I just wanted to share with you how my first session went. It's more of a "FYI" type post than anything else. I hope you find it interesting and informative
Last Friday afternoon I had my first appointment for laser hair removal on my face and neck. When Marla and I arrived the female nurse/laser technician greeted us with a smile and took us through to the treatment room. After signing a release form she explained that the procedure would last forty five minutes and that if at any time it felt too uncomfortable I was to tell her. She gave Marla a pair of funky looking rose tinted safety glasses, and she also wore an identical pair herself. I wore very small heavy dark goggles, rather like the ones that you use when you have a sun bed except these were solid and I couldn’t see a thing.
I laid back on the treatment table and she smeared half of my face and neck with a large amount of cooling, lubricating gel. She started at the upper side of my face in front of my left ear. I felt the metal laser head touch my face then ZAP! I experienced what felt like a bee sting or a fine needle going into my skin. It didn’t exactly hurt as such, but it did feel uncomfortable. Not unbearable, just a mild pain. Then another one, and another. Each “laser zap” happened about once every second. Each time it happened I heard an electronic beep emanate from the laser machine itself, plus I heard a sort of fizzing sound coming from my skin. As she moved down the side of my face and got to the jaw line it stated to hurt more….much more. The more “fleshy” the area the less it hurts. Also in this area I could smell burning hairs! If you have ever accidentally set fire to the hairs on your body or the hair on your head, it smells just like that. The nearer she got to the center of my chin the stronger the burning hair smell. I mentioned that I could smell something burning and she said that yes it was indeed a beard hair burning and that it was quite normal.
After the laser nurse had done all over my left side face, chin and neck, she stopped and applied more of the lubricating gel to my right side face and neck. She the restarted, again, beginning at the upper side in front of my right ear. She did everywhere except my upper lip. Then she stopped and said I should have a break for a moment as she was about to do the most “intense” part of the procedure. She took a wetted piece of gauze and asked me to place it between my front teeth and inside my upper lip. Apparently sometimes the laser energy can be so powerful that if you have sensitive teeth it can hurt a bit and so the gauze helps this. Anyway, I did as I was told and tried to relax. Then she began my top lip area. Phew, this was quite “difficult” it hurt just a little bit more than my boney jaw line and that was bad enough. To get through it I put myself in the mind set of “no pain, no gain” it was rather like being in the gym grinding out that last set on the weights…you have to push yourself and “take it” a little.
Then we were all done and I could get up. My face was feeling very hot indeed and I was given an ice pack to pat all over my face. It feels like you’ve gotten a bad sunburn. If you leave the ice pack on it’s fine, but after you take it off for a few minutes it stings quite a bit. Anyway, the nurse said she was happy with how the procedure went and as far as she could tell it was a success. She also told me that she started me off on a higher energy level than she would normally start a person on because she knew I had quite a few dark brown hairs from my consultation. She also told me that depending on the results she would probably increase the intensity some more if she felt I needed it.
After we went home, it took about three to four hours before the redness subsided. The following day I had a suggestion of a mild rash on my face and neck, but other than that you’d never know I’d had anything done. Oh, and how did my face feel?.....as smooth as a babies bottom!
Originally Posted by Michelle2008
