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Extreme Allergic Reaction to Laser- Terrible Swollen Itching Patches - Florida

  • Not Sure
  • Cost: $200
  • Florida

I just finished my full bikini sessions at my...

  • 1 Feb 2012

I just finished my full bikini sessions at my laser place, after 3 sessions I was ready for touch ups. Very happy with the results on bikini.She used Alexandrite laser on my normal skin tone. Im not super white, but my legs are still tanned from our Thanksgiving cruise vacation. With the great results on my bikini I was ready to start my lower leg.

Since I had no problem on my bikini area I was very excited to get the same results on my legs too. No pain or anything but the next day I woke up with extreme itchiness and swollen red patches on my skin. You can see it on my pictures. I called the laser lady and she said: don`t worry it will go away, and stated it can take a week or a month. She said yes, my legs were tanned so she needs to use the laser on a different setting next time...

The itchiness on the 3rd they was so unberable on both legs that I could not take it. I called my allergy doc and he saw me the same day. Gave me zyrtec and zantac. Told me its a histamine reaction to the laser. I have to say on the top of zyrtec I took nyquil so I could sleep, it was so horrible. Not only itching but painful swollen patches.

By day 6 it started to get better and day 8 was when the sweeling and itching was totally. I dot~t know if it was the zyrtec but luckily it was gone. Now, after 4 weeks I`m left with dark patches and circles on both lower leg. I have no idea if its there to stay or will go away. I live in Florida so its hard to stay out of the sun, but for now I just have to make sure to cover it. I have to say as far as hair grow the laser did work, I can surely tell. But I~m terrified to try again on my next session.

After 2.5 months my legs almost back to normal....

  • 25 Feb 2012
After 2.5 months my legs almost back to normal. Very light discoloration, fading every day. I have an appointment with the same salon for my bikini touch up and my second session on the lower legs. Still debating if I continue with the legs. I have to say that the treatment worked for sure. Even after 1 treatment my legs have hardly any hair , but the side effects were horrible. I will talk to the lady , let's see what she has to say.
Great review?

Comments (18)

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CaliB 22 Aug 2012
Just had fourth treatment on lower legs last week and the first treatment on underarms today. Wow. Underarms are baby-butt smooth. My tech has always suggested using numbing cream "why not? you like pain?" and specifically stated that the thinner you are the higher the pain level would be as the laser is closer to the bone. In addition, during our initial consultation she did an extremely thorough medical history. She picked up on my seafood allergy and my daughter's sunlight allergy and suggested that I take benedryl prior to treatment. She stated that while I don't have an allergy to the sun science shows that seafood allergies can contribute to a sunlight allergy (passed over me and went to my daughter) and the laser can cause reactions in such people. I took one benedryl compared to two as I still had work the rest of the day. No allergic reaction occured and haven't taken any after the first treatment.
Supersensitive 30 Jul 2012
Just wanna say, I had the same experience. Welts & all the next day after my second IPL session for my bikini area. First time was great, second time the setting was increased & I don't know if technician burned my skin or I had a severe reaction? I think possibly both! The next day a couple of small scabs developed, not serious. They're healing fine. I'm more worried about how long my bikini area will be like this - red welts, itchy. The sensitivity is occurring in other parts of my body like for example when I itch my legs horizontally, my skin would form horizontal itch marks & stay like that for a while - red & itchy. My body developed a histamine reaction, i think. So did yours. I take loratidine antihistamine 10 mg every day, apply moisturiser on the area, as well as cold compress to help with the itch & inflammation. Best to do spot tests before starting any procedure, especially for people with sensitive skin. Although I did spot test, the second session triggered the reaction.
Zsuzsika26 29 Jul 2012
Neurogal, I actually had 2 more laser treatment after this horrible first one and the same technician used the laser on lower settings. Never broke out again and after the 3 sessions I hardly growing any hair. It's just so weird that my full bikini removal was so easy and never had any problem with and the legs got broken out so bad as you can see it from my photos! Good luck!
Casey Drautz 5 Apr 2012
Okay.

First of all, I'm a laser specialist and your nurse, doctor, specialist, whomever is an idiot! You DONT ever treat a sun tan as it can hypopigment or hyperpigment (which is what happened to you by the looks of it). You can sue for these results!

Secondly, that is NOT an allergic reaction. Those are burns. I know from experience, I laser myself all the time from head to toe and one day I made a careless mistake (thank God it was on myself and no one else) and i did the same thing and it took a month to go away.

I would highly consider going to a different MedSpa, one that actually knows what they are doing!!

p.s the alexandrite laser is not worth your money. Try google-ing a Spa in your area that uses the new Lumenis Light Sheer Duet! You will be very satisfied with the results that laser offers! :)

hope i was some help to you
Dave8930 10 Apr 2012
Casey Druatz sorry but you maybe a laser tech but all it takes to be a laser tech is a single day of instruction from a company that sells you a laser system. You're promoting Lightsheer Duet over an alexandrite laser? Give me a break! Lightsheer is an inferior diode system, medspas like your jump to use lightsheer and similar diode lasers because they are cheaper than true lasers like Alexandrite and Yag. There are countless of patients who report high rates of regrowth after being treated with diode lasers. I am not a laser tech but a consumer who had to learn your industry after wasting thousands of dollars on IPLs and other inferior laser systems like diodes. What I tell consumers now is to simply research how much an alexandrite or yag laser costs and compare it to the system their spa is promoting.
Mayfauz 7 May 2012
Actually u are correct.. Its better to go for a medical center with a better machine & a good laser specialist , have knowledge about the machine she's using, she must know the right parameters for each type of hair & type of skin of the patient with a license too and always think for the safety of the patient not how much amount the patient will pay.. As a laser specialist i recommend ND:Yag XP Max..
neurogal 27 Jul 2012
Hi Dave8930....your comments were very helpful . i only had two sessions for the laser hair removal on my legs on the second session my legs the following day broke out in welts and were itching like crazy!!! i was given some meds.It scarred my legs along with hypopigmentation. I dont know what to believe from people anymore whether it was an allergic reaction or the nurse burned me. This happened 2 years ago and it took a very long time for the hypopigmentation to go away. They used the cutera laser on me. I still very scared to try it again.
Slowhoney 13 Dec 2012
Actually Lumenis pioneered laser hair removal and IPL. The lightsheer Duet is an $80 to $100,000 machine. Laser hair removal is a very straight forward procedure, damage the hair bulb enough so it can't grow back any hair. There are many lasers you can use, everyone will have some regrowth, our bodies want to repair the damage we have done but your hair will never be the dark, course hair it was to begin with.
Dave8930 1 Mar 2012
As general rule only about 10-20% of hair is being killed with each treatment session because of hair cycles and laser works on anagen hair phase only. So though you are seeing all hair shedding with each treatments, you will need to complete a course of 6 treatments minimum for good reduction. Leg hair has longest hair cycles so you should wait 10-14 weeks between treatments depending how fast the hair grows in on that area. The clinics sometime say 6-8 weeks but that's not optimal.
Zsuzsika26 3 Apr 2012
Thank you, your comment is very helpful, I had to cancel my appointment due to a cosmetic surgery I am having in a few days, just in case I get rashes again. So it will be about 13 weeks between treatment.
Zsuzsika26 1 Mar 2012
Thank you Dave8930. The patches are almost invisible. I have my next treatment in 2 weeks and I would hate to stop. Even though the side effects were horrible , even with one treatment I have fantastic results on my legs.
Dave8930 29 Feb 2012
Don't be afraid. I had done 8 laser treatments with Gentle-lase and Cynosure elite in Alexandrite mode. I'm skin type III. At high settings into my treatments I also got these superficial burns. They do fade away with time and in your case it is not severe at all. It will fade, but don't expose that area to sun light without high SPF, especially that you live in Florida. Also, apply a Vitamin K or Vitamin E lotion to help with healing. This reaction happened because your skintone looks darker and she must have used higher setting for effective treatment. It is very important to not tan even slightly because Alexandrite laser needs lighter skin pigment. Let it heal and you can continue laser treatments but maybe with lower settings (but not too low) or until your tan fades. Leg hair is generally easiest to treat with laser under right conditions.
Zsuzsika26 26 Feb 2012
Thank you for your comment. What do you think that caused it?
fniai 26 Feb 2012
Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but that's not an allergic reaction. Those patches you have on your legs aren't inflammation that will go away; that's scar tissue. It will fade over time but it'll never go away. Looks like the laser technician goofed big time..
Zsuzsika26 3 Feb 2012
Right...
Kirsty at RealSelf (Community Manager) 3 Feb 2012

Well that's something to be thankful for!

Zsuzsika26 2 Feb 2012
yes I did, she said it will go away in time...
Kirsty at RealSelf (Community Manager) 2 Feb 2012

Hi there, thanks for your review. I'm sorry your procedure didn't go to plan. Have you spoken to your provider about the dark patches?

Kirsty

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