Laser Hair Removal Facts

Imagine waking up each morning without having to shave. Imagine being able to throw on a bathing suit without worrying about your bikini line. This is what the advertisements for laser hair removal offer, but is this procedure worth the high price? Does laser hair removal work and are there any potential risks involved with the procedure?

History

• Laser hair removal may seem like a modern invention, but it has actually been used since the late 1960s. In 1969 a fiber-optic probe was developed that was supposed to provide a painless, permanent solution to unwanted hair. It was sent to the public without being tested. The FDA soon stopped its use, as it was ineffective and potentially unsafe. A second laser suffered a similar fate in the late 1970s. It wasn't until 1995 that the FDA approved the first laser hair removal system. However, this treatment did not provide permanent hair loss and lawsuits from unhappy customers soon led to its removal from the market. Today's lasers target the hair's melanin and appear to give better results, but research into the long-term effects of laser hair removal is still being performed.

Function

• Today's lasers remove hair by sending an invisible beam of light into the hair follicle. This light applies constant heat to the hair follicle. This destroys the hair's root and disables the follicle, which means that new hair should not re-grow very quickly. The laser can target the hair follicle by finding the melanin, the chemical that causes the dark color of the hair. Since the light is sent directly to the hair follicle, the surrounding skin is not harmed.

Time Frame

• The amount of time that it will take to undergo laser hair removal depends on the amount of skin being treated. The laser pulse will cover about 3/8 of an inch of skin, so it can take quite a while to do a large area like the legs. Lips, one of the smaller areas, usually take about 10 minutes to treat. Legs or the back, shoulder and neck combination can take up to two hours. The bikini and underarm areas, which are often treated together, take just under an hour. Laser hair removal cannot remove all of your hair because it works best on hair that is actively growing, and at any given point of time only 85 percent of your hair follicles are actively growing. For this reason the hair removal procedure has to be repeated for the best results.

Considerations

• If you decide to have laser hair removal done, be sure to look for an experienced technician. Also, look for a clinic that uses a long pulsed laser. These are considered the safest of the laser hair removal systems currently on the market, because they give the skin more time to cool off between pulses. Also, be aware that the cost for a laser hair removal procedure is not cheap. While it varies from place to place, you can expect to pay thousands to have your legs done.

Warning

• There are some potential dangers to submitting to laser hair removal. Lasers are quite hot and the area around the hair follicle can be burned if the technician is not skilled. Even with a good technician, some patients experience skin irritation after a laser hair removal procedure. The skin surrounding the hair follicle must be treated with some type of cooling device, spray or gel while the procedure is being done in order to prevent damage.

Expert Insight

• Laser hair removal does not work for all people. Those with dark hair and light skin are the best candidates for the procedure. This is because the procedure targets the melanin in the hair and dark hair has more melanin than light hair. Also, people with dark skin have a lot of melanin in their skin, which can confuse the laser. There are new products available for people who are not ideal candidates for traditional laser hair removal, but they take more sessions to complete.