Laser hair removal is one of the newest cosmetic procedures available today. The
process is to permanently remove hair from any part of your body that you wish
by the use of a light at a designated wavelength, which is projected into the
skin by way of a laser hand held instrument.
What the laser accomplishes, after it's reached into the interior of the skin,
is to focus on the hair's pigment. The laser destroys the follicle of the hair
but does not damage the remaining hair tissue around it.
While laser hair removal can be quite effective and has been so for many, it is
new, and, as compared with older hair removal treatments, relatively untested.
What this means is that we really don't know yet just how safe or unsafe it
might be and the potential for side effects. The other issue with the newness of
this laser hair removal process is that no one has used it for long enough to
have continuity of statistics that would indicate the rate of response to the
laser hair removal treatment and the rate at which the hair grows back after
each laser hair removal treatment.
Two of the most important elements to consider in qualifying potential laser
hair removal candidates are skin color and hair color.
1. Skin Colour. Light skin makes laser hair removal easier to perform. Due to
the lighter pigmentation, the laser hair removal results happen more quickly.
Fewer treatments are required, and better, faster results are obtained. People
with darker skin can be treated, but results are slower. They just have to be
content with the knowledge that it will take longer to see results and a greater
number of treatments are probably going to be needed.
2. Hair Colour. Laser hair removal works best on dark hair. The reason for the
difference is the pigment pheomelanin, which is found only in red or blonde
hair. It is very hard for a laser to penetrate pheomelanin. On the other hand,
the laser goes easily through eumelanin, the pigment found in black and brown
hair.
Treatment costs can add up to more than $1,000 as multiple treatment sessions
may be necessary to obtain optimal results. This is largely due to the fact that
laser hair removal is most effective for hair which is in the anagen phase (the
growth phase). Since hair grows in cycles, not all of the hairs are in the
anagen phase at any given time. Thus, more sessions are necessary to target
hairs while they are in anagen.
How much and how long an individual respond to complete hair removal by laser
hair removal differ from case to case. So, no hair removal clinics can guarantee
100% permanent results by a certain period. Consumers are nevertheless well
advised, to consult with licensed professional and reputable laser hair removal
centers.