| THE
HAIR REMOVAL PROCESS
Laser hair
removal is a modern new method of removing unwanted hair. A laser produces
a beam of highly concentrated light. Different types of lasers produce
different colours of light. The colour of light produced by a particular
laser and its method of delivery is the key to its ability to damage
the hair follicle.
The pigment located in the hair follicles preferentially absorbs the
near-infrared laser light emitted by the diode and alexandrite laser
system. The laser pulses for a fraction of a second, just long enough
to heat up and vaporize the pigment, disabling several follicles at
a time to eliminate or substantially impede the hair's regrowth, while
the system's unique cooling devices help protect the skin by conductive
cooling during the laser energy delivery process. In this way, the laser
energy is directed to the hair root while protecting and cooling the
surrounding skin.
The length of a laser session may be a few minutes to an hour or more,
depending on the size of the area being treated. Because the lasers
tend to treat hair follicles that are in an active growth phase, more
than one treatment is required to disable hair follicles that subsequently
enter this growth phase.
Each follicle in human skin maintains an independent growth rhythm from
the other follicles. At any given time, a proportion of hair follicles
are at some point of the anagen (active growth) phase. The remaining
follicles are either in the catagen (regression) or telogen (resting)
phase.
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Anagen
Phase
- Hair's active growth phase is called anagen. During anagen, the
hair contains an abundunce of melanin and can be effectively treated
by the laser.
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Catagen
Phase - Catagen is the regression phase when the lower part
of the hair stops growing but is not shed, and the follicle is reabsorbed.
Treatment in this phase is only partially effective.
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Telogen
Phase - The resting phase is called telogen, during which the
old hair falls out in preparation for the development of new hair. |
The proportions
of hair in the different phases vary with the area of the body, with
the scalp having the highest percentage of hairs in the active growth
phase. Hairs in the regression and resting phases appear to be less
susceptible to the treatment effects of laser light. However, after
initial treatment with the laser, the hairs that regrow appear to
be synchronized in the early anagen active growth phase, where they
are most vulnerable to treatment with laser light. For this reason,
repeat treatments should be performed as soon as possible after the
hairs begin to regrow.
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