Hairy Mary - Hirsutism, hormones and laser hair removal

As mentioned in an earlier post I suffer from PCOS; a condition which all too often leaves me considering a career as a fairground attraction.

Roll up, roll up to view this amazing spectacle, the beast, the horror ... the bearded lady.

Ok, so I don't actually let the hair grow, I have a routine of plucking, sanding, shaving and laser hair removal. But I dread to think how I would look if I didn't spend half my life removing hair from my face, stomache, full legs, and bikini line (more a park than a path). The hair has got worse with age, and with weight gain. I never had hairy boobs until this last year, I swear my ex had less chest hair than me.

I started the laser journey about 9 months ago, I saved up some money and took the plunge 6 sessions for £375. I am having my upper lip and chin area from the neck to my lower lip treated. I am the ideal candidate according to the therapist, pale skinned and dark haired, however as the cause is hormonal I can't expect to remain hairless as new hairs will grow; but the old ones, of which there are many, should be obliterated.

I originally signed up for the 'painfree' laser. I would like to point out it still hurts, a bit like being stabbed with a pin over and over again. It has a bigger head than a traditional laser and doesn't get as hot. I think for large areas of hair it would be a good choice but the results were slow to show and as I was watching the prepaid sessions go down I was impatient.

I moved on to the traditional laser, this looks like a pen and has various settings which I have been working up as time goes, it can burn you leaving marks and blisters and it is incredibly painful. My session only takes 10 minutes and trust me that is long enough, but as the traditional laser gave better results, with more hairs falling out I stuck with it ... pride is painful as my mother always says.

For laser novices I will advise that it takes about 2 weeks for the hairs to fall out, so it looks like they are still growing after treatment. The odd one will fall out after a week with a bit of help but you shouldn't force them out.

I was quite happy with the results after 5 sessions, there was a lot less hair between treatments, it was never completely clear but more manageable.

Session 6 was less successful, there were some stubborn hairs which had managed to fight against the light after each session, despite being clearly in the growing stage. The therapist boosted the laser up again and I hoped that would be it, but by session 7 they were still there as were quite a few more - bother.

Session 7 took place the day before I broke my ankle so the hairs had 9 weeks of freedom, I don't think one hair fell out during that time and I was hairier than ever at 7 weeks, at that point I committed laser treatments cardinal sin, I plucked the little bleeders out!! knowing I had an appointment two weeks later I left some so there was something to work on altough the way my hair grows I knew that there would be plenty to go at.

I await the results of session 8. I have a theory that the recent growth is a bit like a winter coat, and hopefully after this last treatment they won't be rearing their ugly black heads again!