Yesterday, I started up my second round of treatments. I’m working in the same order that I started.
I also decided to do as much as I can using Level 2 instead of Level 1 to see if that makes a difference.
Area 1: Armpits.
OMG, Level 2 really, really hurt. Seriously, on Level 1, I could “feel” maybe 1 in 10 pulses. On L2, my experience was the opposite. I seriously doubt I will ever progress beyond L2.
Also, I could feel a burning sensation, like heat build-up in the area where I was carefully overlapping pulses. The feeling would dissipate a bit when I took a short break, 10-30 seconds. This meant the entire process took longer to finish, a little over 30 min for both arms.
4 hours later, I still felt a stinging/burning sensation in that area. Bearable but still uncomfortable.
Area 2: Legs.
With a fully charged Tria, I started on my lower legs on L2. Again, I could really feel the stings. It was late and I was tired so I only managed 2″x4″ area on one leg.
I dropped down to L1 and did a little more but I was still really feeling it. Was my skin just more sensitized? No idea. I’ll try again tonight.
Also: what I felt was pain and then some ongoing burning/tenderness in that area. I did not notice any redness or swelling that I was actually expecting as it was mentioned as a possible side effect.
I think when it comes to laser hair removal pain is a good indication that follicles are being treated. You can get skin numbing creams that will really reduce the pain though. I was given this EMLA cream about 2 hours before I was given laser (and wrapped in plastic wrap to keep it air tight I think). Then I didn’t feel anything painful at all! They say not to use more than 30 grams at a time but you can get it without a prescription at canadapharmacy.com (otherwise you need to talk with a doctor)
Comment by sc — July 8, 2008 @ 9:28 pm |
Hi,
Thanks for the heads’ up on that cream. However, I specifically asked the Tria customer service people about numbing cream or anything like that and was told they recommend use on clean, dry skin only. Sigh.
I figured a little pain was good and meant the product was doing its job, but at this rate, wow, this process is going to take quite a bit of time to treat any significant sized area.
Comment by RA — July 8, 2008 @ 9:37 pm |