Many individuals spend hours shaving, waxing, and plucking unwanted hair to achieve smooth skin. Laser therapy offers an alternative that provides long-term solutions and makes this task simpler.
Understanding the hair growth cycle is vital to ensure an effective laser treatment session. Each hair exists in one of three stages – anagen, catagen or telogen – during its growth process.
Shaving
Shaving is an integral component of laser hair removal preparation, and omitting this step may result in ineffective treatments. This is because lasers must reach into hair follicles in order to penetrate. If hair grows too long for this method, laser light cannot reach these roots and as a result could just burn it away by heating.
As such, it is imperative that you shave prior to your appointment. While timing varies by individual, we advise shaving at least 12 hours in advance in order for your skin to fully recover so as to reduce irritation during treatment.
Depending on the laser treatment provider, failing to shave prior to an appointment could impede its ability to target the root of hair follicles and burn other parts of skin. If this becomes impossible for any reason, speak to your specialist as they may offer cooling gel or cream as part of their solution for soothing any discomfort during treatment.
Prior to laser hair treatments, you should avoid waxing, plucking and chemical depilatories as these methods remove hair at its source whereas lasers only target active follicles.
After receiving laser treatments, it is best to give the area four to five days to heal afterward. At this stage, damaged hair follicles will shed, which may make the treated area feel sensitive; it is best to wait for all hairs to fall out before starting shaving again in order to ensure a clear surface for future treatments.
Waxing
Before initiating laser hair removal treatments, it is imperative that the area being addressed be waxed or shaved at least 24 hours in advance. The laser light needs to be able to see the melanin pigment of hair follicles for effective treatment; otherwise, its light can reflect off surrounding skin surfaces and compromise its effectiveness.
As part of your laser hair removal treatment plan, it’s also a good idea to avoid sunbathing or wearing fake tan for at least two weeks prior to receiving laser treatments. While sunscreen with high SPF should still be applied liberally – sunburn can become problematic during these procedures and cause your skin to darken more than necessary.
Between laser sessions, it is also wise to refrain from plucking, tweezing or epilating the area in question as this may disrupt the natural hair growth cycle and compromise the effectiveness of your laser hair removal treatments.
Laser treatments require multiple sessions to eliminate all unwanted hair follicles in an area. When your new growth appears after treatment, it typically grows back finer and sparser than before – though depending on your own personal hair growth cycle you may require quarterly or twice-yearly follow up treatments after your initial series of laser sessions.
Prior to your laser hair removal appointment, shaving on either the day of and/or the night before is ideal; however, any time is fine as long as a new razor is used and not to cause skin irritation or cut yourself. Between appointments it is advised that only very light strokes be taken.
Tweezing
People spend many hours of their lives shaving, waxing and bleaching unwanted hair; it can be time consuming and costly. Instead of spending this much of your valuable time shaving and waxing unwanted hair growth from various areas on your body, why not schedule a laser hair removal session with Dr. Mukhtar Anees at Med Spa at Seena One (Corrective Skin Care)in Burleson to permanently reduce it?
Prior to your laser hair removal appointment, it’s crucial to shave the area being treated. Shaving will allow the laser to access its target follicles and stop hair growth more effectively; failing to shave will only singe your skin and lead to further irritation. Shaving also enables technicians to see which areas contain hair so they can more accurately plan your treatments sessions.
Before your appointment, it is wise to avoid tanning and fake tanning altogether as sun rays can affect how effective a treatment will be by lightening hair color – this may make the treatment less effective or cause burns.
At the outset of laser hair removal, a consultation will help identify your best course of action. Following that consultation, a specialist will apply topical cream to numb the area before starting the procedure – once treatment begins you may feel an intense burning sensation as the laser vaporizes both hair and skin cells simultaneously.
Between laser sessions, it is best to refrain from plucking or shaving your hair to maintain an effective treatment process. Doing so could disrupt the natural cycle and decrease effectiveness; additionally, plucking or scrubbing could leave your skin reddened and sore – rendering it even more susceptible for treatment at your next laser session.
Threading
Threading is an effective and less painful technique used by licensed estheticians to remove unwanted hair from various areas, such as the eyebrows. This technique does not damage follicles and is suitable for people with sensitive skin as well as those taking acne medications such as retinoids. Cotton thread rubbing against skin may cause some redness and minor irritation after threading is completed – cooling gel with rose water, aloe vera or tea tree can provide temporary relief from this side-effect; for best results apply after threading.
Thin cotton thread is doubled and twisted before rolling it over areas with unwanted hair to pluck follicle-level plucking of unwanted strands of hair. Threading offers an alternative to waxing that may cause burns if applied too hot, while redness or irritation may occur if your skin is sensitive or on Accutane; additionally it is much safer than tweezing because threading does not pull out individual strands, rather it pulls out rows of them at once.
Threading can also provide an effective alternative for face lifting. Here, threads are inserted into facial muscles and tissues in order to lift sagging skin and restore a more youthful look. Luckily, the procedure is relatively painless with no downtime afterwards; however you may experience swelling and bruising post procedure.
Though thread lift results are temporary, they may last several years depending on your skin tone and hair growth rate. You should see visible results within weeks; however, over time as collagen production decreases these will gradually fade away.
Chemical Epilation
Are You Tired of Shaving, Waxing, Tweezing or Bleaching Hair to Remove Unwanted Follicle? Consider Laser Hair Removal As a permanent hair reduction treatment option, laser hair removal offers quick and noninvasive solutions in just several sessions. But before booking one of your first sessions it’s essential that you understand how to prepare the area prior to initiating treatment.
While shaving may seem like the perfect way to prepare your skin for laser hair removal, it could actually hinder its effectiveness. Shaving can cause the laser beams to singe the surface of your skin instead of targeting hair follicles directly as intended. Also, long hair makes reaching these targets harder than normal.
To prevent these issues, you should shave either the day before or morning of your laser hair removal appointment. This will ensure that your skin is free from follicles that the laser can target more easily. Furthermore, make sure you use a sharp razor and moisturize the treated area afterward for maximum effectiveness.
Before your appointment, it’s advisable to exfoliate the area three to four days in advance in order to remove any hidden hairs and ensure the laser can reach its root without harming surrounding tissue. This ensures any hidden hairs can be eliminated as quickly as possible by targeting their root source with its laser light beams.
Are you ready to say goodbye to unwanted hair? Contact Therapie Clinic and arrange your laser hair removal session! With over twenty years of experience providing Ireland’s highest-grade laser hair removal service, our laser specialists are on hand to answer any questions about preparing for and participating in your session. We look forward to helping you achieve smooth skin without hair!
