LASER HAIR REMOVAL
Back hair! Ear hair! Underarm and bikini hair! All unwanted hair! Our lasers know where you are and they are coming for you!
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Our FDA-approved GentleYag 1064 nm manufactured by the Candela Corporation, VERY QUICKLY and VERY SAFELY gets rid of unwanted hair on any body area on any color of skin. We not only have the fastest lasers on the market, but we also are able to treat a larger area in a quicker amount of time because of our 18 mm spot size. Our DCD system cools your skin before the laser goes after the hair, so the level of discomfort and pain is diminished.
LASER HAIR REMOVAL
We're going to take very good care of you.
Information is power. So here's a a little background on the Laser Hair Removal treatment at Smooth Skin Centers.
What will your treatment
be like?
A typical treatment takes 10 - 30 minutes. Before we start, our technician will review your history and answer all your questions. We’ll clean the area to be treated and ensure there is no hair present. We’ll calibrate the laser based on your skin type. Then you and the technician will don the appropriate safety goggles. Let the lightwork begin!
What can you expect
after your treatment?
Your skin may temporarily be red and even a little bumpy. We'll moisturize your skin and give you a good dose of sunscreen before leave (your skin will be sensitive to the sun). You'll immediately be able to shower, or apply makeup after a treatment. Hooray! Post-treatment aftercare instructions are found here.
Preparing for your Laser Hair Removal treatment.
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Do not pluck or wax for a week prior to your treatment.
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Do shave the area(s) you want lasered the day before your laser treatment. As clean a shave as you can muster.
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Please - no sun exposure, tanning beds, sunless tanning creams, or spray tans for at least ten 10 days prior to your first treatment.
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Do not use prescribed Retin A or get a chemical peel, facial, injectable, or other laser treatment on the area(s) to be treated for 7 days prior to your treatment.
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We do not perform laser treatments on pregnant women.
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If you have used Accutane in the past, you must have been off this product for at least six months prior to the treatment. If you currently take any prescribed acne medication, you’ll need to get your doctor’s permission in order to receive a laser treatment.
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Print and complete the Client Information and Medical History, the Laser Treatment Consent, and the Missed Appointment forms found here, and bring them with you to your appointment.
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Your appointment will be confirmed via email reminder and text message from our office. Please arrive a few minutes before your scheduled time and be prepared to begin the treatment.
LASER HAIR REMOVAL
How does laser hair removal work?
The laser sees the color of the hair, then travels down to the root (follicle) and destroys the blood line. Once the hair follicle is dead, it will never grow again…ever (that’s why there are bald people – their hair follicles don’t grow back). The laser looks for color, so true blond and gray hair are not easily removed, but we do have success!
There are lots of hair follicles in our body (five million!) that don’t grow until certain hormones are released. Hormones are the main thing that activate (or deactivate) hair, and just about everything effects hormones, including pregnancy, menopause, puberty, certain medications, stress, diet, dehydration, changes in sleep patterns, and testosterone and estrogen-releasing activities can cause hair growth or loss in strange places at strange times.
The hair growth cycle.
Hair growth can be compared to the growth stage of spring-time flowers. You know that in the spring, the crocuses, daffodils, and tulips will start popping through the soil. You never know exactly when this will happen, and which bulbs you’ve planted will grow first, but you know they will come in stages. Sometimes the crocuses start to bloom in January, and sometimes they start in February. Sometimes the tulips come up before the daffodils, but sometimes not.
You never know when exactly each hair follicle is going to come to life, but many of them will. For example: most women don’t get ear hair, although most women have those hair follicles imbedded in their ears. Hormones are the main things that activate hair to grow, so if you’re a man, with male hormones, your hormones will activate that hair to grow in your ears. If you’re a woman with ear-hair activated hormones, you may find you get hairy ears. None of your hair is on the same schedule, and not all of your hair is growing at the same time. Hair follicles grow in repeated cycles. One cycle can be broken down into three phases:
Anagen Phase: The Growth Phase
On average, approximately 10% -20% of all hairs are in the growing phase at any one time, depending on the area of the body. The Anagen phase or growth phase can vary from two to six weeks. Hair grows approximately 10cm per year and any individual hair is unlikely to grow more than one meter long.
Catagen Phase: The Transitional Phase
At the end of the Anagen phase the hairs enters into a Catagen phase which lasts about one or two weeks. During the Catagen phase the hair follicle shrinks to about 1/6 of the normal length. The lower part is destroyed and the dermal papilla breaks away to rest below the surface of the skin.
Telogen Phase: The Resting Phase
The resting phase follows the Catagen phase and normally lasts about 5-6 weeks. During this time the hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle while the dermal papilla stays in a resting phase below. Approximately 55%-85% of all hairs are in this phase at any one time.
At the end of the Telogen phase the hair follicle re-enters the Anagen phase. The dermal papilla and the base of the follicle join together again and a new hair begins to form. If the old hair has not already been shed the new hair pushes the old one out and the growth cycle starts all over again.
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Hair growth is just like flower bulbs.
This is the science of how laser hair removal works. And because an average of 10% of the hair is in this growing stage at any given time, basic physiology and basic math conclude that it typically takes about ten laser treatments to remove 100% of the hair. A series of treatments is required in order to successfully get to the hair when it’s in the Anagen stage.
Candela Lasers are the best lasers for hair removal
There are three main reasons: the spot size, the speed of the laser, and how cool it is (literally).
Let us explain.
The spot size.
The distance gauge is connected to a fiber that is connected to the laser. The power of the laser goes through the fiber and exits through the distance gauge into your skin, killing any living hair in its path. The size of the distance gauge varies according to diameter of the beam, or the spot size.
Each time the laser hits your skin, it’s called a pulse. The number of pulses you receive is dependent on the size of the area being treated. The size of the distance gauge is also dependent on the size of the area being treated (an upper lip is a small area; a man’s back is a large area), as well as the type of hair that is growing on that area (the root of course hair is deeper in your skin than is fine, soft, light colored hair). This is true of most laser hair removal systems: they all rely on the distance gauge to deliver the laser power.
Our lasers have the largest spot size available on the market. This amazing technology benefits you in that it means fewer number of pulses (which feel like a rubber band snap), and more effective penetration (the larger the spot size, the deeper the laser can go).
What this means for you is this:
Imagine you’re getting your legs or your back lasered…ok? Now 18 mm is about the size of a quarter. So the laser is going to hit every single area of your legs or your back. Now, further imagine laying quarters out on your legs or your back, overlapping them by about 25% (think about the logo for the Olympics – the rings are overlapped). Got it? So, we’re talking about a lot of quarters, right?
Well, other laser hair removal systems only come with a 10 mm distance gauge. 10 mm is about the size of a dime. Would you rather have dimes or quarters? Imagine you’re covered in dimes or quarters. Would you rather get snapped with a rubber band a few times or a lot of times? The quarter size distance gauge means fewer number of snaps.
The correct answer is quarters, of course. Fewer pulses is best.
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The speed of the laser.
What this refers to is how quickly the laser can reset itself, which means how quickly you can get your treatment over with. The GentleYag can deliver TWO PULSES PER SECOND with enough power and energy to go deeply enough to kill the blood supply to your living hair. It is quite extraordinary. This makes a laser treatment take minutes, rather than hours. A man’s back typically takes about 20 minutes, and underarms takes about 5 minutes.
How cool is the laser.
Yet another great thing about the GentleYag, and, in fact, most of the lasers manufactures by the Candela Corporation. Critical with any laser procedure is how the skin is protected from the laser energy. The cryogen-based Dynamic Cooling Device™ (DCD™) of the GentleYAG is unique in its ability to cool the skin during your laser treatment. Because the same amount of cryogen is sprayed onto your skin prior to each and every laser pulse, the consistency and reproducibility of this cooling method adds to the speed and convenience of the laser treatment. Other laser systems rely on contact or air-cooling; their lack of specificity and dependence on operator technique can compromise treatment efficacy—either under-cooling or over-cooling the treatment area.
See Laser Hair Removal in Action
Looking for more information on laser hair removal treatments? You've come to the right place. Take a quick peek at this video from laser manufacturer Candela, and become a black belt in laser hair removal trivia.