In the United States, the removal of hair permanently using a laser is the fastest growing non-surgical aesthetic laser cosmetic procedure. The number of performed laser hair removal sessions is projected to grow 18 percent per year. This means there will be an estimated 6,000,000 laser hair removal procedures performed in 2010!
Traditionally, removing hair for beauty reasons is most popular among women-virtually all women over 12 years old engage in the practice in some way, shape or form. Laser hair removal for men, however, is rapidly growing in popularity. More and more men seek lasting hair removal solutions – on the neck, to address issues of ingrown hairs, and on the chest, back and shoulders, mostly, for cosmetic purposes.
With the size of the consumer market for permanent hair removal treatments growing at such a fast rate, recently, we’ve seen new technologies coming out to help shoulder the load of the consumer market. In this article, I’ll discuss two handheld devices, and provide points comparison with respect to professional medical lasers. But, first, let’s discuss how laser hair removal works.
Laser hair removal works using laser energy, targeting the melanin in your hair, to cause damage to your hair follicles. Once damaged, the hair follicles will no longer produce new hairs. After a series of treatments the follicle basically dies and can’t grow hair.
Formerly, the ideal candidates for laser hair removal have light skin and thick dark hair. However, laser technology has evolved and now, darker skinned and tan people can also see amazing results (using an Nd:YAG laser).
A series of treatments are needed for an effective treatment because the laser is only effective when it hits the follicle in its growth phase. During the growth phase of the hair growth cycle, the follicle has the most melanin, which is necessary for the laser light to target. Since each hair can be in a different growth phase at any given time, several treatments are necessary to make sure you the treatment hits all of the hairs in the right growth phase.
Let’s move on to the cost of laser hair removal treatments.
The price of a laser hair removal treatment depends on many factors including the region in which the laser center is located, and the size of the area being treated.
If you live in New York, and have your appointments at Assara Laser you can do an Unlimited Full Body Laser Hair Removal for $449 per month. That means you can laser every body part you want for $449 per month – from your sideburns, to upper lip, arms, back, bikini, bum, legs. An average client is treated once every 4-5 weeks, for six sessions, so under this program the cost of six sessions for full body treatments is approximately $2,700, paid over 6 installments of $449.
How does laser hair removal feel?
People always want to know how much pain is involved in laser hair removal. There is some pain involved. The laser zap feels like a snap on your skin, but a handheld cooled air jet attached to the laser helps to cool your skin and diminish the discomfort.
The discomfort comes from the light energy from the laser being converted into heat energy when the laser light is absorbed by the melanin in your hair follicle. An experienced laser practitioner must therefore keep the energy level of the laser high enough to create enough heat to damage and disable the hair follicle, but low enough so that there is no harm done to the surrounding skin.
Now that we’re armed with these tidbits of knowledge. Let’s take compare at home laser hair removal systems with medical laser systems used in laser centers and Medispas.
In terms of price, at the date of this article, the Tria’s pricepoint is $595. That’s a little bit more than the cost of a full body session under the Unlimited Program, I earlier mentioned.
Light-Source/Wavelength – Tria uses a diode laser and Silk’n uses an intense pulse light – IPL – flash lamp to work. For light skin, the Alexandrite (or Alex) laser is generally thought of has the most effective wavelength for laser hair removal purposes. IPLs are generally considered an antiquated system as compared with lasers. They are commonly thought of as less effective and more likely to cause injury because the light emitted from the flash lamp is not focused, so it is more likely to disperse into the client’s skin before reaching the melanin rich blub of the hair follicle.
The biggest drawback from the laser hair removal home devices with respect to light source is that neither the Tria’s diode laser, nor the Silk’n’s IPL system, is appropriate for tan or dark skin; most practitioners would recommend use of the Nd:YAG laser for skin with pigment.
Laser Hair Removal — The fluence (or energy level) is another important factor in laser strength and effectiveness for permanent hair reduction. Fluence is measured in joules per square centimeter (J/cm²). The Tria has an adjustable fluence level of between 7 and 20 joules. The Silk’n has a fluence level of 5 joules. As earlier discussed, the energy level must be sufficient to cause permanent damage to the hair follicle so that is forever disabled from growing hair.
True medical lasers used for laser hair removal, such as the Cynosure Apogee Elite (Alexandrite, and Nd:YAG) have maximum fluence levels selectable by the laser practitioner of between 50 and 80 joules. An experienced laser practitioner will normally select an energy level of between 25 and 60 joules for an effective treatment. The practitioner must be careful to not provide too little energy, which impairs the effectiveness of the treatment, and also must be careful not to provide too much energy, which can damage surrounding skin.
So there you have it. The handheld devices are slightly cheaper than a single full-body professional laser hair removal treatment. They are not appropriate for tan or dark skin, and their energy levels are much lower than what is commonly used by medical professionals. As these products are still new, only time will tell how effective they are.