Facts About Laser Hair Removal

Almost all world cultures encourage removing hair. There are various reasons for this: medical; social, cultural and sexual; religious; in military institutions; and, mostly in ancient periods, as punishment. Hair removal can be temporary, such as shaving, or they can be permanent. "Depilation" (removing at the level of the skin) and "epilation" (removing at the root level) are the two types of temporary hair removal. The result may last from several hours to several weeks, depending on the mode of removal. These methods have been practiced since ancient times.
On the other hand, permanent removal of hair using laser technology was experimented about two decades ago. The method became commercially available in the mid-1990s. Laser hair removal is now a collective term used to denote laser and light-based hair removal methods. Its efficacy is generally accepted nowadays, and it is method is widely practiced.
Primarily, laser hair removal uses "selective photothermolysis." As the name suggests, laser removal method selectively breaks hair by heating the targeted place by applying light. Laser normally targets the terminal hair with the pigment melanin, which is responsible for the black color of the skin and hair. Terminal hairs are thick and long and are usually pigmented with melanin. Lasers, thus, in effect, target the melanin in the bulge and the papilla region-the former is key to cycling and hair regeneration, while the latter is an extremely vascular region of the follicle, providing nutrients and oxygen to the other areas. An ideal combination for laser hair removal is light skin and dark hair. However, technology has improved so that even people with dark skin and dark hair combination can be treated effectively. Contrary to terminal hairs, vellus hairs are light and very fine, and laser hair removal may not be the suggested hair removal strategy.
Not all the patients undergoing laser hair removal are treated in one single session. A number of sessions are required to remove hair using laser depending on various parameters-including the area of the body treated, color of the skin, coarseness of the hair, and the gender of the patient. Moreover, as laser hair removal involves that phase of hair growth which is active-anagen-several sessions may be needed to remove hair. Intervals between two successive sessions can vary between 3 and 12 weeks. Before going for the next session, the patient should wait until experiencing the shedding of the treated hairs-which would be complete in two to three weeks-and allow enough hair to come in after the hair-free period.

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