I had a terrible LHR experience with Anu. I have extensive prior LHR experience due to PCOS (30+…read moresessions) and returned for treatment after hair regrowth following pregnancy.
During my 2nd session, Anu increased the laser settings and made 2-3 passes over my face and neck, resulting in significant burns--the first laser burns I have ever experienced. When I raised concerns, she denied increasing the settings, claimed the marks were not burns, and attempted to lie despite my clear recollection.
At subsequent appts, she never inquired about the burns, my skin condition, or treatment progress. She lowered the settings and continued making 2-3 passes each session. Since the burns, I have developed persistent hyperpigmentation and dark patches on my face that have lasted over 8 months. Even after my final session, I developed new dark spots on my upper lip after 3 passes. When I raised these concerns, Anu dismissed them as being due to my Indian skin rather than acknowledging that her technique was the cause, considering I've never had this happen before.
Her treatment style also felt rushed and careless. The laser frequently fired on my ears, and during one session she unexpectedly treated my forehead without discussion, claiming she saw a hair, then stating it was actually a wrinkle from furrowing my brows.
My final session was the most upsetting. After asking if she could reduce the cryogen cooling spray, she instead turned it off completely and performed the entire treatment without cooling. She claimed this would improve effectiveness and stated I should appreciate her effort. As a NP myself, this seemed questionable, so I researched it afterward. Cryogen cooling is a standard safety feature used to reduce the risk of burns and does not interfere with treatment efficacy. Operating the laser without it offers no clinical benefit and requires lower settings to avoid injury. Intentionally turning it off is negligence and malpractice. Settings must have been consistently low to allow 2-3 passes without burns, which explains my poor hair reduction when compared with previous providers.
When I expressed my concerns, Anu defended her decision to turn off cryogen by citing personal experience and stating she'd done the same for others. She measured success by seeing surface hair singe during treatment rather than long-term hair reduction, which is the actual goal of LHR. Throughout our conversations, she was defensive, dismissive, and unwilling to take responsibility for the burns, pigmentation changes, or her deviation from standard protocols.
Another issue was repeated misinformation. On multiple occasions, she told me that shaving causes hair to grow back thicker, stating this came from "old Indian beliefs." This is a well-known myth that has been repeatedly disproven. Given that LHR patients are routinely instructed to shave before treatment for optimal results, it is inappropriate to tell patients this myth and cause unnecessary anxiety. She also advised that finer hairs don't need to be shaved. This directly contradicts standard LHR guidance, which recommends shaving all treated hairs so the laser energy targets the follicle rather than surface hair. Taken together with the burns, pigmentation issues, repeated passes, and use of the laser without cryogen cooling, these comments reinforced my impression that Anu relies on personal beliefs and anecdotal experience rather than established, evidence-based protocols. This is particularly troubling because LHR already has well-established standards for both safety and effectiveness.
Other notable issues: awful handling of appt rescheduling, lack of patient privacy (doors left open and being able to hear full convos) and staff being dishonest when asking to have a credit card on file by falsely blaming the system.
Overall, I found Anu to be arrogant, careless, unprofessional, dismissive and overly reliant on her own judgment rather than established best practices. She provided a refund, but I can't get back my time or clear skin. I strongly recommend against seeing her.
