

[Aunt Kelly]

Fun, ain't it?
You're right. The redness is only temporary, and the permanent results so, so worth it.

[Diane Smith]

Regarding your comment about the loss to our community of a competent electrologist, while the loss of Belle is certainly sad on a personal note I would like to mention that many people in the cis community that provide these services are happy to work with us.

Sorry, poor choice of words on my part. By "community," I meant this city, or geographical region. Not the "TG community." Other than Belle, there is only one other practicing electrologist within 50 miles or so, and neither her work habits nor technical results are held in very high esteem by the locals (which I can confirm first hand by having been a client for 3-1/2 years). With Belle's passing, there's just no one else to take good care of us within a practical distance.

I'm sure most electrologists have a number of TG clients, whether that is their primary focus or not. As long as they're tolerant, reasonably friendly and very competent, it doesn't really matter to me when choosing one.

- Diane

[KymberlyOct]

Makes sense Diane, thanks for clarifying. I consider this site to be a resource for those that are questioning gender issues or possibly considering transitioning so I just wanted to point out that finding an electrologist isn't very difficult. But I must admit it was a big deal to me making that phone call when I first started, so I just wanted to reassure those that are early on the path that it really isn't something to fear.

Thanks again Diane.

[Eemz]

I must admit it was a big deal to me making that phone call when I first started, so I just wanted to reassure those that are early on the path that it really isn't something to fear.

Yes and I'm one of those and we do appreciate it. I just completed my 3rd session and that's why I mentioned that cis-males have electrolysis for all kinds of reasons, so you're not necessarily outing yourself just by sitting in the waiting room.

[Devi SM]

Elizabeth canning ask how much is the cost of those sessions? And how much extension of hair has been removed?

[elizabethamy]

Laser has worked miracles on my face but the white hairs will be there until some scientific entrepreneur invents a laser that can kill light colored hair, or my insurance starts to cover electrolysis, the latter of which is a decade away. A quick shave and a very light coat of foundation and no one can see anything at all - and that's after only 4 laser treatments. it works! and the pain is fleeting....

e.a.

[Devi SM]

Eemz,
So is electrolysis more effective than laser?
Why is going to take you 2 years?

[Jeri Ann]

Electrolysis is more effective than laser on most people. Permanent hair removal takes a long time because each follicle will go through several growth cycles before it finally goes belly up. Also, there are always hair follicles that are dormant and can't be treated. Beginning HRT before completing permanent hair removal makes it even more difficult for several reasons. HRT may retard hair growth making it difficult to treat. Dorit's experience is a perfect example of this. HRT also makes the skin thinner, more fragile and subject to damage from electrolysis.

I completed Electrolysis 38 years ago. As I recall it took about two years of one hour per week treatments. There is a member here who no longer comes to the forum who is into her third year of electrolysis doing 3 - 4 hours per week. She started with laser but it did not work.

To do it right, complete permanent hair removal first, before beginning HRT.

Another thing, if you are considering SRS there is the matter of genital hair removal. In most cases this is necessary to achieve satisfactory results. Unless, of course, you don't mind hair growing in your . . .!