Almost any area of hair that you routinely shave, pluck, or wax away in the pursuit of smooth, bare skin can be targeted with laser hair removal, a safe and noninvasive aesthetic treatment that effectively “flips the switch” on active-growth hair follicles and leaves them dormant.
At Smooth Body Contours in Orlando, Florida, and Sandy Springs, Georgia, our skilled laser experts have helped many women and men permanently reduce unwanted hair on their legs, bikini area, face, back, chest, and underarms — virtually anywhere they’ve wanted to get smooth, hair-free skin.
Read on to learn how laser hair removal works, and which areas of skin it can treat.
Laser hair removal is a safe, noninvasive treatment that effectively targets and deactivates unwanted hair follicles to help you attain smooth, hair-free skin on just about any area of your body or face.
During a laser hair removal session, we systematically pass an FDA-approved diode laser device across the surface of your skin. As the laser moves across the treatment area, it sends rapid pulses of light energy into each active-growth hair follicle.
Readily absorbed by the follicles’ pigments (melanin), this energy causes an internal heating process that effectively “flips the switch” on each targeted follicle, rendering them dormant and unable to produce hair.
Laser hair removal tends to be most effective on dark hair, simply because it contains a higher concentration of melanin pigments to absorb the laser’s thermal, deactivating energy. Lighter hair, which contains fewer pigment cells, absorbs less laser energy.
In practice, this means laser hair removal can effectively eliminate dark hair on your upper lip, bikini, or underarm area, for example, but probably only thin and reduce the amount of light hair you have on your forearms or the side of your face (peach fuzz).
Although you can expect to see a 10-25% reduction in hair after your first laser hair removal session, most people need three to six treatments to get the smooth, bare skin they’re after.
This is because your hair grows in phases, and the laser’s energy only targets follicles that are in the active-growth phase. By spacing each laser hair removal session four to six weeks apart, you can be sure to reach and deactivate as many hair follicles in the treatment area as possible.
After completing your full laser hair removal treatment cycle, you can expect to stay hair-free for many years. Sometimes, a few deactivated hair follicles may become active again, but they usually produce lighter, thinner hair.
Whether you’re a woman who’s tired of waxing undesirable upper lip hair or a man who feels embarrassed by thick chest or back hair, laser hair removal can help you permanently reduce or eliminate unwanted hair on virtually any part of your body or face.
As a fully customizable treatment, laser hair removal is safe and effective for:
Popular treatment areas for women include the upper lip and chin, bikini area and legs, side of the face and neck, and fingers and toes. Men commonly use laser hair removal to eliminate unwanted hair on the chest, back, and shoulders.
The only place you can’t safely use laser hair removal is the eye area, which means waxing or plucking is still the only way to keep unruly eyebrows under control.
Ready for smooth, silky, hair-free skin that no longer requires shaving or waxing? We can help. Call your nearest Smooth Body Contours office in Orlando, Florida, or Sandy Springs, Georgia, today, or click online to schedule a laser hair removal consultation any time.
