TREATMENTS LASER EPILATION AND PERMANENT HAIR REMOVAL

Undesirable hair growth can be a real nuisance. Traditional depilation and waxing is often painful and needs to be repeated regularly. The newest laser technology offers the permanent solution.

 THE METHOD

Using intense laser light, the hair roots can be destroyed. The pigment cells in the hair follicles absorb the red laser beam. Through this absorption the hair roots heat up and are microscopically destroyed. Hair no longer grows in the treated area.

Because hair follicles differ in stage of maturity, all of the roots can’t be treated in a single session. For total hair removal, you will need several treatments at regular intervals.

A careful analysis of your skin and hair by the aesthetic doctor is important. Dark hair on light skin is ideal.

When the skin contains too much pigment, bleaching-and even burning-may occur. White, grey, and blonde hairs contain only minimal amounts of pigment cells. This makes them poor candidates for this kind of laser treatment.

 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH OTHER HAIR REMOVAL TECHNIQUES?

With other hair removal techniques, hair growth returns usually after a short while. With permanent removal the hair root is permanently destroyed. Hair growth ceases forever. The electric method may also give permanent depilation. However, it is very time consuming and painful. Therefore, if used at all, it is best reserved for small amounts of isolated hairs. Laser depilation, on the other hand, is fast and rarely experienced as uncomfortable.

 HOW DOES A MEDICAL LASER WORK?

The energy of the laser light source is absorbed by the pigment cells (melanin and haemoglobin) of the skin, the hairs and the vessels. Because of the filters, the energy can be adjusted to the spectrum of melanin (brown: 600 to 950 nanometer) or haemoglobin (red: 530 to 950 nanometer).

Therefore the laser can be used both to DEPILATE and to improve RED (couperosis) and BROWN SPOTS (pigmentation spots).

 LASER EPILATION: 

Permanent depilation is possible because the heat of the light is transferred into the melanin of the hair follicle. To destroy the hair follicle, a laser light beam is required during 1 millisecond.

Dark hair on light skin can be treated best.

For people with lighter or blond hair the result of permanent depilation is less certain, because these hairs contain less melanin and therefore less heat is produced into the dark melanin of the hair. People with grey or white hairs can’t be treated effectively, because their hairs don’t contain any melanin.

Dark skin will absorb the laser light; therefore the laser beam will be less effective.

 DOES LASER EPILATION HURT?

Most people don’t complain about pain. Because the light energy is absorbed by the pigment cells (melanin and haemoglobin), pain sensation depends on the concentration of melanin in the epidermis and the hairs together. The treatment will hurt people with a darker complexity and thick, dark hairs more.

Anaesthesia isn’t necessary. Most people find the pain moderate and from a very acceptable level, comparable to a stretched elastic band flicked against the skin.

 SHOULD I SHAVE OR WAX BEFORE TREATMENT?

The hairs have to be 1 to 2 millimetres long for optimal treatment. Longer hair absorbs more energy leaving too little energy to reach the hair follicle. Your hair will be shaved, by us, to the right length before the treatment, so that a maximum of laser energy can reach the hair follicle.

If you do wish to do the shaving yourself and the hairs stay visible after shaving, than you can keep shaving until the day before treatment. However it’s not allowed to pull out the hairs or to bleach them.

Do not epilate or wax from 4 weeks before the treatment, so that the hair follicles contain sufficient hair to be destroyed by the laser light.

 WHEN WILL I SEE RESULTS?

Contrary to old laser methods the hairs themselves won’t be immediately destroyed by the Light Touch. The hair follicles are destroyed by the heat, but the hairs stay in the skin and stick to the epidermis.

After laser treatment, you won’t see the result right away: the hairs will be loser in the hair follicle and can be easily taken out with a pair of tweezers.

After 2 to 3 weeks the hair will fall out, due to the epidermal renewal. During this period is seems as if the hairs are growing, but in fact, they are pushed outwards by the epidermal renewal process.

 WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS?

Sometimes, the skin turns red after treatment and in a few cases blisters can appear as a result of excessive exposure to laser light, as if sun burned. For most, the treatment has no side-effects and the described skin reactions disappear within a few hours or days.

 HOW MANY LASER-TREATMENTS ARE REQUIRED?

Only growing hairs can be treated. The number of growing hairs varies between 10 to 70% depending on the place of the body. The length of the growth cycle varies.

For most people, 3 treatments suffice, with 2 to 3 months between each treatment.

After the first laser treatment the hair growth will be looser and the new hairs thinner. It’s important to know that the first treatment, by which the actively growing hairs can be treated, will be followed by growth of the hairs which were in rest at the time of treatment. Therefore the next treatment is often even more effective.

 HOW DO I PREPARE MYSELF FOR LASER EPILATION ?

Don’t wax or depilate a month before treatment and don’t sunbath during the whole period of treatment.

Directly after the laser treatment the skin is sensible to U.V. light and exposure to sunlight must be avoided the first 4 weeks. The use of SUNBLOCK (minimal factor 30) is recommended during this period.

 HOW LONG DOES A TREATMENT TAKE ?

This depends on the surface area. Laser depilation on the face will take 10 minutes, while depilation on both legs and the back for instance, lasts one hour and a half.

 ARE THE RESULTS PERMANENT ?

Studies show that with the present laser-light technology the cells in the hair follicles can be destroyed. Because the destroyed cells can’t generate we can assume life long efficacy. However to date no scientific studies have yet been published for “long term” evaluation.