1950s permanent hair removal advertisement © Classic Film / Flickr
The practice of removing body hair is not new, it can be traced back to ancient Rome and Egypt.
“Some of the first razors, made of copper, were used in Egypt and India around 3000 BCE. Egyptian women removed their head hair and considered pubic hair uncivilized. Upper-class Roman women of the sixth century BCE used tweezers, pumice stones and depilatories to achieve the desired degree of hairlessness, while Egyptians of Cleopatra’s time used a sugar mixture in a method similar to waxing. Elizabethan women removed their eyebrows and hair from their foreheads to give themselves a longer brow." (Women’s Museum of California, 2017)
How it Works:
Laser energy is selectively absorbed by the melanin in the hair follicle and converted to heat, injuring the follicle. Most hair is permanently removed (up to 90%). Hair that does regrow is finer and lighter than before.
Benefits:
Time saver: Shaving, tweezing or waxing unwanted hair can be time consuming and often requires daily or weekly upkeep.
Precision: Targets coarse, dark hairs and leaves your skin undamaged.
Fast: Each pulse of the laser takes a fraction of a second. Small areas can take as little as a minute or two.
Cost Effective: The cost of waxing, threading, and shaving ads up. Think of the amount of money you can save every year on the cost of razors and shaving cream alone!
No Ingrown Hairs or Razor Burn!
How Permanent is Laser Hair Removal?
Most patients have permanent hair loss within 6 to 8 sessions. The majority of patients will see up to a 90% reduction by the end of their treatment plan.
Is Laser Hair Removal Safe?
The majority of people who use it will find that laser hair removal is safe and well-tolerated.
There are no known associated long-term health risks associated with the procedure.
Experts do not recommend using laser hair removal during pregnancy. There are no studies that prove the safety during pregnancy. (Medicalnewstoday.com, 2020)
Before:
If waxing, threading or using chemical hair removal treatments you will have to stop and switch to shaving 4-8 weeks prior to treatment.
Your technician will ask you a series of questions to ensure your safety. Such as, are you on any antibiotics, medication that cause sensitivity to sunlight or had any excessive sun exposure.
Prior to the treatment the technician will test a small patch of skin to see how it reacts before doing a larger area.
What to Expect During Laser Hair Removal?
Our medical grade machine is adjusted and customized for each patient individually. We take your skin tone, heritage, hair color and your hair's level of coarseness all into account.
The laser is attracted to the pigment within the hair follicle. Therefore the closer the shave the less intense or irritating it will be. We recommend that you shave the night before or the morning of as the length of stubble will affect the intensity of the procedure.
Most people compare the worst of it to a rubber band snap. Though many say that it is completely painless.For those who have more melanin (color) in their skin or sensitive skin a topical numbing cream/gel can be applied prior to the laser procedure. This will lessen the "sting" of the laser pulses.
The technician will supply you with special glasses as a precautionary protective measure.
They will then clean the area and apply a layer of cold, clear gel to your skin. This application provides additional cooling for the skin and helps the laser light penetrate the skin for better results. (Gardner, MD, 2020)
The treatment itself will only take a few minutes to an hour depending on the size of the area.
After:
If your face was treated, you can wear makeup the next day.
Over the next month, the treated hair will fall out.
If there is any irritation, cool compresses and moisturizer will help
It is important to wear sunscreen on any skin exposed to the sun for long lengths of time to prevent sunburn and discoloration.
References
Gardner, MD, S. (2020). Laser Hair Removal: Benefits, Side Effects, and Cost. [online] WebMD. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/beauty/laser-hair-removal [Accessed 14 Feb. 2020].
Medicalnewstoday.com. (2020). Laser hair removal side effects: What you need to know. [online] Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322042#is-laser-hair-removal-safe [Accessed 15 Feb. 2020].
Women’s Museum of California. (2017). The History of Female Hair Removal. [online] Available at: https://womensmuseum.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/the-history-of-female-hair-removal/ [Accessed 14 Feb. 2020].