What to expect from laser hair treatment

While preparing for laser hair treatment, the hair in the portion of your body that will be receiving the treatment may be trimmed down with a pair of scissors or shaved.

The specialist that is doing the treatment for you may as well give you special eye goggles to wear. This is to shield your eyes from the laser beam. The doctor may apply a relevant anesthetic to your skin to minimize the discomfort you may have during the laser hair treatment.

During the laser hair treatment

The aesthetic doctor will press a hand-held laser instrument to your skin. Depending on the type of laser beam used, there may be a cooling device attached to the tip of the machine.  A calming gel may also be used to protect your skin.

When the doctors set the laser in motion, the laser beam will pass through your skin to the minute sacs (follicles) where hair growth originates. The strong heat from the laser beam smashes up and causes damage to the hair follicles.

This normally results to inhibited hair growth on the treated area. You may feel discomfort in the skin during the laser hair treatment but the cooling device or the gel will make you to feel cold sensation.

Laser hair treatment for a little area of the skin, like the upper lip, may take only a few minutes but treating a broader area of the skin like your back may last for several hours.

After the laser hair treatment procedure

After your skin or a portion of your skin has been treated, you may observe redness, irritation and swelling for the first few hours.

To minimize any discomfort you may have, put ice cubes or pieces of ice to the treated area. If the skin reaction occurs just after the laser hair treatment, the doctor may apply a steroid cream to the part of your skin that is affected.

You must limit and entirely avoid sun exposure after laser hair treatment whether it is direct exposure to sun light or tanning beds. Also, you need to use sunscreen lavishly on your skin anytime you are exposed to the sun after your skin has healed.

You may as well observe the possibility of hair shedding in the first few days and weeks of undergoing laser hair treatment. This can every so often be erroneously considered as the re-growth of hair on the treated body parts.

What possible results to expect after laser hair treatment

The results obtain from laser hair treatment differ significantly from individual to individual and may be dependent on the section of your body that was given the treatment.

Going for several treatments can extend the duration of hair loss to a few years in some instances but the regrowth of hair is still possible.

To get the optimum results, you may be required to treat the same skin area for about four to six times but these treatment sessions must be planned just about six weeks apart.

You may also need to go for extra intermittent maintenance laser hair treatment, probably once every six to 12 months.

How effective is home laser hair treatment

The growing latest trend is a development where lasers that can be utilized at home for the removal of unwanted hair.

The devices used for this laser hair removal at home may result to a significant loss of hair but the studies that have been conducted on how effective these are in relation to the one used by professional doctors are minimal.

In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grouped the home laser hair treatment equipments as cosmetic devices. The fact that it has not been classified as a clinical device means that it is not properly scrutinized like those classified as medical devices.

If you decide to go for a home laser hair treatment device, ensure that you read the instructions of the manufacturers and properly follow it to lessen any possibility of risk particularly to your eyes.