Laser Hair Removal FAQs

How does Laser Hair Removal work?
The Laser Hair Removal system emits near-infrared laser light that is absorbed by the pigment located in the hair follicle. The laser is pulsed, or turned on, for only a fraction of a second. The duration of each pulse is just long enough to damage the follicle, leading to effective and permanent hair removal.

What do Laser Hair Removal treatments feel like?
The Laser Hair Removal hand piece cools and soothes as it glides along your skin. When the pulse of light is delivered, some patients experience a mild pinching or stinging sensation. No local anesthesia or pain medication is typically required; however, some patients may prefer to use a topical anesthetic when sensitive areas are treated.

What happens after Laser Hair Removal treatment?
Following Laser Hair Removal treatment, you can return to your normal activities right away, but the treated area may appear a bit red and swollen. The use of sunscreen is recommended on any treated areas exposed to the sun. In addition, we may recommend that you use a specially formulated skin care product line or prescribe a skin care regimen especially formulated for your skin type. Three to seven days after treatment you may experience what seems to be regrowth of hair, but actually, most of these hairs are being shed as a result of your treatment and are not regrowing. Between treatments you should not wax or pluck your hair, but it is ok to shave.

What are the possible side effects of Laser Hair Removal?
Although patients experience few side effects with Laser Hair Removal, the most commonly noticed are slight reddening and local swelling of the skin, similar to a sunburn. These effects typically last for several hours or less. In rare instances, blistering may occur.

What areas can be treated with Laser Hair Removal?
Laser Hair Removal can remove hair from all parts of the body including the face, legs, arms, underarms, and back. It can also effectively treat sensitive areas like the chest, nipples, and bikini line.

How many Laser Hair Removal treatments will I need?
Most areas require 3-6 treatments. However, the number of Laser Hair Removal treatments required for optimal long-term benefits depends on multiple factors – hair thickness, the area treated and your hair’s growth cycle. Interestingly, not all hairs are actively growing at the same time and actually go through three distinct phases: growth, regression, and resting. Laser Hair Removal works by disabling the hair that is principally in the active growth phase at the time of treatment. Since other hairs will enter this active growth phase at different times, additional treatments may be necessary to disable all of the hair follicles in a given area.

Does Laser Hair Removal work on tanned/different skin colors?
Laser Hair Removal safely and effectively treats all skin types (Fitzpatrick Skin Types I-VI) as well as tanned skin. For darker skin types and people with tans, appropriate fluences are generally lower and appropriate pulse widths are generally longer to prevent damage to the epidermis. Using the appropriate treatment parameters, however, people with all skin types can benefit from Laser Hair Removal. We use a broad range of lasers that have proven effectiveness for all skin types and colors.

How does Laser Hair Removal compare with other hair removal methods?
Shaving, waxing, and depilatory creams are all temporary methods that must be repeated on a frequent basis and none of those methods can successfully reduce ingrowns. By eliminating the hair follicle, Laser Hair Removal offers permanent hair reduction and treatment of ingrowns for lasting results. Laser Hair Removal provides enhanced comfort during treatment, rare risk of infection, speed and accuracy while minimizing skin irritation that other methods may create.

How does Laser Hair Removal compare with electrolysis?
Electrolysis is a tedious, invasive, and painful process that involves inserting a needle into each individual hair follicle and delivering an electrical charge to them one at a time. Electrolysis often requires years of treatments at regular intervals. Since Laser Hair Removal is non-invasive (no needles to penetrate the skin), the risk of introducing bacteria into the skin is reduced. Laser Hair Removal is fast, allowing for larger areas to be treated and considerably increasing the efficiency of the hair removal process. By delivering light energy to hundreds of hair follicles at a time, Laser Hair Removal effectively treats an area in just seconds that would take over an hour with electrolysis.

Why choose laserklinic’s Laser Hair Removal over other laser hair removal systems?
Using the latest technology in Laser Hair Removal, laserklinic offers several lasers including the Candela GentleYag and Candela GentleLase. Both systems were designed from the ground up for hair removal, so they possess the wavelength, fluence, pulse width and active epidermal cooling system, ideally suited for Laser Hair Removal. FDA approved for permanent hair reduction, laserklinic's Laser Hair Removal systems can treat men and women of all skin types and tones safely and effectively, even patients with a suntan. Our Laser Hair Removal systems can rapidly address large areas without the limitations of older technologies and are adjustable enough to treat the fine hair on a woman’s upper lip just as easily and effectively as the coarse hair on a man’s back. The customized cooling feature increases patient comfort and minimizes the adverse skin reaction commonly seen with other lasers and the unique design and longer wavelength allows extremely effective, safe and permanent results.