Laser Hair Removal (10-2000)
Lasers are used in plastic surgery for many procedures including resurfacing to remove wrinkles, vein removal, and more recently, hair removal. The most troublesome spots for women are the upper lip, sideburns, underarm and bikini areas. For men, it is the back, neck, and shoulders. Lasers eradicate unwanted hair by targeting the melanin in the hair follicle. The energy of the laser beam is selectively absorbed by the hair's pigment, and this destroys the hair follicle. The darker the hair, the more effectively it is removed by the laser. Laser light must pass through the skin to be absorbed by the hair follicle. In order to avoid damaging the skin, a surface coolant is applied just before the laser light. In this way, the laser heats the hair follicle deeper inside the skin, while the skin surface remains cool and unharmed. In addition, because of the surface cooling, the laser treatment is almost painless.
Because the laser light selectively heats pigmented areas, the ideal patient has fair skin and dark hair. It is possible, however, to use the laser on African American and Mediterranean skin types, because of the surface cooling. In these cases, a lower power setting is used and more treatments are needed. The first treatment would consist of a "patch test" to assess the response of a small area of skin to the treatment prior to treating a larger area. The GentleLASE (Candela Corp., Wayland, MA) has been especially useful in these situations because of the ability to lower the power setting and its surface cooling mechanism.
Patients will require more than one treatment for long-term hair removal, though one treatment can last up to 3 months. It is rarely enough to have one treatment. Generally, about 3-6 treatments are required.
For more information, please call our office.
Because the laser light selectively heats pigmented areas, the ideal patient has fair skin and dark hair. It is possible, however, to use the laser on African American and Mediterranean skin types, because of the surface cooling. In these cases, a lower power setting is used and more treatments are needed. The first treatment would consist of a "patch test" to assess the response of a small area of skin to the treatment prior to treating a larger area. The GentleLASE (Candela Corp., Wayland, MA) has been especially useful in these situations because of the ability to lower the power setting and its surface cooling mechanism.
Patients will require more than one treatment for long-term hair removal, though one treatment can last up to 3 months. It is rarely enough to have one treatment. Generally, about 3-6 treatments are required.
For more information, please call our office.
