Laser hair removal works by damaging hair follicles that produce unwanted hair, rendering them incapable of producing more. This allows for permanent, nearly hairless results.
After your treatment session, it is best to refrain from tweezing, waxing, picking or plucking hair as this could disturb damaged follicles and lead to skin irritation. Instead, scrub with a loofah gently over the area until your treatment session has concluded.
1. Hair is in the anagen phase
Anagen phase hair follicles are ideal candidates for laser treatment as they are in an active growth stage and therefore ideally situated to be damaged by laser energy, enabling unwanted hairs to shed off while stimulating new growth. Unfortunately, only 15% of your hair follicles will ever be in this state at once so regular treatments should be undertaken so as to target as many follicles as possible in this stage.
Once a hair has completed its anagen phase, it transitions to catagen. During this short transitional stage, cell division ceases and the follicle shrinks; this transition prepares it for its final resting stage – known as telogen – where it may remain dormant for three months before falling out and giving way to newer longer strands to grow back out again.
As you might expect, it takes your body time to eliminate all club hairs, which is why it is not uncommon for some individuals to notice some small amounts of remaining hair 5-14 days after receiving laser therapy treatments. However, this does not indicate failure on their part!
Deficiencies in laser hair removal treatments may lead to hair follicles moving out of anagen and into catagen. Therefore, it’s essential that laser treatments be scheduled at least eight weeks apart in order to allow your skin to recover before moving on with another cycle of treatments.
If you have been attending your laser hair removal sessions regularly but still see unwanted hairs lingering on the surface of your skin, exfoliation may help speed up the process and convince any stubborn follicles that it is time for their hairs to come loose. Just be careful as too much exfoliating may irritate or harm your skin.
2. Hair is in the telogen phase
Laser cannot target hairs that have entered the telogen phase of their growth cycle – the resting and shedding stage – of growth. At any one time, about 15% of your head hair may be in this resting and shedding stage lasting three months, when hair can either shed naturally or be pushed out by newer, growing ones; it is therefore normal to shed approximately 100 hairs daily during this phase.
When hair enters its telogen phase, it lacks pigment and takes on an almost club-shape shaft shape. At this stage, growth may either slow significantly or even stop altogether – eyelashes in this stage typically stay dormant for several weeks while scalp hair can remain so for up to a year!
In the catagen phase, also known as the transitional phase, hair follicles begin to contract and disconnect from their supply of nutrients from dermal papillae. Their hair becomes shorter while changing shape into something that resembles club-shape hairs. Laser treatments can target these catagen-phase hairs as they remain above the surface of the skin.
Once hair reaches the telogen phase, it loses all pigmentation and forms club-shaped shaft diameters with uniform ends. Telogen hair eventually falls out as new anagen hair replaces it.
Laser treatments will not inhibit hairs that are in their telogen, anagen or catagen stages when receiving laser treatments; rather they may return to their regular hair-growing phase and may return. That is why it is crucial that multiple sessions be administered and that enough time pass between each treatment for your anagen phase hair to enter its next anagen phase session.
People often assume that one laser treatment should remove all their unwanted hair, but that’s simply not the case. Only about 15% of your follicles are in anagen phase at any one time, meaning only 15% is removed with each treatment session – although that doesn’t mean it didn’t work, just that more treatments may be required to reach desired results.
3. Hair is in the resting phase
Many people assume that unwanted hair will fall out immediately following a laser hair removal session, however this is not necessarily true as lasers only affect hair follicles in their anagen phase which accounts for about 15% of follicles destroyed during one treatment session – the remaining hair typically falls out gradually over several days or weeks due to various factors including age, skin type, hormone levels and natural processes of growth.
Once the anagen stage has concluded, hair follicles enter catagen phase. At this stage, dormant cells will prepare themselves for telogen phase; during which older, unneeded hairs either fall out naturally or can be pulled out by patients themselves.
During the telogen phase, patients may notice hair is breaking off at its roots. Although it is natural for the body to expel dead hairs during this phase, some individuals may choose to manually pluck out those they believe should have been expelled using tweezers or similar techniques; it should be done carefully as this could result in an itchy rash on sensitive skin and should only be done with extreme caution.
After the telogen phase is complete, new hair will start growing back in its place, although much thinner and lighter than before. Therefore, for best results it is necessary for patients to undergo multiple laser sessions for maximum impact. Waxing, shaving and tweezing should also be avoided in the interim as these activities can stimulate hair follicles to begin producing new growth again. Instead, patients should use loofahs or gentle scrubs with sea salt in them to accelerate shedding processes and keep skin irritation at bay. If patients are unhappy with their results they can arrange a follow-up session where a laser technician will assess treated area to see if any additional treatments may be required to achieve optimal results.
4. Hair is in the active growth phase
Hair follicles in the anagen phase are active and producing new hair follicles, visible on your skin surface. Therefore, it’s not unusual for some of those treated by laser to experience hairs coming loose a day or so after laser therapy has taken effect – this should not be seen as a failure of treatment, but as evidence that laser was successful in eliminating those hairs! This should not be taken as an indicator that laser is ineffective – in fact it indicates successful destruction!
As the anagen phase comes to a close, hair follicles transition into catagen phase where growth slows to 50% and eventually stops altogether. After catagen phase ends, they enter telogen stage where dormant follicles remain dormant until receiving an invigorating signal from the body that stimulates them back into anagen phase growth.
This process may take years and may go undetected, but once complete it will cause the hair to start growing back – this is why most people require multiple sessions over six-8 treatments for long-lasting results.
Based on your body location, hair growth cycle, hormone levels and other factors like diet and lifestyle factors such as stress levels, you may require multiple sessions in order to destroy all hairs in a treatment area. Diet plays an integral role in supporting follicle health as it assists hair growth cycles; eating foods such as carrots, salmon eggs and avocados rich in follicle-nourishing components will keep more anagen phase hair growing longer.
Implementing the correct treatment plan and visiting our clinic regularly are the keys to optimizing the benefits of laser hair removal treatments. We advise scheduling appointments every 6-8 weeks so damaged hairs have time to reenter their anagen phase between sessions.
To speed the shedding and regrowth process, we suggest that you refrain from picking, plucking or squeezing hairs. Instead, moisturizing treated areas with natural products that support skin health as well as hair follicles.
