You’ve decided it’s finally time to ditch the expensive razors, say ciao to painful shaving bumps and ingrown hairs, and wave good-bye the highly personal bikini wax treatments — and you’re about to schedule your first laser hair removal appointment.
Over the course of several treatment sessions, laser hair removal can help you attain smooth, hair-free skin on virtually any body area, including your:
With three offices in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Smooth Body Contours is your go-to aesthetic medical spa for expert laser hair removal services. Learn why this popular treatment requires multiple sessions — and find out about how many sessions the average person needs to achieve optimal results.
At Smooth Body Contours, we perform laser hair removal treatments using an FDA-approved diode laser. This advanced device deactivates active-growth hair follicles by sending pulses of energy directly into their shafts. When this highly targeted energy reaches the follicle itself, it’s quickly absorbed by the melanin cells (pigments) that give your hair its natural color.
As the laser’s energy penetrates the follicle’s melanin, it briefly “super-heats” these pigmented cells from the inside out, effectively “flipping the switch” and deactivating the follicle. Once it’s been deactivated, a treated follicle can no longer grow hair.
Your hair follicles go through four distinct phases over the course of several weeks. A specific follicle could be in any one of these phases at any given time:
Luckily, about 90% of the hair follicles on your face and body are in their active-growth phase at any given time. During a hair removal session, only about 10% of the hair follicles in the chosen treatment area are transitioning, resting, or shedding — and therefore unaffected by the laser’s targeted energy.
It’s to your advantage that the laser only targets active-growth follicles; it translates to fewer laser hair removal sessions overall, since most of the hair follicles in a chosen treatment area will be in their treatable, active-growth phase during each session.
So, to answer the question at hand: How many laser hair removal sessions do you need to attain smooth, hair-free skin in your chosen treatment area? It depends on:
A denser region of hair typically requires more laser treatment sessions than a sparser area, while hair follicles with darker melanin pigments tend to absorb more of the laser’s energy and deactivate faster, which can translate to fewer sessions.
In an area where hair grows more quickly, your sessions can be scheduled closer together, making your overall treatment time shorter. For example, on treatment areas where hair grows quickly (like your face), you can expect to have sessions every month or two; where hair grows more slowly (like your back), each treatment session is scheduled three or four months apart.
While most people require at least three laser hair removal sessions to get smooth skin that no longer requires shaving, waxing, or plucking, you may require up to six sessions to attain optimal results.
Ready to ditch the razor for good? Smooth Body Contours can help. Call or click online to schedule a laser hair removal consultation at your nearest office in Sandy Springs, Georgia, or Orlando or Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
