I am considering starting laser soon and I am curious about people's long-term experiences. How much dark hair grew back, did it grow back evenly and how much shaving time / irritation did it end up eliminating long term? Did you keep doing maintenance sessions?
I started with grey (salt and pepper) hair. I did six sessions spaced four weeks apart. After four sessions, 99% of the dark hair was gone, leaving me shadow free. My plan called for a total of ten treatments, but I stopped after seeing no new progress. Two and a half months after my last treatment, I see a few dark hairs returning, but for the most part I?m shadow free.
Every once in a while I?ll delay my shave until much later in the day than usual. When bedtime rolls around, it a somewhat unsettling feeling when my scalp is still smooth in the areas that normally would be getting some stubble by then. To not have any hair growing back at all would take some getting used to, even though it would probably be a good thing overall. I?ve been shaving my head for 20 years and have no desire to have hair. But to suddenly have no hair on my scalp to shave would seem very strange.
Between 2015 and 2018, I had about fifteen laser treatments. At first, they were spaced four weeks apart, then the spacing was lengthened to six weeks. After the first twelve sessions, I went for three "touch up" about six months apart.
I had a good amount of gray/white hair mixed int with my brown hair and lasers are ineffective on gray/white hair. Nonetheless, after the first two treatments, over 90% of the dark hair was gone. In fact, about two weeks after the first treatment, I had a "Holy &*%$" moment when I realized all the dark hair on the sides and top was completely gone and only two smallish patches remained on the back. I was pretty much shadow-free after just a couple sessions.
It's been over five years since my last session and a little dark hair has returned, mostly at the back of my head. It really isn't noticeable as a shadow. I shave about every three days because the gray/white continue to grow.
Overall, I am happy with the results.
I remember that oh ?&*$? moment during my treatment after seeing most of my dark hair was gone the first time. Three months after my last treatment I haven?t seen any return.