Body hair may be of little concern to some people, but if you are tired of the constant shaving or waxing it can seem like the bane of your existence. If you want to reclaim a large portion of the time you seem to be wasting, it may be time to abandon traditional at-home methods. Instead, you may want to trade them in for more effective clinical procedures that are required far less often. Topping that list of clinical hair removal procedures is laser hair removal.
The Speed of Laser Hair Removal
One of the most obvious reasons to pursue laser hair removal as a treatment for your annoying body hair is the speed of a treatment. A laser treats a quarter-like area in less than a second. Treating a large area may take nearly an hour, which is comparable to some other treatments, like shaving or waxing. However, laser treatment does not need to be repeated nearly as often as those other treatments. Therefore, it can save you a lot of time in the grand scheme of things.
The Precision of Laser Hair Removal
Another factor that makes laser hair removal so desirable is its precision. Few hair removal methods are able to target every hair in an area like lasers can. That is part of why there have been so many laser hair removal tools for sale over the decades that have been successfully used in clinics over and over again. To understand the precision of lasers, first consider a technique such as shaving. When you shave, you can easily miss certain hairs. Lasers, however, target every single hair in the given area to be treated with no possibility of missing any. Therefore, you get an even level of treatment of each hair.
The Long-Term Impact of Laser Hair Removal
One of the reasons you might want laser hair removal might not be as valid as the reasons above. That reason is permanent hair removal. The truth is laser hair removal has the potential to remove some hairs permanently after multiple treatments. However, it does not do so with any degree of consistency. The exact results of the treatments are unpredictable, and usually regrowth does occur eventually.
The more realistic expectation after a series of laser hair removal treatments is the treated hair will eventually weaken and fall out. Then it will take much longer to regrow than it would after other forms of treatment. The reason for that is the thoroughness of the laser treatment. The laser is able to target a whole hair, including its root. That root is called a follicle. Some other methods are sporadically capable of removing full hairs, such as waxing. However, those methods are not nearly as thorough and precise as laser treatment. There are also procedures like shaving, which do not impact roots or portions of hair below the skin at all. Thus, regrowth after those procedures is almost immediate.
Laser Hair Removal Appointment Information to Know
The first thing you need to know about attending your initial laser hair removal appointment is it should be a consultation, not a treatment session. Your clinician needs to make sure you are a good candidate for the procedure. If you are, the first actual treatment session should take less than an hour. During it, the technician will point the laser at your skin in short burst. The laser can target only the hairs, leaving the skin undamaged. To keep you comfortable during treatment, the technician may use cool bursts of air or other methods, like topical skin numbing agents.
Post-Procedural Information About Laser Hair Removal
When you walk out of a laser hair removal session, expect to have the same body hair you walked in with. The hair weakens over time. It does not disappear during your appointment. It can take a few sessions for all the treated hair to fall out. The laser can make your skin extra sensitive to the sun for an extended period of time after treatment. Therefore, your clinician will give you sun protection instructions to follow while your skin heals.
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