FAQ

Laser Hair Removal Frequently Asked Questions

With the number of clients who contact our Clinic, it’s natural for a lot of similar questions to pop up. We thought it would be handy to have the answers to the most common questions provide for you…

1. What is Laser Hair Removal?
2. Am I a Candidate for Laser Hair Removal?
3. Is Laser Hair Removal Permanent?
4. How Does Laser Hair Removal Work?
5. What Should I Expect Before and After Treatment?
6. How Many Laser Treatments Will I Need and How Far Apart are They Scheduled?
7. Is Laser Hair Removal Painful?
8. What Are the Possible Risks and Side Effects of Laser Hair Removal?
9. What are the possible causes of excessive hair growth and how can it affect my treatments?
10. What Should I Look for When Choosing a Laser Hair Removal Clinic?
11. How do I Determine my Fitzpatrick Skin Type?
12. Can I just reduce the density of hair on an area instead of removing it completely?
13. How Much Does Laser Hair Removal Cost?
14. How can I find a recommended laser center in my area?

 

1. What is Laser Hair Removal?

Laser hair removal is a procedure by which hair is removed from the body by utilizing a long pulse laser. Lasers are developed and designed from years of research. The laser parameters are carefully defined by studying the anatomy of the hair follicle and precisely matching the laser light and pulse duration to the follicle size, depth and location to inhibit the re-growth of the hair.

Laser hair removal is performed by a specially-trained laser specialist or a doctor depending on where you go, who distributes the light of a long pulse laser onto the skin. The laser works by disabling hairs that are in their active growth cycle at the time of treatment. Since other hairs will enter their growth cycle at different times, several treatments are necessary to disable all of the follicles in a given area.

2. Am I a Candidate for Laser Hair Removal?

Both men and women seek laser hair removal services to have unwanted hair removed. Hair removal is commonly done on the hairline, eyebrow, top of the nose, lip, chin, ear lobe, shoulders, back, underarm, abdomen, buttocks, pubic area, bikini lines, thighs, face, neck, breast, arms, legs, hands, and toes.

Laser works best on pale skin and dark coarse hair. The closer you are to this combination (i.e. the lighter the skin and the more coarse and dark the hair), the better the results will generally be.
When choosing your hair removal options, select an environment whose main priorities are your safety, health, and results.

3. Is Laser Hair Removal Permanent?

Lasers with a high power output result in permanent hair removal, and the Food and Drug Administration have approved these lasers for “permanent reduction.”

Generally, this means that you shouldn’t expect laser to remove every single hair from an area. Some people will need touch-up treatments 1-2 times a year after the initial set of treatments for any new growth your body develops with age.

A minimum of four or more treatments at specified intervals are generally necessary to achieve substantial hair removal with laser. Factors that determine the length of treatment include the particular area to be treated, the texture of hair, frequency of treatments, history of temporary measures to remove hair (waxing, tweezing, shaving, and depilatories, etc.)

4. How Does Laser Hair Removal Work?

Lasers are optical devices which produce intense coherent, collimated and mono-chromatic beams of light. A laser consists of an active medium such as a crystal, gas or liquid that amplifies light when excited by an external energy source (a flash amp or electric discharge, for example). When the appropriate medium is employed, the laser can be fine-tuned to generate a very narrow band of light wavelengths (such as the individual colors of the visible spectrum).

Lasers designed for permanent hair reduction emit wavelengths of light designed to be absorbed by the pigment in the hair (melanin). If the surrounding skin is relatively light compared to the color of the hair, then the entire energy of the laser will be concentrated in the hair shaft, effectively destroying it without affecting the skin or follicle. Hair removal lasers target the dark pigment in the hair. That’s why laser hair removal works best on light skin (so laser passes right through) and dark coarse hair (has most pigment).

The ability of the laser to produce a very narrow bandwidth on a consistent basis is the key to a safe efficient treatment. The types of lasers used for permanent hair reduction include the ruby (recommended for it’s high absorption into melanin), Nd:YAG, diode, and alexandrite.

While the laser emits a beam that only heats the hair shaft, heat is transmitted from the hair shaft to the surrounding tissue for several milliseconds after the laser pulse. Several lasers possess cooling attachments which cool the surrounding skin to fully absorb any heat transmitted from the destroyed hair shafts.

5. What Should I Expect Before and After Treatment?

You should shave the area to be treated 1 day before treatment (some clinics will offer to do this for you, but beware of irritation caused by disposable razors etc). No waxing or removing hair with the root with any other way is allowed 2 weeks before and throughout the course of treatment as hair needs to be in place to be targeted by laser. The area should be shaved as closely as possible so that laser can target the most energy towards the hair follicle and not waste energy on the part of the hair above the skin’s surface. If your hair is the type that you can’t see where it was right after you shave, make it a bit easier on your tech not to miss the spots you want treated by shaving 1-3 days before so the outline of where hair is growing is just VERY slightly visible.

After treatment is completed (underarms take under 10 minutes, back treatment can take 1 hour or so), you should apply aloe vera to soothe the skin for a few days. Within 2-3.5 weeks, you should experience shedding of all treated hair. At first, hair will look like it’s growing back in, but it is just coming through the skin to shed. Shedding starts at about 1.5 weeks and can last until 3.5 weeks post-treatment or so. After shedding finishes, with coarse hair you may experience little black dots under in the skin. These will shed eventually, but might take longer.
After shedding occurs, you should experience a hairfree period for a few weeks, until next set of hair that was dormant before starts to come in and should be treated immediately. Patient continues this process until he/she has reached diminishing returns and the remaining hairs are too fine for laser to target, or until you have reached you desired reduction.

6. How Many Laser Treatments Will I Need and How Far Apart are They Scheduled?

Most people need at least 4 initial treatments spaced 5 weeks apart. This is because hair grows in 3 phases and is killed in the first “anagen” active growing phase. Several treatments are needed to target ALL hair in the active growth phase. Approximately 5 weeks after every treatment, additional treatment is required to eliminate the hairs that came out of the dormant phase and are now active. After 4 or more treatments, patients should experience a considerable percentage of hair reduction. Depending upon hair type and genetic factors, some clients may require additional treatments beyond these initial treatments.
Usually, treatments are spaced 5 weeks apart to start, and gradually move to 6 weeks apart after the initial 4 or so treatments. Instead of following an arbitrary schedule, wait until you have experienced shedding of the treated hairs (should complete within 2-3.5 weeks) and you see enough hair come in after the hairfree period to justify the next treatment.

7. Is Laser Hair Removal Painful?

In one pulse, the laser can remove all the hair on a patch of skin the size of a nickel (depending on the specific laser spot size ranging from 9-18mm on average – i.e. the “head” of the laser from which the power is coming with every pulse). Everyone’s pain threshold is different, but generally laser hair removal is not much more painful than waxing, but the sensation is different. It resembles a rubber band snapping against the skin for a quick second with each pulse. Most people do not require an anesthetic cream (like EMLA), but one may be used for very sensitive patients/areas (can be provided or prescribed at the clinic). Be aware that using anesthetic creams is only safe on small areas (like upper lip, bikini, or underarms) and in small quantities.

8. What Are the Possible Risks and Side Effects of Laser Hair Removal?

The possibility exists that some side effects or complications can occur given various variables, including:
Normal
* Itching, during treatment
* Redness for up to 3 days
* Swelling (around mouth of follicle) for up to 3 days
* Pain, tingling, or feeling of numbness (cold spray)
Rare
* Crusting/scab formation (on ingrown hairs)
* Bruising
* Purpura (purple coloring of the skin) on tanned areas
* Infection
* Temporary pigment change (hypo-pigmentation or hyper-pigmentation)

Side effects occur infrequently and, as a rule, generally are temporary. If any of the above last for more than 3 days, make sure to contact your technician and/or doctor.

9. What are the possible causes of excessive hair growth and how can it affect my treatments?

The causes of excessive hair growth pattern are many and varied, including:
* Heredity
* Pregnancy
* Glandular and/or hormonal imbalances (possible PCOS condition for women), including diseases causing these effects
* Insulin resistance issues
* Reactions to certain medications
* Normal aging processes
* Excessive temporary removal methods like waxing, tweezing, creams and depilatories, etc

Every laser candidate should explore a possible underlying reason of the extreme hair growth before starting laser because if there is something in the body consistently triggering hair growth, laser treatments might seem ineffective because the body will keep developing new hair. So, it will always seem like there is not reduction, when in fact it’s NEW hair your body is producing that you are seeing, not that treated by laser growing back. Women with PCOS hair growth patterns (upper lip, chin, cheeks, etc) should see an endocrinologist and have hormonal tests taken. Men can get tested for insulin resistance etc. Talk to your doctor if you suspect you might have an underlying medical condition causing excessive hair growth before starting laser hair removal. Once the condition is control through treatment/medication, laser hair removal can then be performed. Laser can affect the hair that’s currently present, but cannot prevent NEW hair from developing.

10. What Should I Look for When Choosing a Laser Hair Removal Clinic?

The clinic: Make sure that you go in for a “free” consultation to see if you are happy with the way the clinic looks and feels (clean, up-to-date and informative)
You will probably find that prices can vary as much as 100-200% (and some will have options of paying up front for a package of treatments, while others won’t).
The laser technician: Make sure that the person treating you has extensive experience of hair removal and has knowledge of how to best kill the hair (Ask a lot of questions about this at a chain clinic as you might get a different tech every time you come for treatment. Chain clinics vary by location, so make sure you are comfortable with everyone there and they don’t have a high employee turnover if you do decide to go with it). Ask questions and make sure they answer them based on your research. If you are an informed consumer, you will be able to better judge whether what they’re saying is in your best interests or not. Keep in mind that whether a person treating you has an MD or not does not necessarily reflect their laser hair removal skills. Hair removal is not taught in medical schools, so what you should be looking for instead is specific knowledge of and experience in hair removal.

The laser: Make sure that the laser being used is best for your skin and hair type. Do not fall for “marketing hype”. Every laser can technically be used on any skin type, but you should be looking for one that will produce the most efficient results for YOU.

11. How do I Determine my Fitzpatrick Skin Type?

In 1975, Thomas B Fitzpatrick, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, developed a classification system for skin typing. This system was based on a person’s response to sun exposure in terms of the degree of burning and tanning the individual experienced. For successful removal of hair, wrinkles, veins, sun spots, and scars using LASER technology, it is necessary determine your correct skin type.

TYPE I: Highly sensitive, always burns, never tans.
Example: Red hair with freckles or Albino

TYPE II: Very sun sensitive, burns easily, tans minimally.
Example: Fair-skinned, fair-haired Caucasians

TYPE III: Sun sensitive skin, sometimes burns, slowly tans to light brown.
Example: Darker Caucasians, European mix

TYPE IV: Minimally sun sensitive, burns minimally, always tans to moderate brown.
Example: Mediterranian, European, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian

TYPE V: Sun-insensitive skin, rarely burns, tans well.
Example: Hispanics, Afro-American, Middle Eastern

TYPE VI: Sun-insensitive, never burns, deeply pigmented.
Example: Afro-American, African, Middle Eastern

12. Can I just reduce the density of hair on an area instead of removing it completely?

Yes, this can be achieved with having only a few treatments instead of the complete course of treatments.

13. How Much Does Laser Hair Removal Cost?

Prices vary widely from clinic to clinic. Some also offer good value packages for multiple treatments.

14. How can I find a recommended laser center in my area?

Contact your local Health Department and ask for a clinic which is licensed with them.