Laser hair removal is a safe, effective solution for eliminating unwanted facial and body hair. While it won’t give permanent results, laser treatments do significantly reduce the need for shaving, waxing and plucking.
However, many patients wonder whether or not their hair will return, usually in finer and lighter forms than before. If this happens, it usually results in thinner strands than before and could take several years before fully emerging again.
How Long Will the Results Last?
Many individuals opt to employ various methods for hair removal. Shaving is often employed, producing short-term results; depilatory creams and waxing take longer but can produce results lasting up to six weeks; laser treatment, however, has the potential to produce even longer-lasting effects that could help achieve near permanent reduction in body hair for some individuals.
Laser hair removal as a cosmetic procedure involves targeting specific hair follicles in an area and damaging them in order to stop future hair growth. The effectiveness of this treatment depends on numerous factors, including its location on your body and skin complexion as well as how often and long between each treatment session you undergo.
Due to laser hair removal’s limited ability to target hair in its anagen (growing phase), multiple treatments sessions may be required in order to successfully eliminate all the hair in an area. Thus, it is vital that a full series of laser hair removal sessions be completed rather than stopping after just a few or missing any along the way.
After laser hair removal treatment, some hair may return; however, these typically grow back thinner or lighter due to damaged follicles not fully recovering from being exposed to laser beams. Regrowth may continue for months after your series has concluded but should always be less obvious than its previous state.
Regrowth after laser hair removal may also be caused by hormonal shifts that are beyond your control, such as pregnancy and menopause. Even these regrowth events can be managed through regular follow-up treatments.
How Many Treatments Will I Need?
Laser hair removal works by heating up and damaging hair follicles. Once damaged, these hair follicles no longer produce new hair; however, one treatment won’t stop all future growth; most people need at least four sessions for maximum effectiveness.
Hair growth depends on both your natural cycles and where your follicles are located, with arms and legs having faster-growing follicles than face and neck hair follicles.
Your skin complexion and hair color both have an effect on how effective laser treatments will be for you. Lighter hues tend to produce better results due to an easier time for laser beams locating pigmented follicles in their path.
Unfortunately, laser treatments only target hair follicles in their anagen phase; therefore some unwanted hair may still grow back after receiving treatments; however, after several sessions the majority of your unwanted hair should have transitioned to this stage and will become much easier to eliminate.
Before embarking on laser hair removal treatment, it’s best to refrain from shaving, waxing or tweezing the area in question. Doing so may damage the surface of your skin and reduce its efficacy; to maximize results make sure to follow your technician’s instructions regarding how best to prepare and care for the area afterward.
If regrowth does occur following your treatment, it will likely appear lighter or thinner than before – an indicator that the treatment was successful. To best control any such regrowth, return for further follow-up appointments with your aesthetician.
Urban Company can help you with laser treatments to reduce unwanted hair. Our licensed aestheticians will create a custom plan tailored specifically to you that will give you long-term results that you want. Plus, we only use FDA-approved laser machines with ice cool technology so your skin will remain safe.
Will My Hair Eventually Grow Back?
At your first laser hair removal treatment session, your doctor will press the tip of a handheld instrument onto your skin, which could feel like a warm pinprick or cause some mild discomfort depending on which laser type it is. A cooling device or gel may be added to protect skin and minimize risks. A laser emits intense heat that damages hair follicles while inhibiting future growth – but you will require multiple sessions before reaching full hair removal effect.
Hair regrowth from laser hair removal treatments typically appears finer and lighter in color than what was removed during treatment, however it should be remembered that laser hair removal isn’t a permanent solution to unwanted hair growth. Regrowth occurs as part of normal bodily processes; thus multiple treatments are usually necessary to completely rid yourself of unwanted follicles.
Laser light can target excess melanin in hair follicles to effectively target and damage it, thus stopping the production of hair by the follicles during anagen stage of hair cycle. Unfortunately, anagen phase only lasts briefly and repeated treatments must be conducted in order to fully eliminate unwanted hair growth.
While it is possible that hair will grow back after laser treatments, this is typically only a rare occurrence. If regrowth does occur due to hormones or medications affecting hair growth, plucking or waxing the area where laser treatments have taken place could potentially disturb hair follicles and cause new growth to appear. To keep yourself safe it is wise to refrain from plucking or waxing until any additional hair regrowth occurs; doing this could stimulate further hair follicle activity leading to new hair follicle activity causing further hair follicle stimulation leading to new hair growth regrowth.
Alternatively, electrolysis offers more permanent hair removal solutions, cauterizing and burning each individual follicle using an electrical probe. Though electrolysis offers long-term solutions, it tends to take more time and costs more money than laser.
What Can I Do About It?
After laser treatment, there are steps you can take to limit future hair growth. One such measure would be taking care in between sessions to keep your skin in its optimal state – such as avoiding darkening creams that could darken its surface as well as shaving or other methods of hair removal.
Shaving and waxing can disturb natural hair follicles, making lasers less effective at targeting them effectively. You should therefore refrain from these and any other hair removal techniques at least three days before attending your laser hair removal session. In addition, avoid tweezing or plucking as this can disrupt their growth cycle and lead to regrowth of unwanted hair.
An additional strategy you should employ is getting regular blood tests to assess your hormone levels. An imbalanced hormone system can spark new hair growth, so it is crucial that this information be monitored regularly and any necessary adjustments made. Furthermore, avoid activities which could throw off your hormone balance such as smoking or overeating high-sugar processed food products that could disturb them further.
As with any treatment program, it’s also wise to stick with your recommended course of laser treatments. Missing too many sessions could leave the hair follicles undamaged enough for hair regrowth to continue, potentially negating any results you’ve achieved; so keeping up with appointments and your desired outcomes are of utmost importance.
Permanent laser hair reduction can be a game-changer in terms of convenience, as it will save time and money when it comes to shaving, waxing and other forms of hair removal. You’ll gain more confidence, feel beautiful and ready for anything – not to mention save money as you no longer need shaving cream and razors to remove unwanted hair!
Even if some unwanted hair does return after laser treatment, it should likely be finer and sparser than before. Although laser hair removal can last several years, you’ll still require touch up sessions periodically for optimal results.
