Successful laser hair removal lies in understanding the hair cycle. Laser treatment works best when the anagen phase has arrived.
At this stage in hair growth, hair attaches itself to papillae that are susceptible to heat energy from lasers, rendering them susceptible to destruction by their heat energy and thus inhibiting future hair growth. Consequently, both the hair and its follicle can be destroyed at once with no further potential growth occurring in their future development.
Anagen Phase
An anagen phase refers to the growth stage when hair is visible above the skin and still attached to its papilla (a cluster of cells at the base of hair follicles charged with producing fibers and feeding the anagen phase). When laser energy passes over this phase, its heat energy can easily target pigmented hair that lies underneath, thus disabling or stopping further hair growth.
A person and body area can influence how long a strand of hair remains in anagen phase; factors that impact this include their genetic makeup, ethnicity and other health and wellness considerations. As each session involves shifting into the correct phase of their cycle, a full program usually takes 6-8 treatments to complete successfully.
At any given moment, about 20% of your hair is in its anagen phase; with the remaining 80% falling under Catagen or Telogen. Because anagen phase only lasts three weeks on average, laser hair removal treatments should occur when most of your strands are within this crucial period.
During the catagen phase of hair growth cycle, hair bulbs begin to break free from their papillas and the lower portion of follicles close down, leaving behind loose strands on your clothes or pillow; these hairs shed during this phase and shed during subsequent ones. Laser hair removal cannot effectively target pigment and disable follicles at this time; other methods must be employed instead.
The telogen, or resting stage, of hair cycle is the final one. Once reached by hair, its growth stops. At this stage, follicles remain inactive until receiving signals to start anagen phase again – when new anagen hair will push out of their socket and begin growing out from them and thus restarting cycle once more.
Catagen Phase
The catagen phase is the transitional stage between anagen phase (active phase) and telogen stage (resting stage), during which your hair begins to shrink and detach from its follicle, meaning no longer receiving blood supply, becoming isolated from its bulb, and eventually disintegrating and dying off completely – leaving no chance for new growth as no dermal papilla feeds its bulb anymore and prevents new hairs from growing there in its place.
Since follicles no longer connect to their roots, laser treatments will not have any significant effect at this stage of hair removal; hence the necessity of performing it over an extended period to permanently disable the follicles.
Understanding the hair growth cycle when considering laser hair removal can be crucial in terms of its results; each person’s experience may vary. At the time of treatment, some hair follicles may already be in anagen phase while other may need additional treatments in order to achieve optimal results.
Schedule laser hair removal sessions 4-6 weeks apart to ensure most follicles in your hair have reached the anagen stage and thus be susceptible to laser removal. However, some follicles will enter catagen or telogen phases before your next appointment and won’t be eligible for laser treatment. Your goal in laser hair removal sessions should be to make sure the majority of follicles are in anagen (growth phase) at each session, so they can be effectively targeted by laser light for permanent destruction. By scheduling sessions at 4-week intervals, you can be certain that most unwanted hair is targeted for permanent destruction by the laser and will have faster, more effective and longer-term results.
Telogen Phase
Hair follicles in the telogen phase are dormant, meaning that they do not grow hair. On legs alone they can remain dormant for up to one year before other parts of their bodies require laser treatment for hair removal. Follicles that are in this stage will not absorb light energy from laser treatment, therefore leaving no effect upon them.
Laser treatments must reach the pigment in hair in order to be effective; only hair in its anagen stage can be successfully targeted by this form of light energy treatment, however. As only 20% of hair falls into this phase at any one time – leaving catagen and telogen phases still active; accordingly a series of scheduled appointments should ensure all your anagen hair can be targeted by laser light energy treatment.
Missed treatments can cause hairs that were in the anagen stage to progress into catagen or telogen phases, eventually becoming shed hairs. When having treatments with laser light energy absorbed by pigment in your hair and then passed down its shaft. When this light energy hits papilla of each individual follicle it destroys them permanently and eventually results in them shedding off as permanent changes take place in its growth phase.
The anagen phase usually lasts two to three weeks. At this stage, hair begins growing above the skin’s surface – making this phase ideal for laser treatment to target it directly.
At this stage, hair follicles detach from their roots and begin growing club-shaped above the skin’s surface. At this stage, laser treatment cannot be effective due to no longer attached roots;
Once your hair passes through the catagen and telogen phases, it enters its resting stage. At this point, its growth or development above the skin’s surface ceases and laser treatment cannot target it; although you can target hairs in the telogen phase by plucking, waxing, shaving or plucking; they may eventually return to anagen growth phase and begin again growing at some point.
Resting Stage
At this point in their growth cycle, hair follicles may no longer be visible above the skin’s surface and they will naturally fall out over the course of days or weeks as part of a natural cycle rather than from laser treatment alone. While it should not have an impactful result for laser treatment results as an individual hair cycle varies so significantly, understanding this fact is crucial for optimizing results in relation to individual needs and goals.
Laser treatment of hair follicles works most effectively during their anagen phase. Laser light penetrates hair’s pigment (what gives it color), targeting its pigment to destroy follicles to stop future hair growth. This period typically lasts two or three weeks. To get optimal results from an anagen phase laser session, other methods of hair removal, like plucking or waxing must not be employed, since these could induce premature entry into catagen phase by damaging or disrupting its delicate cycle of development.
After the anagen phase comes the catagen phase – a transitional period when your hair follicle gradually shrinks in size and detaches from its dermal papilla source of nutrients, leaving redness or bumps as your hair follicles move out of anagen phase and into catagen phase.
Finally, we come to the telogen phase or resting stage. Your hair may fall out during this stage as the hair follicle remains dormant until returning back into anagen stage again – this final stage may last from days or years until returning back into anagen stage again.
Laser hair removal requires multiple sessions in order to achieve maximum effectiveness, so understanding your unique hair growth cycle and spacing treatments out over 4-6 weeks is the key to optimizing its efficacy.
At Citrine MedSpa, we employ a painless laser device called Motus AY with both 755nm Alexandrite and 1064nm Nd: Yag wavelengths to target unwanted hairs effectively and safely. Our skilled laser technicians possess both knowledge and skill that enable them to provide safe, efficient treatments with long-lasting beauty results.
Discover more about our laser hair removal services by reaching out to us immediately! We look forward to answering your inquiries about laser hair removal!
