As a board-certified physician and aesthetic medicine expert who specializes in laser hair removal at Cosmetico MedSpa, Dr. Nidal Hasan fields a lot of questions about this perennially popular, skin-smoothing treatment. One of the top FAQs he gets is:
Does laser hair removal really get rid of unwanted hair forever?
Read on as Dr. Hasan discusses how laser hair removal works and why it’s considered mostly permanent. He also explains what that may mean for you if you decide you’re ready to end your shaving and waxing days for good.
Laser hair removal can help you attain smooth, bare skin on just about any part of your body or face. How? By using a high-precision beam of laser energy to heat — and effectively deactivate — targeted hair follicles from the inside out so they can no longer grow hair.
At Cosmetico MedSpa, our team uses an FDA-approved Nd:YAG laser to get rid of unwanted hair. We can help you substantially reduce or eliminate the hair just about anywhere, including:
In fact, for safety reasons, the only place we can’t treat with laser hair removal is the area around your eyes; the perfect eyebrows will continue to require regular plucking or waxing.
Once your chosen treatment area is fully prepped, we simply pass the handheld laser device across your skin. When it encounters an active-growth hair follicle, it sends an ultra-rapid pulse of heat energy down the short-stubbled shaft and into the root.
There, the laser’s targeted burst of energy is quickly absorbed by the melanin cells that give your hair its color. As the energy rapidly superheats these pigmented cells from the inside out, it effectively “switches off” their ability to grow hair.
To get complete hair removal results, you must undergo multiple laser treatment sessions spaced out over several weeks. Why? The laser’s energy only targets hair follicles that are in their active growth phase.
Follicles that are in the process of transitioning, resting, or shedding, on the other hand, are totally unaffected by the laser’s heated light beam because their melanin cells simply aren’t there to absorb the deactivating energy.
So, to ensure we deactivate as many hair follicles in the treatment area as possible, we must perform the process at various points in time to increase the odds that every follicle in the targeted area will be in its growth phase during at least one of the sessions.
To achieve complete laser hair removal results — or the silky smooth, hair-free skin you’re after — you can expect to have 3-6 treatments, with at least four weeks between sessions.
Most people attain excellent results after their initial series of laser hair removal treatments, meaning the targeted area is hair-free and no longer requires shaving, waxing, or any other form of hair removal to stay that way.
Laser hair removal is often referred to as a permanent solution for unwanted hair because it provides hair-free skin for a long time. But sometimes, the follicles that have been “switched off” by the laser randomly “switch back on,” meaning they’re suddenly able to grow shafts of hair once again.
When this happens, all that’s required is a quick maintenance treatment to take care of any stray hair follicles that have reactivated. Many people find that having periodic laser sessions every year or two is enough to keep the treated area hair-free indefinitely.
We can help if you want to say goodbye to unwanted hair for good. If you get started now, you can expect to have smooth, hair-free skin just in time for the next swimsuit and shorts season.
To learn more about laser hair removal and what it can do for you, call or click online to book an appointment at your nearest Cosmetico MedSpa office in Munster, Indiana, or Orland Park, Illinois, today.
