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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   3279 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 27, 2024

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I desperately need any tips for reducing pain with laser facial hair removal that might not be easy to find on Google.

I'm 2 sessions in so far, and this is so painful that I cannot find words to express it; I end each session with tears dripping down the side of my head, and I get flashbacks to the session for a few days afterwards that are so intense as to be distracting. I do not have any kind of anxiety disorder, but entering the second session I felt panicked at the pain that was coming (and it did not seem that “the anticipation was worse than the event”.)

I believe the technician is not actually mechanically fucking up and burning me, because I am experiencing absolutely zero redness, blisters, or lasting pain; but this is still such an unpleasant experience that I'm considering aborting the sequence even if they won't give me a prorated refund for the unused sessions.

First session:

  • Didn't take any special precautions
    • the clinic's website said “Most patients describe the laser hair removal process as uncomfortable or mildly painful”;
    • I am a pretty optimal candidate as I have rather light skin and medium/medium-dark facial hair;
  • Did standard recommended prep such as shaving 24h beforehand, avoiding vitamin A the week beforehand (applies to all sessions);
  • attempted dissociation / wandering mind during the session (applies to all sessions);
  • applied a cooling aloe gel provided by the clinic at the end of the session (applies to all sessions).

Second session, after asking the technician for tips and doing a bit of basic research (I'm not sure how much any of this actually helped):

  • 3000mg acetaminophen 30mins before;
  • smearing on a thin layer of lidocaine gel 30mins before, washed off at the clinic immediately before the appointment;
    • this was the technician's recommendation, though I just got whatever was to hand at the local store, which happened to be a 4% gel;
  • requested a stress ball to squeeze during the session.

Current plans for the 3rd session, coming up in around 3 weeks — asking for stuff to add/remove/change here:

  • avoid coffee the morning of;
  • drink water the morning of;
  • 4000mg acetaminophen 1h before, so it has time to properly kick in;
  • 100mg diphenhydramine 30min before;
  • smearing on a 1mm layer of 10% lidocaine cream advertised for tattoo artist use and applying saran wrap on top of it 30mins before, washed off at the clinic immediately before the appointment;
  • bringing a small plush toy of my own as a comfort item to squeeze instead of the clinic's stress ball.

I do not know what laser type this clinic is using; I suspect it's diode (810nm), but I sent them an e-mail this weekend asking so I should hear back within a day or 2. I have read that alexandrite (755nm) might be better and less painful for my skin type. I'm currently e-mailing other clinics in the area to see what laser types they have.

https://cambridgelaserclinic.com/laser-treatments/hair-removal/lasers-explained/ (edit: their great diagram doesn't seem to want to embed as an image)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10886276/#:~:text=The%20800%20nm%20diode%20laser%20causes%20greater%20discomfort%20than%20the%20755%20nm%20alexandrite%20laser.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/acetaminophen-safety-be-cautious-but-not-afraid

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-warns-consumers-avoid-certain-topical-pain-relief-products-due-potential-dangerous-health

So why are you doing this yourself?

Aesthetically, I hate the presence of stubble between shaves. That said:

this is still such an unpleasant experience that I'm considering aborting the sequence even if they won't give me a prorated refund for the unused sessions

I also don't like the hassle of shaving, but obviously “hassle” pales in comparison to the goddamn torment nexus that this — I want to emphasize — was advertised not to be:

the clinic's website said “Most patients describe the laser hair removal process as uncomfortable or mildly painful”

Not to be smug, but...that's advertisement.

The steelman I've heard is that it's much less painful in the case of legs (which could make up a large portion of their treatments), where the skin is thick enough that the overpenetration of the 810nm beam doesn't matter.

This is probably the reason. I’d imagine most laser hair removal is actual natal women getting their legs depilated for beauty reasons.

Facial hair (esp mustache) on natal women is not a rare area of focus, though one where there’s likely the biggest difference in require laser application between amab and afab.

Underarm hair is extremely common, and supposedly worse for pain than face or even nether regions, though.

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