Spring is right around the corner, and as you shed your coats and sweaters, you reveal the body that has been hiding beneath all those layers. If unwanted body hair makes you cringe at the thought of wearing a swimsuit, put down your tweezers and razor, and pick up the phone to talk to us about your Columbus laser hair removal options.
Laser hair removal came to prominence in the mid 1990s as an alternative to electrolysis, which was an often painful and lengthy procedure. By contrast, the FDA-approved laser hair removal procedure is a quick, relatively painless method of reducing the growth of unwanted hair. A pulsating beam of high-intensity light aimed where it’s needed heats and destroys hair follicles, thus ensuring that hair no longer grows in the treated areas.
Like many cosmetic therapies, the treatment process for laser hair removal varies from patient to patient, depending on skin and hair color, among other differences. A typical session can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, determined primarily by the size of the area being treated.
Because the laser only affects hair follicles that are in an active growth phase, a series of treatments over time is necessary to remove all the hair in a given area. If the target area is on your face, for example, you may need to wait three to four weeks between sessions to allow new, active hair growth to become ready for treatment. You might need to wait around six weeks between sessions on other areas of your body.
Also, after a laser treatment, your actively growing hair will not instantly disappear. It usually takes about two to three weeks for you to shed the treated hair after a laser session. In other words, it is time to act now if you want to look great in a swimsuit come summer!
The side effects from laser hair removal are fairly small. You might experience some temporary redness, itching, or swelling in the affected area, but these symptoms disappear in a few days. Early laser hair removal patients reported discomfort during treatment, but laser systems have progressed since then. The Sullivan Centre was the first in Ohio to offer the new, painless LightSheer Duet diode laser system, which eliminates the need even for numbing cream or local anesthetic. It has a number of other advantages. The LightSheer Duet system:
- Uses a vacuum to raise the skin, targeting the hair root instead of the skin.
- Has a special cooling tip in the hand piece to soothe and protect the skin from the laser’s extreme heat.
- Allows your doctor to treat a larger area up to 75 percent faster.
- Is more effective than other laser hair removal systems, so it requires fewer follow-on treatments.
- Treats a broad range of hair colors, where other systems can treat only dark hair.
You’ll need to come in for a consultation with a member of our cosmetic therapy team and discuss your medical history to determine if this technology is right for you. Hair removal is fast and effective with laser technology, but it’s not an instantaneous fix. Because you will likely need a few treatments to make all your unwanted hair go away, schedule your appointment soon—before the pools open for business!
