Fanny Louton, MD (in memoriam)

I have been offering laser hair removal since 1997 In two  separate offices. I have used multiple platform through the years and always returned to the LightSheer for best results adjustable to multiple hair types and skin color. The answer to your question is that hair removal is not painless. While we try to minimize the discomfort, the act of truly burning the hair has different levels of pain associated with it. We will try to decrease the energy in darker skinned individuals or in denser hair areas in order to protect the skin from also burning but if turned too low thereby giving no sensation to the patient means that the hair has not burned effectively or that the hair is too light in color to absorb any energy. Make sure to have a thorough consultation with a medical provider to determine the pros and cons in your particular situation. Don’t rush with your decision or jump at the cheapest price. Hope this helps. 

Fanny Louton MD MPH

I have treating patient for hair removal with both lasers and IPL since 1997. There are multiple variables that can effect how you heal including things you may be doing to "help" which can be detrimental.  It is ALWAYS best to call or visit your provider (who has all your information) to explain your concerns.  Sooner is better than later to head off any problems, especially when we are talking about your face.  Love Real Self but when it comes to follow up care, only your provider can give you the care you deserve. 

You did not mention whether the chemical peel was performed at home or at a medical facility.  Regardless, you need to follow up with your doctor/dermatologist.  Someone of your skin tone needs to be very careful with any type of chemical peels as they may not only burn your skin but leave areas of hyper and hypo pigmentation that may or may not be correctable.  It is imperative that you protect yourself from the sun and that you contact your doctor asap.  He/she will help guide you with a healing regimen and thereby minimize any potential problem.  Do not try "home remedies", please call your doctor today.   

The best way to remove remaining hair after laser hair removal treatments have been terminated is shaving. However, if dark hair continues to return in the areas you had treated and the amount of reduction is not to your satisfaction, you may not have had enough treatments for your best results.  I suggest discussing this with your doctor.

In order to answer this question, it would be useful to know the brand or "type" of laser that was used for your treatments.  I am not aware of an "INOVA" laser, only an INOVA Med Spa and this gives no clue as to the type of machine that was used.  Assuming that you were treated appropriately and with an actual laser for hair removal, it is possible that you always had a mix of dark and lighter hair on your arms and legs.  After 3 treatments, the majority of the dark hairs are gone or have yet to regrow as the remaining dark hairs are still in the dormant phase.  Also if each individual hairs have been made thinner, they may appear lighter as they grow back.  I would wait at least 3 months for your next treatment and during that time you will be able to see how much hair grows or returns and the actual color of the hair before you commit to your next appointment. I recommend discussing your concerns with your physician in order to gather all your information and make an informed decision. 

Much will depend on how effectively your first two laser treatments were.  Assuming they were at an appropriate fluence and that the treatments were performed about 2-4 months apart, you should have decreased you overall dark hair density by about 60-70%.  Typically 3-4 well performed treatments, will reduce the dark hair by more than 90% and the 10% that remain (assuming they had been treated but returned) will be finer than typical pubic hair.  If you don't do anything for at least 6months, you should be able to see how much hair actually is left.  It may be patchy at first but may even out a bit over time as the phases of hair growth flow into each other.  If you don't like how that looks you may want to complete your treatments.  Hope this helps a bit.

The horizontal creases/wrinkles that you show in your photos have been created over many years of contracting the muscles in that area when you squint. These types of wrinkles are best addressed with Botox by an experienced physician.  A deep laser peel may resurface the area and improve it temporarily but the cause of the wrinkles is not being addressed and will therefore not take care of this problem. 

The only reason to avoid the beach one week after a microdermabrasion would be that you may be undermining your results by exposing your skin to UV radiation.  So if you take all possible precautions;  large brim hat, big sunglasses with 100% UV protection, wear sun block (UVA/UVB) of at least SPF 30 and re-apply after swimming and every hour regardless, you would be doing everything reasonable to protect yourself AND enjoy summertime activities.  And it's always fun to read a summer novel under the umbrella.  Have fun!

Obagi has recently revamped their Obagi Nu Derm kits to include a moisturizer as step #6 (before sunscreen in the day and last step at night after Blender and tretinoin mix.  There had been a lot of confusion and complaints from individuals dealing with the drying effects of the added tretinoin.  Glad to see they have responded and made their effective kits more user friendly.

If you have had 5 laser hair treatments to your back properly spaced by 2-3 months apart, you should be seeing a decrease in thickness of individual hairs and decrease in overall density.  If you wax now, you may miss a percentage of "stunned" follicle if you keep on schedule. Keep in mind that a goal of 90% reduction of dark hairs still leaves 10% behind and while that result is phenomenal when you start with 10 hairs, you may not be satisfied if you started with 1,000,000 hairs (leaving 100,000). Stay the course for the best possible results with the least amount of treatments. Keep shaving to keep things clean over the summer!