In today’s blog, we want to share with you all about laser hair removal treatments! The ever-growing popular choice for semi-permanent hair removal! Most of us are well acquainted with the challenge of staying hairless. Depending on which method you choose, the upkeep is costly, frequent and painful.
Hair growth has three different stages:
How a person’s hair acts in these phases is dependent on genetics, hormones and the location of the growth. All of these aspects should be considered when picking a hair removal method.
A lot of people started their hair removal journey through shaving. Shaving is a very temporary hair removal method as it only targets hair above the surface. There is a common misconception that shaving encourages hair to grow thicker and darker, but it does not. The only difference in hair from shaving is when the hair grows back, the tip of the hair would be blunter because of the blade. This can make the hair appear more noticeable on the skin.
Another popular method of hair removal is pulling the hair physically, whether it’s through waxing or plucking. When pulling out hair from the follicle, regrowth will take longer. As the hair has to grow underneath and then through the surface of the skin. Repeatedly pulling the hair from the follicle through methods like plucking can cause damage to the hair follicle and may stop hair from growing. Plucking is effective for stray facial hair, although it can be time-consuming.
It is not a method used for legs and underarm though unless the pain is for you, then do you! However, most people will choose to wax their body hairs. Waxing is an effective method for removing large sums of hair.
There are various waxing options available on the market, such as:
The wax is applied to the skin in the direction of hair growth and is left to set, then pulled off in the opposite direction of the hair growth. But waxing can come with side effects such as pain, burns if the wax is too hot, red bumps, infection, ingrown hairs, skin tearing and discolouration.
In the last 10 years, laser hair removal has become very popular due to it being less painful than waxing or epilating. As laser hair removal treatments are now more common, they are more accessible and affordable for the general public. Originally, women mainly opted for laser hair removal but more men are adopting the semi-permanent hair removal method. Over a third of young men in the United Kingdom are opting for laser hair removal almost as much as young women.
The lasers produce a light beam at a particular wavelength which targets the melanin in the hair. The melanin absorbs the energy from the beam and converts it into heat. The heat damages the hair follicle which limits the hair growing in that treated region of the body. Once destroyed, the hair follicle will rarely grow the same way it did before laser treatments.
Although, this can be dependent on the age of the client and the area of the body. Laser is the most effective for hair removal as less hair grows back, it is not as permanent as people assume it to be. The hair follicles do not disappear, rather they are less noticeable as the hair is lighter and finer when it does grow back.
It is possible that lasers can cause minor side effects, but these should only be temporary. The most common side effects are skin irritation and changes in pigmentation. Similar to many other types of hair removal, laser hair removal can cause skin redness and irritation. Before the treatment begins, a topical anaesthetic is applied to reduce irritation afterwards. The irritation should not last more than 2 days but if it lasts longer or becomes worse, contact your aesthetician ASAP. Another common side effect is changes in skin pigmentation. On lighter skin, this can appear as dark spots and the opposite for darker skin. Like irritation, this is only temporary.
One of the most popular reasons for people opting for laser hair removal is because of ingrown hairs. Ingrown hairs happen when the hair follicle is unable to push the hair out through the skin. The hair ends up underneath the skin layer, and since it does not grow up, it continues to grow sideways. Ingrown hairs are frequent with people who have curly or coarse hair. Ingrown hairs can cause infection, damage to the upper layer of skin and underneath. A lot of clients will also complain of pain as ingrown hairs can cause a lot of discomfort.
Laser is the most effective way to get rid of ingrown hairs, as the laser can get to the root of the hair follicle by burning away the ability of the hair to grow. Laser treatments can also help with razor bumps, which are inflammation bumps that develop after shaving. This can also be because of ingrown hairs not coming out of the skin. With laser hair removal, both problems are solved much faster than any other hair removal method. As laser has become more popular in the past decade, it has also become a more affordable option for hair removal.
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