Laser Hair Removal
Say good bye to waxing, shaving, and depilatories. A lot of people have done just that and undergone laser hair removal treatments. Laser hair removal is becoming the most popular laser hair removal procedure for people who want to remove unwanted hair. But how does the treatment work? Does it hurt, and what are the results? These are some common questions that people ask before undergoing laser hair removal.
In the past, women and men have struggled in trying to achieve permanent hair loss with long-term results. There are three parts of a human hair, the base of the hair which contains the hair follicle, the skin shaft and the hair follicle itself. To achieve permanent or long-term hair removal, the hair follicle and base must be destroyed. When shaving or waxing, the base is not removed; therefore the hair continues to grow back time over time. Laser hair removal targets the entire base and hair follicle, thwarting the hair from growing back.
HOW LASER HAIR REMOVAL WORKS
In laser hair removal, light energy from the laser targets the hair and uses heat to inflict injury to the hair follicle causing it to die. The laser light passes through the hair follicle converting to heat as it passes through the skin. The heat is absorbed in the skin pigment melanin found right under the skin in the hair follicle. The high temperature of the hair laser disables the hair follicle, inhibiting future growth.
Laser Hair Removal can give permanent results
To remove the hair in the desired area, it may take a series of treatments. Depending on your desired level of hair removal and the treatment area, the laser hair technician in a pre-consultative appointment will determine how many treatments it will take to remove the hair. Also, active hair growth occurs in cycles of two to three month periods. Often, the series laser hair removal treatments are timed to target the periods where hair growth is active to achieve successful results. Targeting the treatments around hair growth cycles can result in the removal of 80 percent of hairs in the desired area.
TYPES OF LASERS
There are many different types of lasers that are used in the removal process which target different hair and skin types. In the early phases of hair removal as technology was just being developed, it was difficult for people with darker hair and skin to achieve results. Now, however, a laser called Nd: YAG is used for darker skinned people. The Nd: YAG laser emits longer wavelengths of light, which can reach deeper hair follicles. This laser is effective for darker skin types. The intense pulsed light (IPL) non-laser lights are often used for light skinned, dark hair individuals because the dark pigment in the skin around the hair can easily absorb this type of emitted light.
However, these are not the only two types of lasers commonly used in the laser hair removal process. There are also the alexandrite, diode, and ruby lasers. The alexandrite laser emits a long-pulse for deep penetration into the hair follicles, which results in a heat-build up in the follicles to destroy the hair growth. The diode laser can also be effective on darker skin types. It contains small diodes arranged together to produce light resulting in a longer wavelength that can effectively target hair in darker skinned individuals. The ruby laser emits a red-colored laser that targets melanin in the hair shafts.
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