well I don't know your skin or hair type/colour. but it does sting, like a lot. I use elma cream, its a topical numbing agent. any lidocane cream should be good. for me it's essential as I actually lifted off the table when I did it first with no pain mitigation at all. love the results though.
I agree with Looking For Me. It is going to hurt. I think it also depends on where you are in your transition. When I first started laser, I was only on my testosterone blocker for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, it stung in areas, but wasn't too painful. The last time I went to laser, I had been on estrogen and t-blockers for about a year(?), it hurt SO badly, I was crying and not sitting still at all. The reason for this, imo, is because the longer you are on estrogen, the more sensitive you skin will become. ESPECIALLY your face. I still have a LONG way to go in my laser hair removal, but I haven't been back since. Both because of financial and pain reasons LOL. Looking, Is this something your Doctor recommended? I had never heard of anything like this, and it gives me GREAT hope in going back to finish my treatments (when I can afford them LOL). Do you put it on yourself before you leave for your appointment? Or is this applied at your doctor's office? Thanks for the tip though!!!
the tech recommended it, so did some of my trans friends who've been down the laser path. I put it on myself, a couple medium thick layers, and rub it in well each time. takes about a half hour to work. as you do more sessions it does hurt less anyway as there is less dark hair there. I've done 6 session so far and really only have dark hair around the mouth and nose area now and that's getting patchy.