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Beauty Facts
LASER HAIR REMOVAL
The removal of unwanted hair has alway been one of the objectives to enhance an individual's appearance and their self esteem. Traditional methods of waxing require on going visits to the beauty salon every 4-6 weeks. Though this treatment method diminishes hair growth and density, it will not permanently remove hair.
Laser hair removal offers a semi-permanent solution. Laser hair removal is achieved by selective heating of the hair follicle; the laser beam passes through the skin and reaches its target deep within the hair follicle. The laser wavelength must penetrate into the dermis for more than 3mm. The target of most lasers is the follicular melanin, or natural pigmentation of the follicle. Black hair on white skin is obviously the most common complaint and most lasers have been designed only to seek out the black melanin of the follicle. The most common lasers on the market today that can perform this task are the Ruby, the Alexandrite, the Diode and the Nd:YAG lasers. These are all Class 4 Lasers.
However, if you have dark skin and dark hair lasers may have difficulty removing of black hairs on darker skin as the hair colour cannot easily be isolated from the surrounding skin. As most lasers target the melanin or natural colour pigment within the hair follicle, in instances where dark skin surrounds the hair, the laser would destroy both hair and the surrounding tissue. The most effective laser for dark skins is the Nd: YAG laser because instead of targeting melanin, it targets oxyhaemoglobin, or the blood in the feeder vessel. Once it has isolated this it can successfully remove the entire follicle from the feeder vessel, ensuring that the hair should not grow back.
Laser hair removal usually involves more than one treatment depending on how much hair the client wishes to remove. The laser will only target hair in the anagen phase (grown hair with the feeder vessel). At any time, there are usually about 50% of hair in this phase. So with the first treatment, about 50% of the hair will be removed. Then there is a waiting period of around one month and the treatment is repeated. For removal of an average amount of hair on a female lip or bikini line, three treatments are usually enough and definitely no more than six treatments for heavier cases. Race-based excess hair called hypertrichosis, can be successfully treated in about six sessions. For those with the condition known as Hirsutism, which is excessive hair growth due to health or system imbalances in the body, a minimum of six treatments is usually required.
Laser treatments are painless and cause no side effects. There may be a slight amount of redness for only a few minute, or at the very worst, an hour. Treatment time for the average above the lip hair removal takes only about six minutes and for a bikini line, up to ten minutes. A true treatment should successfully remove the hairs while leaving the surrounding tissue undamaged. In fact, it has been recently established that the treatment can actually benefit the skin, as it acts as a regenerative influence for skin cells.
For a laser to effectively remove hair it must be a Class 4 laser. We recommend that you request evidence that the device has received clearance by the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration), and that you receive treatment only by a licensed operator. A laser safety officer should also be on staff.
This information is provided courtesy of the Association of Professional Aestheticians of Australia and is intended for background purposes only. For further details in determining if the procedure is appropriate for you please consult a licensed practitioner.
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