Laser hair removal treatments use light energy to damage pigmented cells in hair follicles, effectively impairing their ability to produce hair growth.
Expecting long-lasting results from just a single treatment session is unrealistic; most men and women require six to eight treatments over four week intervals in order to see optimal results.
How many sessions do I need?
Laser hair removal has quickly become one of the go-to solutions for unwanted body and facial hair. While traditional methods such as waxing and shaving may provide temporary solutions, laser hair removal offers potential to produce permanent or nearly permanent results for those willing to put in both time and money. But those looking for long-term results must remember that multiple sessions may be required before reaching their goal result.
Laser hair removal sessions work by heating up the pigment within your follicles with laser energy and producing heat, damaging and stopping them from producing further hair growth. Furthermore, laser energy also kills germ cells responsible for regrowth – this prevents any hair regrowing after treatment has taken effect. It may take six weeks or longer before these effects have fully developed, making regular visits essential.
Hair growth cycles are complex processes, and one treatment can only target 18-20% of your body’s hair at any one time. This is because only active stage (known as anagen phase ) hairs can be targeted by laser therapy while hair in other stages such as telogen and catagen phases may regrowth but will likely do so in finer and sparser forms than before treatment.
Because hair grows in cycles, multiple sessions are usually necessary to completely eradicate unwanted hair and achieve close-to-permanent results from laser hair removal treatments. Many packages include up to 12 treatments; for those with light skin and dark hair typically six-8 treatments are sufficient to achieve near permanent results whereas thicker or darker locks may need additional sessions in order to achieve close-to-permanent effects.
Other factors that could impact the number of sessions necessary include medications, hormonal changes and your skin sensitivity. Certain medications and hormones may increase hair growth or disturb its cycle in ways that make laser treatment less effective, making the hair resistant to laser. Also if your skin is particularly sensitive then laser may cause redness or swelling after each treatment session.
How long does it take to see results?
Based on your skin and hair color, results of laser hair removal could appear within weeks of your first session. This is because hair follicles must be in their anagen phase (growing), for it to destroy them effectively and stop future hair follicle growth. You should avoid plucking, waxing or using other forms of hair removal cream during this phase as these will only slow the process down further.
Shaving is recommended prior to any laser hair removal session because it removes surface hair in its anagen phase, making the area lighter for the laser beam to target and destroy hair follicles. Furthermore, it would be wise to avoid any skin lightening creams or tanning beds in the days leading up to your appointment as this could interfere with its ability to work and lead to discoloration of the area being targeted by the laser beam.
Once your hair follicles have been destroyed, it typically takes around a week before you notice that the thickness and volume of your hair has significantly diminished and begun to shed within 7-30 days – though some patients find they require just one or two laser sessions annually to maintain results.
Laser hair removal treatments can have long-term effects, depending on where and how thickly the unwanted hair was being eliminated from your body. Though thicker hairs will regrow more rapidly than thinner ones, you can expect that they won’t grow back as thick or dark like before treatment sessions began.
Your laser hair removal sessions depend on your unique hair growth pattern and skin darkness; to see optimal results it is recommended to schedule sessions every four weeks to optimize results and decrease need for touch up sessions. By the time your treatment plan is over, you should have reached desired hair reduction and will require minimal touch up sessions going forward.
How often do I need to come back?
Laser hair removal is a safe, effective solution to manage unwanted hair growth. Treatment uses a medical-grade laser which emits short pulses of light in various wavelengths; color-sensitive LED lights target melanin pigment in hair which absorbs light to be converted to heat which permanently disables hair follicles.
Individual results will vary, but on average most individuals require six to eight laser sessions before seeing a noticeable decrease in hair growth. Once this course of treatments has been completed, only one or two maintenance appointments may be needed annually to keep results intact.
Before your treatment session, it’s essential that the target area of skin be shaved as this will allow the laser beam to more easily access your hairs and treat them more effectively. You should also refrain from tanning or employing other means of hair removal like plucking or waxing; alternatively if you have darker skin tones your doctor might suggest applying topical bleaching cream prior to laser hair removal treatment.
Keep in mind that your hair grows at different rates, so regular visits for laser hair removal treatments will be necessary in order to be successful. Most clients schedule facial treatments every four to six weeks and body treatments every four to six months. Your anagen phase hairs will only be affected by laser treatment; any others that are present during other parts of its growth cycle may remain unseen by it and return later.
After your final laser hair removal session, you should notice that your hairs have become much finer and thinner than before. The aim is to eliminate all of the hairs growing in treated areas – eventually leaving smooth skin without time-consuming tasks like shaving or waxing!
How do I know if my hair is growing back?
Are you tired of shaving, waxing or plucking hairs? Laser hair removal could make those annoying tasks obsolete. Lasers used during treatment can target individual hair follicles without harming any surrounding tissue – leading to significant reductions in hair growth with multiple sessions.
However, it should be remembered that it may be possible for hair to regrowth after laser treatments due to it being difficult to eliminate every individual follicle. Some follicles survive treatment and may repopulate with lighter growth that is far less noticeable.
Laser treatment has been proven to be permanent; however, hair typically drops off within several weeks following your last session. Some clients may experience regrowth months and years post treatment; when it does return it typically grows back much lighter and finer than before.
One key reason behind hair regrowth lies in its variation, as each individual’s cycle differs. Some follicles may be in their anagen phase while others are transitioning to their telogen phase; during anagen hairs contain an abundance of melanin that makes them ideal candidates for laser therapy using the CynoSure Elite+ laser to target this melanin and reduce further growth, leading to hair loss and subsequent hair regrowth.
Hair that grows during its telogen phase remains an ideal candidate for laser therapy, though due to not being in its anagen phase it has little melanin content and this may result in hair regrowth after laser treatments compared with those who received full courses prior to pregnancy or otherwise.
Laser treatments offer hope of significantly decreasing hair growth with repeat treatments and top ups 1-3 times per year, leading to smoother, softer skin for years.
