By Dr. Blair
Shaving! For most people this daily ritual is not enjoyable;
it takes time, money and sometimes, blood. What can be done? Electrolysis
is time consuming and not always very comfortable. Hair removal
creams are available, but this is messy and not any better than shaving.
The answer lies in high technology – Laser Hair Removal. With
dedicated hair removal lasers, any undesirable hair can be reduced
easily, quickly and permanently.
The pigment in hair absorbs the energy of the laser. When the
energy is absorbed, the hair follicle heats up and the body recognizes
this as an area of inflammation. Then, this area is reabsorbed
by the body including the hair follicle and voila’! There is
no hair follicle to grow an unwanted hair.
The other major consideration regarding hair growth is that not all
hair follicles are active at the same time. At any given time
only one-third of hair is growing, which is why it takes several weeks
for a man’s beard to come in fully. It is the reason a
minimum of three laser treatments to an area are needed to achieve
clearance of the hair. Occasionally there can be dormant hair
that becomes active much later and subsequent spot treatments may
be required.
Since laser works by its energy being absorbed by pigment, blond
and white hair does not respond as well. There is no dark pigment
in the hair follicle to absorb the energy of the laser. Peach
fuzz doesn’t respond well either. But, there is hope. There
is a solution that can be applied approximately two weeks before each
treatment that improves the clearance of the hair. Unfortunately,
it increases the cost as well.
Women with tanned or darker pigmented skin, have to be more careful
because the laser only recognizes pigment. It doesn’t care
where the pigment is. For tanned or dark skinned individuals,
the treatment must be less aggressive and possibly may require more
than three treatments to achieve desirable clearance of hair.
Some medical conditions such as polycystic ovary disease and certain
medications like Dilantin can stimulate hair growth. It important
for the facility performing laser hair removal to know of any medical
conditions or medications that might hamper its the laser’s
success.
Laser hair removal has made considerable advances and it is a comfortable
and safe method to be rid of unwanted hair regardless of the location. It
is a perfect example of “hair today, gone tomorrow”!
Paul A. Blair, MD is board certified in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery and specializes in facial cosmetic surgery and treatments.
His new office is located at 3667 Teays Valley Road, Hurricane, WV
25526. His phone is 304-201-3223.
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