I recently spoke about my laser hair removal experience on our Instagram stories, and was shocked by how many of our followers had questions. My hope is to answer a lot of them here. If you have more, drop them in the comments below!
I started getting laser hair removal treatments on my underarms in June of 2019. The treatment destroys your hair follicles, so that you don’t have to shave EVER AGAIN (hopefully)! The idea of never having to shave my armpits sounded amazing. So I went for it!
The process was supposed to take 16 months, with a total of 9 appointments scheduled 6-8 weeks apart. But the coronavirus pandemic put a pause on my treatments for a few months.
Does it work?
Even with a pretty long break in my treatment schedule, I’m impressed with how well the process worked! I haven’t shaved my armpits in months and honestly forgot that I used to have hair there.
The best part about it, for me, is that the dark shadow I used to have in my armpit is basically gone. The whole experience was pretty quick and easy. If someone is thinking about getting laser hair removal, I definitely recommend it. But you should be prepared for the pain.
Does it hurt?
I’ll be honest – yes. The first few treatments were rough because I didn’t really know what to expect. It feels like a hot rubber band snapping on your skin. The actual laser zap isn’t that bad, but the heat hurts.
In my experience, the best way to get through the pain is to ask the nurse to do a certain number of zaps, and then pause. It was helpful for me to know I could count 10 zaps and then I would get a break. Some nurses said patients prefer to just do it all at once, but I didn’t like not knowing how many zaps were still left.
For me, each treatment included about 30-40 zaps per armpit.
I remember after my first appointment, my underarms were sore the rest of the day. And as I got used to it, the hot feeling went away sooner. After my last appointment, my underarms only felt hot for about 10 minutes after I left the clinic.
Putting cool aloe vera on the skin helped a lot.
What happens after a treatment?
After a session, you’re told to avoid sun exposure (my underarms don’t see much sun anyway) and avoid extreme heat like saunas or hot tubs. You also shouldn’t workout and should avoid sweating too much.
Post-treatment instructions from Ideal Image MedSpa told me there might be red areas around the hairs (which I didn’t experience) as well as the burning sensation that I felt. They recommended it could be alleviated with an ice cold washcloth.
The hairs are supposed to shed 1-3 weeks after treatments. It won’t really look any different than normal growing hair. Nurses who did my treatments told me I might notice some of the hairs falling off, but I never did.
I didn’t notice any results until maybe my fourth treatment. My hairs became very thin. For a couple weeks after a treatment, I didn’t have to shave at all. When I did shave, the hairs were sparse.
As time went on, I realized that it was taking longer and longer after each treatment for my hair to grow back. Eventually, I just stopped shaving.
Before my final appointment, there were about 4 or 5 very thin hairs that had grown in, but you could barely see them. It looks like all of them are gone now!
Isn’t it really expensive?!
Yes, this is an investment. My treatment was about $1,000. In my head, I justified it by thinking about all the razors and shaving cream that I wouldn’t have to buy. I just got a raise at work and decided to treat myself!
What happens if your hair grows back?
I thought this too! I also purchased a lifetime guarantee from Ideal Image MedSpa, where you basically get 90% off what a single treatment costs if you need another treatment in the future.
From what I’ve been told, hair could grow back during pregnancy or during menopause when your hormones change. So if that does happen for me, I’ll have the option to go back to any of their locations and get a discounted rate on an additional treatment on my underarms.
Have any more questions? Feel free to let me know in the comments.