I hate to say this guys, but now that I can see the result of my first full session, I'm starting to think the Duet is not a very good tool for chrome doming the scalp. It's just way too hard to get proper coverage of your whole head with it. There seems to be two problems. The first is that the tool really doesn't have complete mobility on the head. While my nurse was able to zap every
general area, it was awkward and took some skin tugging in certain parts. It had to be just right in certain areas to get suction. To get full coverage, you really have to be able to move it a few centimeters and still get suction. Second, while one zap does cover a large area, it doesn't cover the area fully. Like I said in a previous post, it has three lasers that creates three zapped stripes of skin. The areas between the stripes don't get hit with the laser. So to get all of those areas, you need to be able to move it a few centimeters and still get suction or aim it properly the next session to get those in-between areas. The first item is very hard to do on the scalp (see issue #1) and the second is very hard to do in general without occasionally mis-aiming and accidentally zapping the same area twice. In short, I'd say she covered about 40% of my head maximum in that first session.
To make things even worse, the results I've seen on the areas treated with the Duet have not been as good as the one with the standard laser head. The areas done with a standard laser in my first aborted session have had almost zero hair growth, even after nearly two months. Sure, it hurt like hell and took about six weeks for the discoloration to fully go away, but I must admit the result was almost perfect, complete hair removal in one session. Even the edges the second nurse did with a standard head had almost no hair growth. The areas that were zapped with the Duet seemed to be hit or miss. Some parts show good hair loss while some show almost none.
To be fair, this last issue may be a laser intensity setting issue. The Duet's maximum setting is 12, while a standard laser usually goes up to 60. I do think they use the same units, but the Duet needs less energy because the suction usually brings the follicles closer to the surface of the skin. Perhaps the fact that there's not much skin on the scalp means that the Duet is not getting the follicles close enough to get effective results from its low energy scheme. Maybe she'd need to up the setting to the max for the tight areas of the scalp. If so, it may not be all that less painful than the standard laser. That's just a guess, though.
I've attached a picture to show you what I mean about the striping pattern. The first is immediately after the procedue, while the second is a few days later.