Laser hair removal: how does it work?

Laser hair removal allows you to drastically delay, even if not permanently, hair growth with excellent results.

Laser hair removal (or epilation) has recently assumed considerable commercial importance, also favored by the advertising that appears in every magazine that deals, even marginally, with aesthetic medicine. The laser has in fact joined traditional hair removal methods such as waxing or diathermocoagulation of the hair bulb, with the claim to be effective but also definitive and permanent. In any case, this procedure should be carried out by professionals in a reputable beauty center. If you live in London, you should probably go to 3D Lipo London Laser hair removal .

It must immediately be said that the laser is neither definitive nor permanent, as unfortunately often advertised. Instead, it represents a long-lasting hair removal method that allows you to significantly increase the time between one waxing and another, often even by many months.

The laser is a light source which, applied to the hair, heats it considerably and in a very short time (fractions of a second); the heat is transferred by proximity to the hair bulb, which is damaged and no longer able to produce hair for a very long period.

Unfortunately, only the hair bulbs in the growth phase can be damaged and not all the hair bulbs present in the area. For this reason it is necessary to repeat the sessions at a variable distance between 15 and 30 days, in order to always hit a good percentage of growing hair.

How does it work?

There are two types of lasers suitable for hair removal: pulsed light and Nyd-Yag. The first affects all the hair bulbs in a large area, the second, in addition to the first, affects the single hairs, the thickest and deepest ones that are not sensitive to pulsed light.

Results are considered satisfactory which, after an adequate number of sessions, reduce hair by 80% in the treated area and reduce the need for waxing to 1-2 times a year. The results are maintained over time, provided you perform at least one or two maintenance sessions a year. In general, hairs that do not respond completely still turn into a fine fuzz (fluff), not visible to the naked eye.

Since the target of the laser is melanin, dark hairs respond better than light ones (hence the need not to color them during laser treatments); since Melanin is also present in the skin, fewer complications are obtained on light skins, compared to dark ones (hence the need not to intervene when the skin is tanned to reduce the risk of skin hypopigmentations). The best results are obtained on dark hair in light skin.

The number of sessions depends on the area being treated: from 4 to 7 for armpits, groin, mustache. Much more for large areas such as the back, abdomen or legs. Some areas (such as the back of the hands) do not respond well to the treatment due to an anatomically particular situation (depth and inclination of the hair). In general, the best results are obtained if the machine used is specific, technologically updated and operated by an expert operator, possibly a specialist doctor who, unlike beauticians, can use more powerful lasers and is able to prevent and correct any complications .

What are the risks?

The most frequent risks are represented by stains; these are hypo or hyperpigmentations of the skin, generally with spontaneous regression in a few weeks or months, but statistically rare (1-7%). The light spots occur if you act on a tanned skin because the melanin is damaged; the dark spots occur due to a thermal effect of stimulation of the melanin in the areas close to the hair.

Other rarer risks are infections, if too vigorous treatment is followed by blisters. Generally, a complete cycle of treatments of the area to be treated is performed with sessions spaced out by about 15-30 days, to then move on to a maintenance session a year.