How does laser hair removal work?

20 Aug How does laser hair removal work?

The light is absorbed by the melanin causing it to heat up which results in the hair’s root being destroyed. With this in mind, it goes without saying that the darker the hair, the better result! Unfortunately on the flip side, what this also means is we are unable to remove blonde, grey or white hairs due to the fact that they contain little or no melanin for the laser to target.

An important point to highlight when considering this kind of hair removal treatment is that you must never have treatment whilst you have any kind of tan (natural, spray or cream tanner) present. The reason for this is that the laser will target the melanin in the skin as well as in the hair which will heat the skin up and could result in a burn and possible scarring. If you have a tan you must wait a minimum of four weeks before resuming any laser treatments.

How long does laser hair removal last and what differences can I expect to see?

Most people want to know if the hair will grow back and what differences they can expect to see. The honest answer is that while everyone may respond slightly differently (the darker the hair, the better the result), once the root is destroyed this is permanent and hair will never grow from that follicle again. We cannot however guarantee every last hair in the area being treated will be gone forever, because we all have millions of hair follicles – it would be a little unrealistic to expect all of them to be targeted!

How many laser hair removal treatments are necessary?

Laser hair removal (IPL) sessions are spaced 4-6 weeks apart for facial areas and 6-8 weeks apart for the body. The reason for this is that hair grows in three different phases. At any given time, your hair will be in varying stages of the growth cycle. So as one strand of hair may be in the active phase of growth, the other might be in the resting phase. For laser hair removal (IPL) to be effective the hair must be treated during the active phase of growth. Performing treatments 4-8 weeks apart (depending on the area) will give the highest chance of treating most of the hair follicles in the area during their active phase.

Do I need to let my hair grow for the duration of the treatment?

Some people are put off having laser hair removal (IPL) because they think you have let the hair grow for the duration of the treatment. This is not the case. Whilst it is true that you should not remove the hairs via methods such as waxing, plucking or threading (this will disrupt the hair growth cycle as previously mentioned), you can shave the area being treated in between sessions. This means at no point must you walk around with your unwanted hair on display so no need to panic!