Can you really get significant hair removal results with one of these new wave home IPL hair removal kits or is it all marketing hype? We took a look at the empirical scientific evidence and the results were somewhat surprising...
Do Home IPL Kits Actually Work?
The Story of the Home IPL Hair Removal KitHow Have These Kits been Approved by the FDA?Do These Devices Actually Work?Conclusions from 7 Scientific Studies
But Are These Devices Safe?Eye HealthSkin Related Side EffectsSome Drawbacks to ConsiderNo GuaranteeNot Suitable for Dark Skin TypesIn ConclusionResources
The Story of the Home IPL Hair Removal Kit
Until recently, you could only receive laser hair removal treatment by going to a laser hair removal clinic to be treated with professional grade lasers that cost $10k + for the clinic to purchase.
However, a new wave of lower strength IPL laser hair removal kits have entered the market. The original models could only be purchased through prescription from a practitioner, however more recently the FDA has given clearance to a small number of home IPL kits that can be bought directly by the consumer without prescription.
How Have These Kits been Approved by the FDA?
These kits have been deemed safe by the FDA because they emit a low energy and high frequency laser that is less powerful and thus less dangerous than the professional grade lasers that are use in laser hair removal clinics.
Furthermore, these products have built in safety features to make sure that no ill effects can be caused by using the laser.
For example, one safety feature that two of the most popular home IPL kits both possess is skin tone detection. In order to "unlock" the device for use, the user must place the device against the skin and allow the device to detect the tone of the skin.
The device senses the pigment colour of the skin to make sure that it's IV or less on the FitzPatrick scale. If not, the device locks up and can't be used.
Do These Devices Actually Work?
My initial gut feeling about the home IPL hair removal device was one of pessimism. I couldn't quite believe that a kit that could be purchased by anyone for $300 could possible produce results comparable to the equipment used in a professional laser hair removal salon.
However, having spent the time researching both clinical and anecdotal evidence, it seems that these new wave of products do actually have some merit.
Conclusions from 7 Scientific Studies
There is one interesting research paper that looked at seven studies - one controlled and six uncontrolled trials - of home based laser hair removal devices
Most of these studies measured the short-term hair reduction of 3 - 6 months post treatment with the home laser hair removal device.
The interesting thing to note is that the average hair reduction across these 7 studies was between 6% and 72% after repetitive treatments.
The review paper then went on to look at side effects and found that the most frequently reported side effects was simply erythema (redness of the treatment area), while blistering, crusting and pigment changes were reported in rare instances.
The conclusion was that these uncontrolled clinical trials show short term and safe hair removal efficacy of currently available home-use light based hair removal devices.
But Are These Devices Safe?
So it seems that for some people, these kits can be useful in short term hair reduction. But what about safety? Have these devices been properly tested for safety?
Eye Health
One major concern of any laser device is the harmful effect that it may have on the eyes. In scientific terminology, this is measured as the "optical radiation hazard" of the device.
In one study, one of the popular brands of home IPL hair removal brands (the i-Pulse Personal) had the light radiation levels measured and compared with the IEC TR 60825-9 and the International Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Broad-band Incoherent Optical Radiation.
The conclusion: "The home-use device that we assessed does not present an optical hazard according to currently available international standards."
However, these findings were contradicted somewhat by this study that concluded that at the two highest power levels, one particular IPL brand could be hazardous to ocular health in the event of a safety failure.
There are a few important things to note here:-
- While it seems possible that some IPL devices may exceed the limits of exposure guidelines, this would only ever cause a problem to you if you were looking directly at the laser. This is something that you wouldn't typically do, given that correct usage of the device includes directing the laser at the surface of the skin.
- Most of the IPL devices that are currently available on the market have a safety feature whereby the laser can't be fired unless it is pressed up against the skin. If we assume that this safety feature doesn't fail, then it would be nearly impossible to look directly at the laser, even if you wanted to.
Given the two points above, we can consider home IPL kits safe for the eyes.
Skin Related Side Effects
There are numerous studies regarding the side effects that can be caused from home IPL treatment and they all seem to back eachother up.
Yes, there may be minor discomfort, temporary redness and in some cases minor inflammation, but the device is safe to use. Here are some of the conclusions drawn from the studies:-
"This low-energy, pulsed-light device is a quick, safe, and relatively effective at-home hair reduction treatment option in patients with various skin phototypes."
Source: Elm CM1, Wallander ID, Walgrave SE, Zelickson BD. : Clinical study to determine the safety and efficacy of a low-energy, pulsed light device for home use hair removal. (2010)
"Subjects reported low pain intensities (median 1.5, scale 0-10) and experienced transient erythema immediately after IPL exposure. No persistent erythema, blisters, crusting, textual, or pigment changes were observed."
Source: Thaysen-Petersen D1, Lin JY, Nash J, Beerwerth F, Wulf HC, Philipsen PA, Haedersdal M. : The role of natural and UV-induced skin pigmentation on low-fluence IPL-induced side effects: a randomized controlled trial. (2014)
In the 2014 study, it was noted that the pain and erythema side effects increased in correlation with the pigment of the skin. That's to say that the darker the skin tone of the subject, the more chance of discomfort during the treatment and side effects.
There aren't any studies to indicate any long term or serious side effects resulting from home IPL hair removal devices. Given that these devices have also been FDA approved, we can say with high confidence that the devices are safe.
Some Drawbacks to Consider
No Guarantee
As with everything, there are some caveats. The first is that results aren't guaranteed - even if you fit the perfect profile of light skin and dark hair, there is still a small chance that you will receive minimal or even no results from the treatment. We still don't know why the treatment is ineffective in some people and not others - it's pot luck.
This phenomenon isn't unique to home based IPL devices - the same is true for all lasers including those used by professionals in hair removal salons.
Not Suitable for Dark Skin Types
The other thing worth noting is that results and side effects seem to worsen the darker the skin pigment of the treatment area. If you are Fitzpatrick of V or above then home IPL hair removal is not an option for you.
All the popular manufacturers mention this in their sales material, instruction guide and even have skin sensors built into their devices to prevent usage on such darker skin tones.
If you fit this profile and you want laser hair removal, then you'll have to stick to Nd:YAG laser hair removal from a professional.
In Conclusion
Despite my initial scepticism regarding home laser hair removal, the evidence really does suggest that for the majority of people home based IPL devices are effective and safe.
Of course, as you would expect, the home devices don't provide quite the same impressive results as the professional grade lasers used in the clinic, however for some people who prefer the convenience of being able to have laser treatment from the comfort of their own home, and of course the significant cost saving, home IPL is a worthwhile avenue to explore.
If you're going to go ahead with home based IPL hair removal, then I'd suggest going with one of the the two most popular and well established devices: the Tria 4X and the Silk'n SensEpil.
Both brands have had clinical trials (although some would say these studies are somewhat questionable in terms of sample size and testing methodology), are FDA approved and have the most positive feedback from consumers online.
