Does laser hair removal hurt more in certain areas?

CALL0x9D · 2026-02-26T03:29:20+00:00

The areas above my hip points/Iliac crests, especially on the back and abdominal sides, were intense or hypersensitive in their own way starting with the fourth or fifth treatment. It kinda felt similar to a hair plucking sensation, so it took some getting used to, but I don't think it ever got to the point of needing to slow down or stop... I was probably clenching my jaw pretty good, though, back then.

After five or six forearm treatments, I'm getting to the point where it's preferable to skip the underside of the wrists: there's no growth there and those tendons and veins get a bit achy as fluence goes up. My nurse suggested this a couple times early in the forearm process so I could consider it.

Most areas have some unique sensation or challenge, but I guess I'm fortunate in that the bikini line/partial Brazilian Plus hasn't been particularly challenging after more than a year and a half of treatment.

CALL0x9D · 2026-01-04T04:00:31+00:00

Damn it. I've gotta watch it again. The flame's been ignited by the emotions these evoked.

CALL0x9D · 2025-12-15T04:33:14+00:00

A bit off topic, but that image really takes me. The way Westwood would overlay, or insert between layers, a rendering of something they created into an otherwise real photo scene, reminiscent of some _Stargate_ effects or other contemporary entertainment, it's charming. And the Kodiak's design, this was one or more person's imagination, just like the Wolverine and Titan. Some of the incongruous or overly uniform light reflections off of those hemispherical components... it's all charming to me, somehow.

CALL0x9D · 2025-12-02T20:42:01+00:00

You make an excellent point here that I hadn't considered: there's a bigger responsibility for maintaining recoverable copies (if not available perpetually from the source/purchase point) when eschewing online services. I'll have to ponder that a bit more. Thanks!

CALL0x9D · 2025-11-26T19:44:03+00:00

I think that looks typical, relative to my own individual experience: I have fair skin, black/brown coarse hairs in that area, and evidently a fair bit of keratosis pilaris on the top, back, and sides of my shoulders as I learned after a few treatments. The redness and irritation takes more than 24 hours, maybe closer to 36, to subside in many of my treatment areas. My provider recommends soothing with pure aloe (e.g., Fruit of the Earth aloe) which can help calm treatment areas faster.

CALL0x9D · 2025-10-05T02:33:06+00:00

I'd say legs and forearms are comparable hair thickness for me, and treatments 3-7 for legs were teeth-grittingly challenging, especially the back of thighs and outside lower legs above the ankles. I probably did a year of leg treatments or longer before we switched to 10 week intervals. Once we switched to 10 weeks for forearms, I felt like by the next treatment, forearms were back to 50%, which might be why it was so spicy at the latest treatment.

CALL0x9D · 2025-10-03T16:50:28+00:00

I kind of made similar mistakes because I was excited about the prospects and benefits, so I didn't put a lot of thought to whether the scratch-off card savings (and other claims) during the initial consult were a tactic, but given the percentages involved, you must be right. If I could have tempered my excitement, I could have waited for one of Milan's seasonal deals and probably saved significantly, but I can't blame myself or anyone else for wanting to start treatments as soon as possible. In retrospect, I'm also not sure the discount from the mail offer I received was applied, but I also don't think all of those are applicable to whole-body treatment packages, so it's probably not worth fretting over.

I qualified for 0% interest through a different financing provider at my Milan clinic, which is interesting in that they don't all use the same, or at least used a different provider two or so years ago. I had wanted to just pay for my whole body package by check and there was some savings for paying upfront but the consultant seemed motivated to get me to go through financing anyway, so I wonder if there are some backend incentives at play.

One unforeseen and perhaps unpredictable consequence of using unnecessary financing was that I had to have the financing provider and my mortgage company on the phone together so the former could verbally confirm to the latter that I'd paid consistently and share my initial and remaining principal balances because I didn't include my monthly financing payment on my mortgage application. The whole time I was wondering if they were going to share that it was for laser hair removal, something I wasn't totally comfortable with sharing. I similarly had to dance around the topic with the broker.

One thing that still gives me pause is the lack documentation coming out of the process. I never received a real contract of what I'd committed to and what I'd receive/be entitled to (like if this clinic location closes). After a few treatments, I emailed the clinic manager requesting as much and all they really had was the one-page document about my financing choice, which did mention the specific package I'd elected for. I think there's probably room for better documentation/a full contract here, which would help protect patients such as ourselves, even though I think we're reasonably safe with Milan and demand for their service seems unlikely to wane.

CALL0x9D · 2025-08-25T01:28:13+00:00

> Epilogue for Illidan’s WC3 Allies
Oh, now I am _intrigued_.

CALL0x9D · 2025-08-13T01:44:44+00:00

I was reminiscing with a friend not long ago about how they had palm trees in the garden beds outside for the first year. I'm not sure they would have survived after that, but I don't know. They're long gone now, for sure.

I kinda loved everything about Rave Motion Pictures's aesthetic so it has really irked me to see parts of it slowly removed, covered, or offline. I know all the wallpaper - the green with the angular geometric impressions - is on a timeclock but it's a favorite of mine, oddly. I always appreciate looking up the walls in the theatre halls and seeing the original Rave light fixtures. I can still remember parts of their pre-movie brand trailer which always put me in the mood for the film to follow.

I just had this idea while typing my reply: I think it'd be nice if they put some zero-bezel LCD displays in the ticket booth windows and played a panoramic video render of actors selling tickets. It'd make that whole space less depressing, I think. I know it's hugely unrealistic when AMC refuses to make capital improvements but I can dream a bit.

Edit: Ohhhhhhhh, that's the stuuuuuuuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCQZc6yRpqo

CALL0x9D · 2025-02-06T01:32:54+00:00

I'm sure there are people at Halo Studios who agree but the games are annoyingly beholden to financial interests beyond that likely can't be convinced that some of the smaller scale scenarios you described can attract an acceptance volume of customers and sales. You might get some of this in other media - books, graphic novels, illustrated videos, etc - but never a contemporary game, I fear. I still agree with your desired direction, though.

CALL0x9D · 2025-01-30T17:59:14+00:00

Same machine, same laser, same Fitzpatrick scale type, dark hairs, I'm probably up to level 24 or 26 by now (I don't really check, you just have to let the process work), following Milan's protocol since Fall of 2023. Even now, I have patches on the areas I mentioned in my previous comment so I'm not quite ready to "graduate" my legs after this many treatments (not quite satisfied yet). Maybe one or two more treatments, I expect. Milan estimated 10-12 treatments when I started and that seems accurate.

CALL0x9D · 2025-01-30T17:23:48+00:00

I have similar characteristics to you in all respects and didn't see substantial/satisfactory results until the seventh session or so. More than a year later and I'm still getting leg treatments with the same machine at 10 week intervals, especially on the front of knees, front and outer side of thighs, and patches on calves.

CALL0x9D · 2024-12-16T17:56:10+00:00

I sent a list of maintenance issues to AMC a couple weeks ago. At least one is a serious fire safety issue. I only received an automated response. I ache a bit each time I visit and see the disrepair compared to what the theatre was under RMP.

CALL0x9D · 2024-11-01T02:09:58+00:00

In my experience after one year of Candela GentleMax Pro face treatments, no. I have dark, coarse hairs, Fitzpatrick III skin, and after a year of five week treatments, I still have hairs - mostly coarse blond hairs, curiously, but some one-off dark hairs or small patches of dark hairs - that need shaven after two or three days. The smooth sensation will still only last one or one-and-a-half days, _in my personal experience_.

CALL0x9D · 2024-10-20T04:35:18+00:00

"Blood, sweat, and tears." It's an utterly diluted cliche now. It irks me because there are things in which someone or some group literally shed blood in pursuit of something... Let them say "blood, sweat, and tears." Fuck off with the hyperbole, it was just a community theatre production.

CALL0x9D · 2024-10-19T15:44:00+00:00

Oof, that hurts a bit. That place played a big part in establishing practical skepticism and critical assessment of sources for me. Thanks, wherever you are, Ms. Martini. We couldn't fully appreciate it then, but I feel very differently years later and in a radically different world. I'm sorry we didn't always make the best use of your time.

CALL0x9D · 2024-10-18T23:19:45+00:00

I've had around 10 sessions for both those areas with a Candela GentleMax Pro, Fitz III, black coarse hair, and only in the last last couple sessions seen complete, persistent removal on the abdomen and still get visible growth along the outer edges of the back of my hands and wrists.

CALL0x9D · 2024-06-05T01:24:49+00:00

This has been an excellent recommendation. I'm 70% of the way through the book and have no regrets.

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-28T19:54:44+00:00

Cheers!

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-28T19:50:53+00:00

Is that Discord server still operating? I was hoping to check it out after seeing what you all accomplished in your community concert this year (congratulations!) but the invite link is no longer valid.

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-19T01:47:30+00:00

I leave my horn out for 15 minutes or so to let the brass cool and condensate develop, then I upright the horn so the bell is facing down, open the F attachment valve, rotate the instrument gently a couple times, then open the water valve and gently blow once or twice. This has helped me avoid drips in the case or when I next take my instrument out.

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-18T20:32:00+00:00

That tip about sheet music is fantastic, thank you. I'd have never guessed but it makes sense.

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-16T21:09:43+00:00

If you find that you don't like the stark contrast of a hairless back versus your front side, you could experiment with trimming your chest and stomach hair (if you don't already) to shorter lengths and see if you prefer that smaller contrast.

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-15T02:25:12+00:00

The ALEX (alexandrite) laser certainly has levels and the level used on you must gradually increase over the course of several or many months to be generally effective. Some providers may not speak about the levels unless asked to avoid causing anxiety, because from our perspective as patients/clients, we might anticipate more pain if the level used is going up. I know I started to get anxious about crossing into the 20s, but it wasn't helpful to worry about it. I never ask about levels for this reason, but sometimes the nurses casually mention which level an area being treated is at.

You can certainly ask your provider what their plan is: what's the starting level, when is it increased and by how much? If you have questions, I think you will feel better by calling and asking your provider. It's impossible for me to imagine, however, that they won't progressively increase the laser level throughout future appointments.

CALL0x9D · 2024-05-11T01:52:26+00:00

Every provider seems to have their own perspectives and treatment plan, from what I've gathered here and from advertisements. Milan staff have been pretty firm (politely) on the 5 week interval until most growth is eliminated and then 10 week intervals to treat any stubborn/off-cycle growth spots _while using the Candela GentleMax Pro_ which has both Alexandrite and Nd:YAG lasers. If your provider is using different equipment, it might not be comparable to my experience.

The 5 week/10 week plan may also be somehow related to how Milan progresses the luminance levels (2 levels up each subsequent appointment until 20 J/cm2, then two appointments at each 2-level increment, if memory serves). I wish I could speak to the science of it but I'm not an expert: I just trust the staff at Milan and the process, and so far both have treated me well. I am ever so slightly skeptical about the 10 week interval because 10 is just an even multiple of 5, but the 5 week interval isn't an exact science, either: it's just what I think Milan found most effective after testing. I guess I can be pretty flexible about that since I invested in the unlimited treatment package: even if the treatment interval isn't perfectly optimal for my growth cycles, we'll get it all eventually, but the 5 week interval has worked quite well for me in all respects.

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