No takers? Really? Jennifer, you know something about this, don't you? Help me!
Laser:
Only works for darker hair because it operates by the hairs absorbing the heat energy and the follicles being killed.
So if your hair is blonde or gray, any laser strong enough to kill the follicle will also damage your skin.
The same happens for most styles of laser if you have dark/deeply tanned/black skin.
Cost depends on both area covered in the session.
Doing a small area is cheaper than a large area.
You can usually get "package deals" that could save you a few hundred dollars, if you are willing to shell out a chunk of money up front.
I got five sessions for $1280.
I also had an upper lip for $150.
Because you're flash-frying/zapping areas of skin, you can probably expect some degree of immediate welting/reddening. You can use topical creams to numb pain (EMLA), among other things. Different lasers cause different pains; some feel hot, some feel cold. One type of YAG laser feels like a rubber band thwacking your skin. I found the scorchers (like the Alexandrite) to burn burn burn and hurt immediately; the YAG (with the rubber-band effect) didn't hurt at first but the accumulated zapping ended up hurting just as bad at the end. But some people do not complain as much about pain.
The big thing to note about hair is that it grows in waves. You kill one wave, the next will still come in... making it look like nothing changed. But that is not necessarily true. You will need to kill off 5-6 waves of hair before it cycles back through. After three sessions or so, you should notice some hair lessening or disappearance, depending on how much hair you had in the area to begin with. (And I think this is more noticeable for men doing, for example, their back or stomach, since the hair there started out much thicker than with the typical woman.)
Electrolysis:
Hairs are zapped one by one by sticking a probe/needle into the follicle.
Disadvantage: Takes a long time.
Advantage: Can kill any color hair.
Rates depend on location, since competition will drive down the price. If you can get a price for $40-50/hour, though, you should consider yourself fortunate and doing well. In my time, I have paid anywhere from $55-$125/hour for electro, since I had very few qualified individuals in my general area. Some people will drive an hour or two for electro, depending on the skill of the electrologist and their location.
Again, you can use EMLA, vicodins/percocet, and even novacaine shots to deaden pain.
Since success for both laser and electro depends on the skill of the technician, it is hard to rate one factor as conclusive. IOW, if you find someone who is cheap, this doesn't mean you wouldn't be better off paying more to someone who is (1) faster and/or (2) more skillful at killing hairs dead on the first try.
My recommendation is to use laser (if you have light skin and dark hair) for wide areas that need hair removal, and use electro for 'spot' areas. Like ear hair, nose hair, upper lip hair, stray eyebrow hairs you know aren't part of your normal browline, unibrows, hairs coming out of moles, and whatever else.
So what I'm wondering is:
How do you tell what kind of laser they should be using and what price they should be charging?
Hopefully the pricing scheme I mentioned above should give you some ballpark figures. I recommend searching in your area for technicians, comparing figures, and seeing which ones seem about the same and which ones are either far lower or far higher.
Has anyone personally undergone either or both and what were their experiences?
Laser burned the crap out of me but was extremely effective. I heal fast, and my welts would only last about two hours before subsiding. I know other people whose redness lingered hours or even a few days. Electro hurts me just as bad but just leaves little red bumps that subside after a day or two. Electro was extremely effective for me as well.
Again, I think it's a matter of getting a sense of the person's skill and feeling out if they know what they are doing. If you can talk to other patients, that's good too.
Is burned skin ever a problem with laser?
See above. Welts/redness are common. You CAN really screw yourself up if your technician is clueless. People HAVE been horribly burned, but obviously that doesn't happen a lot especially with techs who have been around. The people in worst danger are those with darker skin and/or lighter hair; optimal coloration is dark hair and white skin. It's recommended not to have a tan when you go in, and to keep hydrated and use lots of lotion afterward (w/ sunblock) and stay out of the sun.
How do you check the credentials of the practitioner for either type of treatment?
I'm not sure about that one. I would skim their credential list, and I'd look at the type of setup they have. Lasers cost a lot of money. Usually they have to be a well-funded operation to start with in order to even pay for the laser upfront before getting business. So you'll often find the laser techs as part of a bigger operation that funds them. The dermatologist thus ends up being liable for everything.
Electrologists can be more "fly by night" and some work out of their own private residences. That's more of a "word of mouth" thing, to me. You can go in, usually they do a small sample area and then let you decide whether you want to come back; they're testing to see how your skin responds to the treatment.
} So yeah, 3 visits with the laser and I'm virtually hairless. Wheeee~
2-3?
