Laser hair removal – one of the best things I did for myself
Posted on Tue, Feb 08, 2011
By Bayardo Aviles
It never fails. Every time I tell someone that I had laser hair removal treatment on my face, they ask with eyes wide open, “So you never have to shave again?” I reply the same way every time, “Yes I still have to shave, but not as often and I no longer have the irritation I used to get after shaving and I do not get ingrown hairs any more”.
Why did I have laser hair removal?
I had my first treatment in 2001 soon after I arrived on the Big Island from New Orleans where I lived for 15 years and attended college and graduate school. The main reason for getting the treatment was because I was tired of the skin irritation, ingrown hairs and most importantly tired of the discoloration, also known as “scarring” that stayed behind for months even after the ingrown hairs had fallen out. I looked like I had acne all the time. I know that there are a lot of you out there going through this as you read this blog.
How many treatments do I need?
I had the recommended number of treatments, 5 treatments spaced every 6-8 weeks to remove 70-90% of the hair. I completed my sessions in a period of about 9 months. 
Since then I have had 4 touch ups to maintain the results. It has been worth every penny and every ouch I gasped during the treatments. I have a secret to tell you, it is not painless as some practitioners and magazines lead you to believe, but besides going to college it is one of the best things I have ever done. I remember going to the 24 Hours Walgreens pharmacy for hours at a time and buying all types of acne medication to get rid of the “acne” on my neck line later to find out that what I had was not acne but folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicle. This is a very common condition in patients with curly hair, especially in African Americans. I am Hispanic and both of my parents have thick, black and curly hair.
How do in-grown hairs form?
I can hear some of you saying, “But I do not have curly hair and I still get so many ingrown hairs on my bikini line and underarms”. Well, you may not have curly hair, but a lot of you pluck and wax and that is the main reason you get ingrown hairs. You see, during waxing and plucking you are removing the hair all the way from the root and when the hair grows back it can grow inside your skin in any direction it desires: backwards, sideways, straight up or at any angle. You guessed it. This leads to ingrown hairs which then cause an infection in the hair follicle called folliculitis. Even worse yet, if you have darker skin, like mine, you are left with a brown pigmented scar for months and sometimes years. In fact we see this same chain of events with any type of treatment that pulls the hair from the root and when shaving too close to the skin. To make matters worse, fashion now calls for the tightest jeans you can fit in, or the most fitted bikinis. This in turn creates pressure on the skin and influences the direction of your hair grow. Inward, backward and sideways.
I see patients everyday with similar situations and I really get great pleasure when their problems are resolved. After the 5 treatments, the irritation will be gone, the scarring will be minimized and the skin will be softer. Let me help you. Bayardo
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