Laser Hair Removal Permanent Hair Removal Lightsheer Laser Laserazor Fourth Generation Laser Hair Colour Skin Type Tanning

• Overview
• Procedure

Laser Hair Removal

Dealing with unwanted body hair has long been a tedious, deeply frustrating and often painful process. Shaving, plucking, waxing and bleaching are all time-consuming and temporary solutions.

Laser hair removal technology has been around for a decade. Initially it was prohibitively expensive and the machines used in these early days were unreliable, and frequebtly broke down.

Diode technology made lasers fast reliable and efficient and they are still the gold standard for permanent hair removal.

Officially we are not allowed to promote "permanent hair removal" as the fine fair hairs that cover our body are not treated and so with time may become dark and coarse.

If your hair is blonde, white, grey or red, then please understand that lasers do not work for you. Unfortunately the technology to treat these colours has not yet come into being. You are being shammed if someone tells you otherwise - caveat emptor! (buyer beware). 

Lasers produce beams of highly concentrated light, with different lasers producing different colours of light. LaseRazor light is selectively absorbed by the melanin pigment in hair follicles.

Each laser pulse lasts a fraction of a second, heating many hair follicles, (including any ingrown hairs sufficiently to permanently destroy them). Importantly, the Lightsheer diode laser's  special Chilltip contact-cooling hand piece directs laser energy to the hair roots while cooling and protecting the skin surface.

Optipulse electronic pulse duration helps maximise hair removal and enables treatment of virtually all darker  skin types, unlike every other hair removal lasers. The solid-state diode laser source is ultra-reliable.

The Coherent Lightsheer laser is the only fourth generation hair removal laser yet made, and the most expensive hair removal laser available (for us, not you). It is one of only two lasers granted approval by the notoriously strict Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States for use in 'permanent hair reduction'.

Other ruby and alexandrite lasers can only offer 'long term hair reduction'.

Laser treatments may cause a slight tingling or stinging sensation but most people tolerate it well. Topical anesthetic cream is always available for more sensitive parts of the body.

Laser hair removal is 100 times faster than electrolysis - bikini line treatment takes only 20 minutes. After treatment, minor redness and puffiness may occur, and typically lasts a few hours.

You can resume normal activity immediately. No long -term complications have occurred in many thousands of treatments, in contrast to earlier hair removal lasers which occasionally caused scarring and permanent skin pigmentation problems.

Hair's active growth phase is called anagen. During anagen, the hair contains an abundance of melanin.	Catagen is the regression phase when the lower part of the hair stops growing but is not shed, and the follicle is reabsorbed.	The resting phase is called telogen, during which the old hair falls out in preparation for the development of new hair.

Patient selection is a key aspect of the use of the LightSheer Diode System. Hair colour and skin type are the two most important factors in predicting success of treatment.

Using the Fitzpatrick classification system, skin type can be characterised using the following system based on pigmentation.

Fitzpatrick Skin type:

1. Always burns, never tans
2. Always burns, sometimes tans
3. Sometimes burns, always tans
4. Rarely burns, always tans
5. Moderately pigmented e.g. Indian, and darker Asian skins
6. Black skin

In the experience of the investigators who initially tested the LightSheer Diode System, people with skin Types 1 and 2 are most easily treated. People with skin types 3, 4 and 5 may require pretreatment with sunscreen or bleaching creams to reduce the amount of melanin in the epidermis. People with skin type 6 are at high risk for skin damage with treatment and are generally not treated.

Patients who are tanned or who have skin types 3, 4 or 5 are advised to avoid tanning for 2-3 months prior to therapy and use a sunscreen (SPF 15-30) on exposed areas for 4-6 weeks before treatment. If you have a dark tan, your treatment may be postponed until the tan has faded.

All patients should be advised to avoid waxing, plucking and depilatory creams, or electrolysis for at least six weeks prior to treatment. They may continue to shave for up to two or three days prior to the test treatment.

For assessment, some hair growth is required. Don't shave for the two or three days preceding your assessment appointment.

After the initial assessment, the patient may continue to shave throughout treatment. In fact, a clean shave will be administered before treatment to decrease the odour caused by laser destruction of hair visible above the surface of the skin and reduce the risk of inadvertent epidermal injury caused by heat conducted from unshaved hairs.

Otherwise there are no known contraindications to hair removal using the LightSheer Diode System. Patients who have had prior problems with laser therapy, however, should be carefully screened before treatment. Additionally, persons known to form keloid may be more prone to scarring after any skin trauma, including laser treatment.

Caution is advised in treating patients with any of the following conditions: a history of keloid scarring, active infection, or a history of herpes simplex in the treatment area. Use of oral isotretinoin (Roaccutane) within the preceding six months