Laser hair removal is an efficient, quick, and safe solution to remove unwanted body hair. Just a few treatments will do the trick!
During treatment, your hair’s pigment absorbs light from a laser and converts it to heat, damaging hair follicles and preventing future hair growth.
Treatment Areas
Laser hair removal can be used to effectively eliminate unwanted hair on the face, legs, bikini area, back and underarms. Light from the laser is converted to heat that damages or destroys hair follicles; when these are destroyed they no longer produce hair growth follicles and any that do regrow will be finer in texture and lighter in color than ever before. Ingrown hairs which often lead to infections when they’re shaved or plucked can also be eliminated during treatment with laser treatment.
Laser hair removal requires multiple treatments for long-term success. Hair growth and loss naturally occurs in cycles, so to treat hair follicles when they’re in their growth stage. Most people require six-8 laser hair removal treatments spaced out every four-8 weeks in order to see results from laser hair removal.
As part of a laser hair removal treatment, the doctor will press a hand-held device against your skin with its tip containing cooling devices or gel, protecting its surface while decreasing discomfort during treatment. Once activated, this laser beam sends heat waves directly to your follicles where heat damage or destruction will take place, sometimes with minor discomfort due to its intensity.
Before beginning laser hair removal treatments, it is best to refrain from shaving or waxing the areas being treated in order for the hair follicles to reach an anagen, or growth, phase before responding to laser therapy. Furthermore, tanning in these areas could potentially cause pigmentation issues that would hinder results of your laser therapy sessions.
Most patients report that laser hair removal treatments are tolerable and much less uncomfortable than waxing, with minimal discomfort experienced from each session. Your technician can adjust the power of the laser for maximum comfort; certain parts of the body, like the face and neck, tend to be more sensitive than others; due to being thin skinned these areas are particularly prone to feeling the laser pain more acutely than others.
Time
Laser hair removal can be an efficient and painless treatment when performed by a trained professional, yet full results take time to achieve due to cycles in hair growth and its difficulty targeting all follicles at one time.
Location also plays a factor, with thicker hair taking longer to remove with laser. When receiving laser hair removal treatment, you will wear protective goggles during treatment as an eye shield to shield yourself from laser beams, while your practitioner may apply a cooling device or cooling pad on your skin in order to keep heat from damaging it further. Furthermore, an anesthetic may be applied during sessions for any discomfort you might feel during or following them.
When it comes to permanent hair reduction or removal, the number of laser treatments needed will depend on both your target area and hair color. Darker locks typically require additional sessions than those with lighter locks.
You will require four to six laser hair removal treatments in order to experience significant reduction in unwanted hair growth. Furthermore, regular treatments should be scheduled every four to six weeks in order to keep regrowth under control.
Laser treatments typically remove unwanted hair within days or weeks after treatment, with new growth typically being finer and lighter-colored than that which was once present. Regrowth can take anywhere from six months to one year after which time hair regrowth occurs with minimal or no irritation to surrounding areas.
Laser hair removal can be more cost-effective and time-efficient than alternative approaches for removing unwanted hair, such as waxing, shaving or creams. Furthermore, traditional methods can often take more effort and cause pain over time.
Before embarking on laser hair removal, be sure your practitioner is qualified. Verify their licenses and registration to make sure they fulfill your state’s training and skill requirements, and list with an organization providing consumer protection or quality assurance services. Make sure they will listen to your goals and customize a treatment plan specifically tailored to you!
Cost
Laser treatment can be an excellent way to remove unwanted hair quickly and permanently, without shaving or waxing. Unfortunately, however, laser treatments don’t come cheap and can cost several thousand dollars over multiple sessions.
Cost of laser hair removal depends on the area being treated; for instance, treating your chin or eyebrows will likely be less than legs or arms. Overall costs tend to mirror similar cosmetic procedures like chemical peels and facelifts, however. If laser hair removal is something your health insurance may cover; consult your dermatologist about flexible spending accounts as potential payment solutions as well.
Laser hair removal works by targeting melanin pigment in hair follicles with light energy from lasers, heating the follicle and damaging its structure, thus stopping more hair growth from taking place. Most patients require multiple sessions before having permanent reduced or eliminated their unwanted hair growth.
Before embarking on laser hair removal, it’s essential that you consult an experienced doctor. Laser devices can cause serious skin injuries when misused improperly by inexperienced practitioners and certain medications may reduce its efficacy.
Investing in laser hair removal could save thousands of dollars by eliminating shaving costs or depilatory cream usage, not to mention time savings as you won’t need to shave or use other products anymore. Not only will you save money, but time will too by not needing to worry about grooming your body daily!
Laser hair removal’s biggest drawback is that it does not permanently eradicate all hair, though most cases hair will regrow finer and lighter in color than before treatment. As such, regular touch-up appointments may be necessary in order to maintain desired results; nevertheless it’s still far superior to shaving or depilatory creams which may irritate skin further while shaving can also result in razor bumps or ingrown hairs.
Results
Laser hair removal works differently from shaving cream and razors by permanently altering how your body produces hair. It accomplishes this by targeting pigment in hair follicles to alter their ability to produce it – meaning once all treatments have been completed, no hair will return at all – leaving behind smooth, beautiful skin while saving both time and money on hair-related procedures like shaving, waxing and plucking.
As part of your treatment, eye protection is worn during laser light sessions and topical anesthetic is applied directly to the area being treated; additional anesthetic may be applied if necessary to ensure a comfortable experience.
Laser devices emit pulses that target melanin found within hair follicles. Melanin absorbs laser light and converts it to heat, damaging your follicle so that future hair growth cannot occur – usually within three to five days following treatment, you’ll start to witness your hair begin to fall out as it no longer produces new roots.
Laser hair removal will likely require multiple sessions in order to effectively rid yourself of unwanted hair. As the hair growth cycle can take place over multiple stages, multiple treatments at four- or six-week intervals may be necessary in order to disrupt it and achieve results. Some individuals may even require annual touch up sessions so as to maintain beautiful skin.
After each treatment session, you’ll notice that when hair does grow back it is finer and smaller than before; this is due to laser light damaging hair follicles which cannot produce new hair growth.
Your number of laser hair removal sessions may depend on several factors, including the area being treated, its condition and thickness of hair as well as your skin type; typically though most patients require two to six treatments.
Laser hair removal may not be covered by your health insurance, but many practitioners offer package deals or flexible payment plans to cover its costs. Your flexible spending account could also provide some support towards covering its expenses.
