Laser Hair Removal Explained

What Is Laser Hair Removal?

Laser hair removal uses an intense pulsating beam of light to remove unwanted hair.  Advanced hair removal devices use an electronic "eye" to target hair follicles before delivering a light pulse which damages the follicle and inhibits future growth.

All Laser Hair Removal Devices Are Not Created Equal ...

Since laser hair removal has grown increasing popular, new manufacturers have flooded the market with treatment devices.  Unfortunately, this rapid rate of new technologies has resulted in an increasing number of inferior devices.

The FDA has recently reported that they are no longer able to evaluate every device that becomes available, leaving it up to consumers to fully research the devices used by their treatment providers in order to make an informed decision.

Additionally, laser treatment centers have grown in popularity since the cost of these inferior devices is negligible compares to FDA approved medical hair removal devices.  A quick search online reveals hundreds of laser treatment centers all over the United States, and a more in-depth search will reveal a growing number of class action lawsuits against these companies and the manufactures of their devices.

Here's What You Need To Know About Laser Hair Removal Devices Before Getting A Treatment

If you remember from above, laser hair removal devices work by emitting an intense beam of light.  This light is measure by it's wavelength.  The secret to effective hair removal is matching the proper wavelength to the patient's skin tone as lighter skin tones require lower wavelengths and darker skin tones require higher wavelengths.

At Skin RN, we use multiple devices with wavelengths starting at 770 and reaching up to 1064.  This allows us to effectively treat all skin types.

But here's the dirty little secret about laser hair removal devices ...

Most of them will only EFFECTIVELY treat two or three skin types because they have a narrow spectrum of available wavelengths.  But unscrupulous manufactures and treatment centers will market their devices as "able to treat all skin types" even though this is a half truth.  You see, there is a difference between being ABLE to treat a specific skin type, and being able to EFFECTIVELY TREAT any skin type.  I don't know about you, but if I got laser hair removal and only saw a 10 to 20% decrease in hair, I wouldn't be very happy.

But that's the nasty little loophole that allows manufacturers and treatment centers to make their outrageous claims.  As long as it works, regardless of how well it works, they can sell it.

I expect that a lot of this will decrease as the FDA implements tighter rules about what devices are allowed to be used, but for the time being, BUYER BEWARE!!! Here's an informative website with hundreds of consumer complaints about companies who took their money for laser hair removal and didn't deliver.

Before we ever do a laser hair removal treatment at Skin RN Aesthetics, we always make sure that we can do a good job with the devices we have.  And in 90% of the cases, we can ... but there are still times when it's just not possible to get a good result for certain skin type and hair color combination's.  Specifically for people with very dark skin are very fine hair.  In these cases, we'll do a test spot to see if the treatment is going be to effective before moving forward.

The Really Technical Part Of Laser Hair Removal

Since every laser can technically be used on any skin type, consumers need to understand the difference in devices to be able to decide for themselves if the device being used will achieve good results.  Of all the lasers available, there's only three kinds that have shown good results for all six skin types.  Keep in mind that they are multiple manufactures of each of these three kinds, so it's less important to look for a brand name and more important to understand the technical features of the laser.

Alexandrite long pulse - This works well for light skin (Types 1 - 3) and hair that is dark enough to allow the laser to target it. Additionally, an Alexandrite laser can be effective on finer hair using it's higher settings. To learn more about the 6 skin types, here's our full laser hair removal service page.

Diode lasers - Very similar to the Alexandrite laser, Diode lasers work best on light to medium skin (Types 1 - 4) and works well on finer hair if the settings are turned up.

Nd:YAG long pulse lasers - These work best for treating darker skin types (4 - 6) or patients of color such as: Black, Asian, Hispanic, Mediterranean,  and Middle Eastern.

In case you were wondering, Skin RN uses two different devices that deliver all three of these types of lasers.  One is an Alexandrite long pulse/Diode laser that can be switched between the two with a push of a button, and the other is a Nd:YAG long pulse.

We've tried a half dozen different devices and have found that this combination gets the best results for all six skin types.

To learn more about our laser hair removal services, including the pain, price, and number of treatment you'll need click here.