At Celibre, we believe in setting honest and realistic expectations for all of our patients in addition to properly educating them about each of the conditions we treat. In this piece on hair removal, we hope to dispel what we believe to be a prominent and widespread myth: painless hair removal.
We believe the term Painless hair removal to be inaccurate and that a “painless” form of permanent laser hair removal does not exist. Permanent hair removal is achieved through the closing of the tiny blood vessel within the dermis that feeds the hair follicle. The destruction of the blood vessel is achieved with the heat of the laser when the light is absorbed by the hair.
To result in permanent hair removal, the heat generated by the laser inevitably causes some discomfort, without which the procedure simply wouldn't work. Desired results are achieved when the blood vessel feeding the hair is disabled so that the hair is not only eliminated, but is also prevented from regrowing again.
There are various hair removal lasers that operate with minimal discomfort. Based on our experience, as well as patient and practitioner feedback, these lasers do not achieve permanent hair removal results. Practitioners advertising painless hair removal are likely using machines which does not generate the high temperature required to permanently disable the blood vessels feeding the hair and thus does not achieve permanent hair removal. Our experience is that results achieved by means of "painless hair removal" methods are short lived and that patients end up choosing a more traditional method after failing the meet their expectations.
To minimize discomfort during the hair removal procedure, a numbing cream is applied to the surface of the skin. It alleviates some of the pain and makes the procedure more tolerable. However, generally speaking, most patients find the procedure very bearable, even without the use of topical creams. Only 1 or 2 of every 100 patients end up discontinuing the treatment program due to the pain it causes. These drop outs are most frequently men who are treating a very large area, such as their back. Most of the time, even the treatment of sensitive areas of the skin such as the face or bikini area does not result in patients abandoning treatment due to the discomfort it produces.
While we can appreciate the consumer’s desire to have painless and permanent hair removal, our opinion is that these two descriptions cannot co-exist, at least with today's technology. What’s most important to our patients is the final result. Based on our experience, permanent laser hair removal can only be achieved with some discomfort and traditional method of laser hair removal.
To learn if you are a candidate for laser hair removal treatment, contact us today for a free consultation.
Contact us today for Laser Hair Removal Costs and a FREE consultation!