In the past seven to eight years there has been an increased demand for noninvasive methods for hair removal. This need has led to the development of various laser and light sources for hair removal. Today there are different laser/light technologies that can perform hair removal which I will be outlining in more details in upcoming posts.  

The term “hair removal” is a vague one and has only been defined recently. Temporary hair reduction is defined as a delay in hair growth, which usually lasts 1-3 months, consistent with the induction of telogen. Permanent hair reduction refers to a significant reduction in the number of terminal hairs after a given treatment, which is stable for a period of time longer than the complete growth cycle of hair follicles at the given body site.

Permanent and complete hair loss are two different results. Complete hair loss refers to a lack of regrowing hairs (ie, a significant reduction in the number of regrowing hairs to zero). Complete hair loss may be either temporary or permanent.  In general, a laser treatment usually produces complete but temporary hair loss for 1-3 months, followed by partial but permanent hair loss. Histological observations show damage predominantly in hair follicles with large, pigmented shafts, while hair follicles with small (<25 mm), hypopigmented shafts do not demonstrate any morphological change.

When you consider laser hair removal, your expectations and goals can be very different for you as opposed to someone else (eg, temporary vs permanent, partial vs complete hair removal). All responses are clinically significant and are generally desirable to different people. Growth delay that provides a few months of hairless skin is far more reliable although in some cases hairless skin is achieved.

Katy Issa

Senior Aesthetician