Allison's TG Articles
			Laser Wars
				Allison Daniels
	There are few more heated discussions than those between the devotees of laser hair removal and the fans of electrolysis. Unless one counts those between Mac and PC users. I am here to add fuel to the fire in these laser wars. One year ago I entered the fray in the battle of facial hair removal. This was necessitated after a heart to heart discussion between myself and the open honesty of the mirror on the wall. Upon my close inspection, following my most thorough attempt at beard cover-up following Joanne Roberts detailed video instructions, I deduced that with my face in it’s current condition demanded that I become one of the girls that uses less make up, rather than more, to look better.  I saw my skin looking very much akin to that of an orange in it’s current condition, and wasn’t pleased with that comparison. It was obvious to me that to reduce the amount of make up I used, I would have to get rid of my facial hair, as that beard cover required an additional layer of something. It also seemed to be the next logical step that I could take in my transition, with the minimum disruption, and with the most visual effect for the least amount of money. I began research at Anne Lawrence’s site, looking at both electrolysis and laser treatment. I learned that it takes an average of 400 to 500 hours to clear a typical male face with electrolysis, and the rate in my area was $50.00/hour. It would take four to five laser sessions to do the same with lasers, at a cost around $2,000.00, but with several caveats. Laser will not remove light hair as of yet, that your skin must be light, and your hair dark in order to be suitable for laser treatment. I eventually selected a laser and a Dermatologist in my neighborhood that had the type of laser that I learned was the most effective on my face and skin type. When I did my initial research, I read stories of the girls that had spent money on laser hair removal, having initial success, only to have their beard growth return after a few months. I also read that they were using the previous generation of lasers, science is continually developing better lasers, at much the same rate as computer companies develop their next generation of processors. The difference being mainly in the cost of the hardware for lasers is hundreds of times more expensive than computers. I believed that the current generation of lasers would be able to rid me of my facial hair. That, plus the fact that if the laser only got rid of some of the facial hair, at least I will have a jump-start on facial clearing, and I will have no completely wasted my money trying the laser treatments. I selected a Dermatologist that used the Alexandrite laser. I explained during my initial consultation that I was tired of shaving, and wanted to get rid of my facial hair. I asked if she had many male clients that did this, and learned that she had a significant number of men who felt as I did, and that she was also performing these treatments on her son for this. I concluded that if she was willing to do it on her own son, it would be safe for her to do my face. I purchased a 5-session program for $1800.00 that would include the face and neck. Five sessions 4 weeks apart are necessary because, at any one time, hair will be at one 3 stages of hair growth, the anagen stage, the catagen stage, and the telogen stage. The laser will only destroy the hairs in the actively growing anagen stage. It took a week for the results of the previous treatment to become evident. One week after my first session, I saw that half of my beard shadow had been removed; now this was progress that I could live with. A week after my second session, I noticed that there was about 25% left of my beard. I tried to keep track of the cleared spots, to check if there had been re-growth, but I wasn’t able to notice any yet. My thinking had switched from seeing how much beard was removed to how much was left to zap. A week after my third session, my face was clear, I was ecstatic, and I felt that I had become completely cleared of facial hair. Then, by the time of my fourth session, I noticed some re-growth and I mentioned that to my dermatologist, and she reminded me of the three stages of hair growth, and what I was seeing was not re-growth at all, merely the appearance of facial hair that had previously been inactive. I knew that I had two additional sessions to get those pesky hairs, and relaxed. After my final session in September, the only hairs remaining on my face were white, as the current lasers are unable to remove these light colored hairs. It would be necessary for me to have electrolysis on these. I scheduled an initial electrolysis session, and per the technician’s request, did not shave these facial hairs for a week prior to this visit. At the conclusion of that week, I noticed that there were a few dark hair stragglers, mainly around the corners of my lips. I went to the electrolysis session, and I was very surprised at how painful that method of hair removal was. I mentioned to the electrolysis technician that laser was a lot less painful, she recommended that I visit a dentist prior to my next appointment, and get shot with Novocain to deaden my face. That didn’t help me, as the pressure of her hand on my face hurt more than the application of the needle. I scheduled a third electrolysis session, and this time tried a topical cream to numb my face, Emla cream, 30 minutes prior to the session, and wrapped my face in plastic wrap to hold the heat in as I drove to the session. This provided the best deadening, and finally was able to endure an entire hour session. Following the week of electrolysis, I presented myself to my dermatologist, showed her my face after a week of “beard” growth, and she suggested that I purchase a touch up treatment to treat these hairs. I did, and that was over three months ago. That treatment removed all of those difficult hairs, and my face was again clear from the dark beard hairs. In preparation for this article, I have again not shaven for a week. Close scrutiny reveals that there has been no re-growth of my dark beard hair to date. It is my belief, based on only my experiences, that those earlier reports of re-growth of facial hair may merely have been the arrival of hair that had previously been in a dormant stage of existence and had moved into the actively growing stage, only stage that the hair can be permanently removed. By the way, this is also true for electrolysis. A friend of mine has gone completely through the sessions at Electrolysis 2000, and she still has to schedule touch up sessions every two months, which seem to be similar to those needed by myself for the difficult to treat areas around the lips and nose. I have been on HRT for a year, and that may have a bearing on the results of my laser treatments, but as of today, compared to the speed, cost, and pain, laser facial hair removal is MY choice in the hair wars.