What is Laser Hair Removal?

Laser Hair Removal is one of the most common laser treatments. Both men and woman can be treated however skin and natural hair colour are the main factors when considering if laser hair removal is right for you. The procedure is slow and many considerate it to be painful. Patients are offered ways of relief such as skin cooling gels, air and sprays.

On average you will need an initial 6-8 treatments before removal is complete, this may need to be followed up with up to 2 touch up sessions a year or so after removal to remove any new hairs which have grown through. Laser hair removal is considered to be permanent however this can not be guaranteed. There are a few cases which have be recorded which have permanently removed hair however there are more cases recorded in which hair has grown back.

There are 6 different shades of skin, when considering laser hair removal it is important you determine your skin colour correctly to Fitzpatrick's skin typing.

I- White Skin: Prone to sunburn, never tan.
II- White Skin: Occasional sunburn, occasional tan.
III-White Skin: Always tans but can occasionally burn.
IV- White Skin: Always tans, rarely will burn.
V- Brown Skin
VI- Black Skin

The ideal candidate for laser hair removal is white skin with dark course hair. Many lasers will not work on black skin, white or ginger hair. However with today's growing technology, lasers are becoming more advanced and they are a limited number of lasers which can be used on an ideal candidates, though it is not recommended.

It is uncommon to be known to scar after laser hair removal, however you are still at risk so you should take that into consideration, and any consent form you will sign will always make you aware of this.

Lasers commonly used for hair removal are Ruby Lasers, Alexandrite Lasers, IPL, and Nd: YAG Lasers. GentleYAG, Lyra and Dualis are lasers used for treatment on dark skin.