How Laser Hair Removal Banishes Hair For Good
- Posted on: Jul 11 2018
Who likes shaving? Hands are not being raised.
With the exception of a 15-year-old teenage boy, not anyone with any sanity enjoys the ritual of dragging a sharp piece of metal across our skin to get rid of hair. Plus, it’s so Groundhog Day-esque. You shave, wax, pluck, or use nasty depilatory creams to get rid of the hair, and then, like the movie where Bill Murray wakes up every morning to relive the day before over and over, in a couple weeks the hair is coming back!
But thanks to laser hair removal at Skin & Cosmetic Solutions, you can get rid of the hair permanently. Then place that can of Nair where it belongs, in the garbage!
How Does The Laser Get Rid Of The Hair?
How lasers stop hair growth is somewhat of a mystery. Some people incorrectly assume that the laser energy somehow cuts the hair, but if that were true the hair would still return. What’s key is to damage the body’s ability to grow the hair in the treatment area. This involves two keys — laser energy and the hair follicle. For permanent hair removal, the hair follicle’s bulb, bulge, and papilla must be destroyed.
The vehicle is laser energy. At Skin & Cosmetic Solutions, we use the GentleMax Pro laser for hair removal. We calibrate the laser to the wavelength where the melanin in the hair will absorb the laser energy. Melanin is responsible for that color. When the laser energy is delivered onto the target area, the melanin absorbs the energy. It converts to heat and travels down the hair shaft into the follicle. When it reaches the follicle the heat damages the follicle so that it cannot produce hair. Sometimes, if the follicle isn’t fully disabled, hair growth function can return in a few months.
Timing Is Everything
People wonder why you can’t zap the hair once and have it gone forever, but the timing has to be right. Only actively growing hair responds well to laser treatments because the hair has the most melanin in that phase. But in addition to the anagen (active growth) phase, there are telogen (no growth), and cathagen (hair ejection) phases. The human body has around five million hair follicles; men have a few hundred thousand more than women. All of those hairs are in different phases at different times. Plus, different areas of the body have more hairs in anagen phases than others, because hair growth is more important in those areas.
That’s why it takes multiple laser hair removal sessions to get the maximum hair reduction. Each client is unique, but in general you can expect to need between four and eight treatments, spaced six to 12 weeks apart. These numbers vary by the body location of the unwanted hair. Also, some areas grow hair more densely. Compare, for instance, a man’s beard area with chest hair. Big difference in hair density.
OK, now you’re a laser hair removal expert. The next question is this — when are you going to ditch your razor and come see us at Skin & Cosmetic Skin Solutions for laser hair removal? Call us at (919) 876-9576 to make an appointment.
Posted in: Laser Hair Removal
