How Many Laser Hair Removal Treatments Will You Need?
Under the right circumstances, laser hair removal is an extremely safe and effective solution for removing unwanted hair. However, it isn’t as immediate as many people assume. A number of factors go into determining how effective laser hair removal will be for a given person. The amount of treatments necessary to achieve the desired result varies from person to person as well. Fortunately, once you’ve had as many laser hair removal treatments as you need, you’ll save yourself hours of waxing, plucking, and shaving time in the future.
The first things to consider when determining how well laser hair removal will work for you are your hair and skin color. People with light skin and dark hair have an advantage when it comes to the effectiveness of their laser hair removal sessions. This is because, just as blacktop pavement absorbs more heat from the sun on a summer day, darker hair absorbs laser energy more readily than lighter hair does. Thus, people with light hair may need more sessions, as well as people whose skin and hair color are similar to one another. The coarseness of your hair can also make a difference. It’s also important to note that blond, red, and gray hairs don’t respond well to laser hair removal.
The majority of men and women who undergo laser hair removal experience a 10-25% reduction in noticeable hair after just one treatment session. For most people, that percentage goes up significantly with each session. Many people get the results they desire in as few as two to three sessions, but depending on the factors listed above, it may take as many as six or more. In any case, a few or even several laser hair removal treatments are ultimately far less time consuming than daily shaving or weekly waxing.
Because hair grows in stages, each laser treatment you undergo addresses a different phase of hair growth. Your hair is either in a resting stage (catagen), a growth stage (anagen), or a shedding preparation stage (telogen) at any given time. Laser hair removal is most effective during the anagen stage, when your hair is actively growing from its follicle. However, all of your hair isn’t always in the same phase at the same time. This is one of the main reasons we space out treatments over several weeks/months—so that we can reach as many hair in the anagen phase as possible.
This blog is meant to give you some idea of how many treatments you might need, but you can only get the best answer to this question by coming into Laser Lights Cosmetic Laser Center for a free consultation. There, one of our providers can evaluate, based on your skin color, hair color, and hair coarseness, approximately how many laser hair removal sessions you’ll ultimately need.
If you’re looking to make parts of your body hair free in time for beach season, now is the perfect time to get started on laser hair removal treatments. At Laser Lights, we offer a free skin consultation with one of our experts on your first visit. To schedule an appointment or to learn more about our services, please call 770.495.9322. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.