Lasers for Skin Treatment and Hair Removal

By Morgana Reichel


There are two primary uses for lasers in cosmetic procedures: hair removal and skin treatment.

Laser Hair Removal

Having hair in unwanted places is not only a hassle, but it can make you self-conscious about the way you look. To remove unwanted hair, and keep it off, laser hair removal is easy, long-lasting, and virtually painless.

It is a fairly straightforward process. A high energy beam of light emitted by a laser is absorbed by the hair follicle. The laser is pulsed, or turned on, for only a fraction of a second, the duration of each pulse is just long enough to treat the hair follicle, and not damage the surrounding skin. Once absorbed, the laser light energy is transformed into heat, destroying the hair bulb at the base of the hair follicle.

Your hair colour depends on a pigment called melanin, which is produced by melanocytes, and is found in the hair bulb. In laser hair removal, the target for the laser energy is this melanin pigment. This means that a laser's energy will be more effective, and the results better, if an individual has more melanin in his/her hair.

Although the treatment effectively slows hair growth, it doesn't guarantee permanent hair removal. It typically takes several treatments to provide relief from unwanted hair. Periodic maintenance treatments might also be needed.

Hair removal treatments safely remove body hair without damaging the surrounding lighter skin with the laser.

Overall, it is a painless procedure. Some slight discomfort-often compared to a rubber band against the skin-may occur, and soreness or tenderness may also accompany the healing process, but these symptoms are very minor and curable.

The best thing about laser hair removal is that the results are long-term. It may take several treatment sessions to completely rid yourself of unwanted hair, but once it is gone, in most cases, the effect will last. Besides, it is easy to treat any new hair growth.

Laser Skin Treatments

Laser skin treatments penetrate the upper layer of skin (epidermis) and target below the second layer (dermis), so are very different from hair removal. Laser skin resurfacing is one of the most popular types of laser skin treatment. It involves a laser that gently removes layers of damaged skin so that healthy skin can form in its place.

Skin treatments with a laser can even the skin tone and diminish the signs of aging, including highly-visible veins, blotchiness and wrinkles.

Another type of laser skin treatment works by penetrating the epidermis and dermis layers of the skin to build healthy new tissue underneath. The healthy tissue will reduce sagging skin and wrinkles, in no time at all, by repairing the elasticity and tightness that your skin once had.

The laser skin treatment process is hardly ever painful. And, in most cases, the healing pain is minimal. After a resurfacing session, your face will probably be red and a bit swollen. In just a few days, this should subside. You can return to your normal life immediately after leaving the clinic. You may require a few procedures to get the results you want with laser skin treatment; you should see noticeable changes in your skin by the end of your sessions, although the results can often be subtle.




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