Shedding is an inherent part of laser hair removal treatment and you can speed it up by regularly exfoliating the area being treated.
Do not attempt to remove fallen-out hair with any harsh methods such as tweezing, waxing, picking or plucking as this could damage the laser-ablated follicles and lead to further unwanted hair growth.
Hair Growth Cycle
Laser hair removal treatment destroys hair follicles so they no longer produce hairs, using light beams that focus on targeting pigment in hair follicles to damage them to such an extent that hair no longer attaches itself to them. As a result, these sessions should eventually lead to permanent hair reduction. Shedding is an indicator that your treatment sessions are working and that your progress toward permanent reduction has begun.
Hair growth is a natural cycle and typically takes time for damaged follicles to release their locks, therefore typically six or eight treatment sessions are necessary to achieve desired results.
After your first few laser treatment sessions, it is completely normal and safe to experience some regrowth that appears as stubble. Your body is pushing dead hair strands up toward the surface to be removed by laser treatments; do not be alarmed when this occurs! It should not cause alarm.
Your skin can benefit from gentle exfoliation a few times every week. An ideal exfoliator to use would contain light amounts of glycolic or salicylic acid for maximum effectiveness while remaining gentle to use; scrubs that contain too many harsh chemicals could damage treated skin and compromise results.
Avoid plucking, tweezing, waxing or picking at your hair after laser treatments because this could accidentally remove a targeted hair follicle still connected to a healthy strand of hair, which could be frustrating given the results of your laser session. Wait until all treatment plans have been completed and hair has begun to shed before tweezing or waxing is attempted again – or as it’s known in science terms: “shedding”.
Some patients may be disappointed to see not all their hair has been removed after receiving laser treatment, however it’s important to remember that laser light can only target hair in its anagen phase; only about 15% of hair follicles will ever be in this state at any given time – these follicles will be targeted and destroyed by light whereas catagen or telogen phases won’t be affected by lasers at the same time.
Damage to the Hair Follicles
Laser hair removal treatments utilize a laser beam that passes through the skin and targets active hair growth phases, with protection provided by melanin pigment in dormant or resting phases protected from laser destruction by melanin pigment and protected against laser destruction by melanin pigmentation. Damage caused to hair follicles by laser hair removal treatments may not be permanent but it may take time to recover from their damages; for this reason, follow-up sessions every six to eight weeks may be required until all dormant hairs have successfully shed and made way for an unbroken appearance of dormant dormant hairs push out and shed in their entirety, finally creating an appearance without hairs in its place resulting in hairless results resulting in complete hairless appearance!
Shedding of dead hairs may occur within 5-30 days following your treatment and may resemble new growth, this is normal, caused by the dead hairs pushing their way out of their follicles and becoming visible again. Acceleration of this shedding process may be achieved by gently exfoliating the treatment area every couple of days with loofah or washcloth exfoliators.
As part of your treatment, it is important to avoid hair removal methods which pull hair out at its roots such as waxing, threading and plucking. Furthermore, shaving may need to be delayed until after treatment has taken effect.
Laser hair removal specialists may recommend multiple sessions to eliminate all unwanted hair in a treated area. Once this goal has been met, annual touch-up treatments may be needed in order to keep up the nearly hairless appearance.
Some individuals will notice their hair regrowing darker and thicker after they complete a laser hair removal series, although this may be disappointing. It’s important to remember that laser treatments aim at eliminating most hair follicles in an area, leading to significantly reduced appearance of regrowth compared to traditional techniques; furthermore, full regrow may take several months; when discussing desired outcomes with your practitioner.
Damage to the Skin
Hair in its anagen phase of its cycle can be vulnerable to laser light damage. When this occurs, damaged follicles emerge from beneath the skin and begin to shed; appearing like new growth but in fact just your body getting rid of dead follicles. This process typically takes a few weeks and may leave your skin slightly pink afterwards; to speed it along further it’s important not to rub or scrub at this area as doing so could damage skin as well as disrupting its cycle – instead it is best to exfoliate gently so as to remove any additional hair that might be hiding underneath – exfoliate to remove any unnecessary hair that may be clogging pores or just stuck under its surface – instead consider gently exfoliation of this area to remove any extra hair that might be clogging pores or under surface skin, exfoliate gently every few weeks so any excess hair that’s hiding underneath!
Once hairs have shed from their follicles, it’s essential that regular laser light treatments be scheduled in order to keep growing back again – as laser light cannot destroy every individual follicle at once.
Once hair does regrow, it usually grows back lighter and less noticeable than before due to being less damaged by laser treatment heat. Furthermore, smoother growth occurs since no damage was done to its follicles by heat from laser therapy.
In order to maintain results, it’s crucial not to skip out on treatments and refrain from using sunless skin creams that darken the skin as these can limit how effective laser light treatment will be on hair follicles. Furthermore, avoid shaving, waxing and plucking of treated areas as these methods can disturb hair follicles, leading to unwanted hair regrow before being destroyed by laser light treatment.
Most laser hair removal treatments last anywhere from months to years before needing repeat. The frequency and health of your treatments will determine this; you may require maintenance treatments once every few weeks to reduce hair growth and avoid unwanted strands from growing back in.
Regrowth
Hair grows in cycles and laser treatments are most effective during its active growth stage, known as anagen. However, laser treatment can also be used on hairs in their resting phase known as telogen – even though their melanin levels don’t allow laser to work effectively there either! As soon as laser destroys follicles their bodies will shed unwanted hair to rid itself of its destruction.
After receiving laser treatments, some treated hairs may begin to fall out within days or weeks following. This does not indicate that they were ineffective; rather it indicates that damaged follicles have allowed new cells without hairs to emerge and this can create patches or bumps that resemble ingrown hairs. To treat this situation effectively, avoid tweezing, waxing, plucking or pinching as this could irritate new cells that emerge into your skin, leading them to grow out of control in an undesirable fashion.
To prevent unwanted hair regrowth, it is crucial for clients to attend follow-up treatments at their scheduled intervals. Delay could make it more difficult to catch anagen hairs at their most susceptible stage and reduce regrow.
Many damaged hair follicles require multiple treatments over an extended period of time to recover their pores and begin producing hairless cells, often lasting several months. Hormone levels or medication can sometimes have an influence over growth without disrupting it; additional therapies may also be required for maximum effectiveness.
Laser hair removal is a safe, quick, and painless way to safely eradicate unwanted body hair from areas such as your face, legs, bikini line and more. Contact our Burleson office now to arrange a consultation appointment and let us help you achieve smooth skin free from hair. We look forward to helping you realize your vision of smooth skin!
