Laser technologyworks to remove body hair by emitting a specialized beam of light with a wavelength that selectively targets melanin in the hair and its follicle, without affecting surrounding skin. Melanin is a naturally-occurring compound within hair responsible for its colour. The follicles are the hair growth centres of our bodies. When the papilla in the hair follicle absorbs the laser energy, the follicle is damaged to the point of being unable to grow more hair. This results in gradualremoval of hairbecause of arrested hair growth at the follicular level.
Lasers made their appearance in medicine nearly 50 years ago, in the 1960s. The use of this technology for the purpose of hair removal began approximately 15 years ago and has become a common and trusted procedure in the past decade.
Most people choose to remove their unwanted body hair with laser technology because it produces a long-lasting, and sometimes permanent result. Traditional hair removal methods like waxing, shaving, tweezing etc., provide only a temporary solution, with some lasting fewer than 24 hours. A problem associated with these traditional methods of hair removal is that they often stimulate more coarse hair growth because stimulation of the follicles and surrounding tissue leads to increase blood flow and deeper roots.
Hair which has been cut off bluntly, as with shaving, will feel rough to the touch as well. Razor bumps, ingrown hairs and the pain of waxing make these methods consistently more troublesome compared with the long-term results from laser hair removal.
The three main benefits of using laser technology for hair removal are:
- Precision – the lasers work by selectively targeting the undesirable body hair while leaving the surrounding skin perfectly healthy
- Effectiveness – clients who have undergone laser treatments to remove hair have witnessed a noticeable reduction in further hair growth
- Comfort – using lasers compared to other traditional hair removal methods prevent the development of ingrown hairs that could be uncomfortable or painful
