Must the treatment be undergone by a physician ?

Yes. It is the first rule of laser hair removal. It is a medical procedure that can only be undergone under the supervision of a physician.

Laser hair removal is not reimbursed by the social security or any other social organisation. We believe presenting in reminder the terms of the law concerning hair removal procedures might be useful.

In France, the order made on January the 6th 1962 defined the list of medical procedures which can only be undergone by physicians or by medical aids or by the directors of medical testing laboratories, who are not physicians.

1st article

The order made on December the 21st 1960, as well as the order made on July the 31st 1961, which modifies it, are revoked.

Article 2

Doctors in medicine only can undergo, in compliance with article L. 372 (1°) of the public health code, the following medical procedures:

1° All joint mobilizations and reduction of bone movements, as well as vertebral manipulations, and, more generally, treatments using osteopathy, spondylotherapy (or spinal manipulation) and chiropractic.

2° The prostatic massage.

3° The gynaecologic massage.

4° Any physiotherapy treatment leading to the destruction, even limited, of the tegument, and notably cryotherapy, electrolysis, electrocoagulation and diathermocoagulation.

5° All hair removal procedures, except for tweezing and wax hair removal.

6° Any instrument abrasion of the tegument with a device able to provoke an effusion of blood (planning, grinding, reaming).

7° The manipulation of devices used to determine the refraction of the eye.

Laser hair removal is by definition an attack to the body, its main objective being to induce irreversible damage on the regenerative structures of the hair.

Very powerful lasers must be used to obtain the desired result (permanent hair removal). These can induce skin lesions.

We have seen that the appropriate device, that is a class IV laser, can be handled only by a physician or under strict medical supervision. Utmost rigour in protocols and a know‑how made by years of practice will guarantee the success of the treatment.

Hair destruction is a purely medical procedure. Patients should thus rely on a physician capable of assuming the professional tasks linked to this type of treatment.

The indication will be determined before the treatment during a first consultation. The physician will then give you all the information concerning the advantages and limits of such a treatment, as well as the potential risks and the precautions to take.

The physician will give you an estimate, as well as the technical characteristics of the devices used. Once the laser will be adjusted according to your skin reactions, you will be informed on the different parameters used (fluence, pulse, etc.) during the treatment.

Does a homeopathic physician feel uncomfortable destroying all the hair?

No. Hairs are only remnants of evolution and do not have any particular function in the organism. On the contrary, the combination of high technology and homeopathy helps patients feel better in an additional dimension of health and well-being.

Besides, we believe – from a very ethical point of view – that part of our incomes put aside for well-being expenses should be redistributed to developing countries and to some of our pupils in homeopathy.

Does the laser check perspiration ?

No. The sebaceous gland and all the other excretion glands nearby are independent from the hair. The destruction of the hair and of its root does not affect the skin sweating capacity.

Is it dangerous? ?

No. The laser hair removal flash only consists in a very intense emission of red or infrared light very similar to that emitted by the grill of a kitchen stove. There are no radiations which could induce risks for the skin. The wavelength used for hair removal is completely different from that used for ultraviolet radiations or X-rays, which means there are no risks of mutation or cancer.

Mechanical and light stimuli can induce a degeneration of moles. It is thus important to avoid removing hair around and on them. Even laser experts can induce lesions such as burns, but these lesions remain much less severe than those induced by an iron, and disappear after a few weeks.

What are the contraindications ?

Photosensitizing drugs (antibiotics such as cyclins and quinolones), pregnancy, suntans, and all elements linked to suntans, such as the sun, UVs, tanning accelerators, self-tan. Skin allergy to the cold (cryoglobulinemia), to the heat, or to the sun will necessitate special care.

Does it work only on a reduced or scattered pilosity ?

No. The laser is also very effective on patients with abundant hair. The main factors are the diameter and the colour of the hair. In fact, the more a hair is dark and thick, the easier it is to treat.

Are there any precautions to take ?

Yes. Eyes must necessarily be protected, and the treatment is always adapted to your personal characteristics.

The assessment of skin sensitivity by the physician, and a laser test before the treatment are necessary to obtain good results.

The first factor to be assessed is skin colour. The Nd-Yag laser is indicated in the treatment of permanent dark skins, but will give less permanent results than an Alexandrite laser.

On lighter skins, tans will be evaluated. Suntans are the intimate enemies of laser hair removal. Indeed, skin melanin then absorbs most of the light beam before it can reach the bulb. Burns always occur on very tanned skins, whatever skin cooling system is used. These burns are never severe; however, the pain lasts a few hours, and is followed by the appearance of brown marks, replaced by white spots after a few days. Crudely speaking, the suntans are “scoured”. This discolouration is always transitory and disappears after a few weeks.

The size and pigmentation of the hair are the two next important factors. The more a hair is thick and pigmented, the more it will be able to generate heat, and thus to damage significantly the reproductive system in its bulb. It is important to assess the risk of stimulation for each case. An area with much vellus hair will present greater risks of stimulation. Indeed, this thin hair coat cannot store much heat. Even the most powerful lasers will generate with difficulty enough heat for such hair to be expulsed from the skin surface, but it will not suffice to damage the germinal cells. The hair reacts to the aggression by proliferating. Such stimulation can occur on areas of the face, of the anterior thigh, and on the body midline. The indication will thus have to be thoroughly determined by the physician for each patient. You now understand why laser hair removal is a delicate procedure that must be carried out by a health care provider.

What are the differences with electrolysis ?

A laser hair removal session is much shorter and less painful. On the other hand, white or very light hair can be treated with electrolysis, which is impossible with laser..

The only way to remove a few scattered hairs in the middle of downy hair is through electrolysis. In such a case, laser hair removal is absolutely contraindicated as it can induce hair stimulation. The advantage of electrolysis is that it can destroy the hairs one by one, instead of large areas.

Electrolysis can also be used to remove the few scattered hairs left by laser hair removal.

Is it necessary to schedule maintenance sessions?

The answer to this question varies significantly according to the areas treated and to the individuals themselves. A maintenance session is typically necessary one year after the last treatment. Blond patients – an extreme case – will need one or two maintenance sessions per year in the 2 or 3 years following the treatment.

Then, a maintenance session might be necessary after a few years. These sessions – shorter and thus cheaper – will guarantee good results, and, at best, will not be necessary.

Go on the Treatment Results page for further information.

Does it hurt ?

Yes and No. The feeling of pain varies among patients: patients often have tolerable prickling sensations, but sometimes feel as if a rubber band was pinged against their skin.

Some people used to hair removal compare the pain to that of wax hair removal, which is even a bit more painful. An anaesthetic cream will be applied on sensitive areas. Another factor reducing unpleasant sensations is an efficient cooling of the skin.

In the case of treatments of high hair density areas (beard, some men’s backs, bikini) using the laser maximum power, the heat of the destroyed hair is transmitted to the skin, which induces a pain proportional to the density of hair affected.

Similarly, some areas such as the ankles, the fingers, or the pubis are more sensitive than the thighs, the belly, the upper chest or the areola. But remember than the pain remains less important than with wax hair removal, and is reduced as soon as the 2nd session, when hair density gets lower.

How long lasts a session?

From 10 minutes for the mouth area or the armpits to 30 minutes for half-legs and up to an hour and more for entire legs.

What happens after the session ?

The treated hair will fall in the week following the treatment (subcutaneous hair and their roots). Some carbonized hair residues are sometimes expulsed with difficulty from the skin. An exfoliation may thus be necessary.

After the first session, no shavings or hair removals will be necessary. Sessions are close in time and the hair does not have the time to reach the skin surface. We will only leave enough time for the hair to regrow weakly at the end of the treatment, so as to determine if an additional session is necessary to achieve permanent hair removal.

Will the hair grow back between the sessions ?

There will be no hair regrowth as soon as after the first session, as we will not leave the hair enough time to reform, until this effect is obtained permanently.

Indeed, the time between sessions is an important success factor in the laser treatment. Physicians used to wait for the regrowth to be visible at the skin surface before repeating the treatment. However, years of experience told us that this was a mistake that led to the proliferation of the number of sessions.

Our protocols are closer in time and aimed at the destruction of the bulbs forming under the skin, when lesions made on the previous session are not repaired yet, and the melanin pigment is essentially concentrated into the hair bulb. Thus, the laser heat will essentially be stored in a critical area for the destruction of the hair regenerative cells.

The regrowth will be reduced session after session, and the hair will get thinner and more scattered. It is the “Bonzaï effect”. This effect most of the time affects the longest and deepest hairs (up to 5 mm under the skin surface). The hair grows thinner, which means the bulb gets closer to the skin surface. It thus becomes more vulnerable in the following sessions.

And what if I forget a session ?

If you have already gone to 4 or 5 sessions, hairs have either been destroyed permanently or damaged a lot. Thus, the hair already treated will not grow anymore, which means you will not lose the benefit of the previous sessions. But hair regrowth will be more important on your next session, and some hairs will have achieved their hair cycle, and will not grow again before 9 to 18 months...

But if you have only gone to a few sessions, and that the bulbs have not been damaged enough, the total number of sessions to permanent hair removal will inevitably be extended.

So, it is important to avoid as much as possible modifying the frequency of the sessions, at least during the 4 initial sessions which are very important.

If you cannot come to a session you had booked weeks ago…do not forget to cancel your appointment: the preparation before a laser treatment is very expensive! Appointments must be cancelled 48 hours prior to your appointment time, or will be charged.

Is laser hair removal always really and completely permanent ?

Permanent hair removal, yes! Total hair removal, no! The laser treatment leads to the permanent destruction of the hair it affects. This has been proven by skin biopsies. However, a permanent hair removal is never total. There will always be vellus hair and a few very thin hairs left. The typical areas, such as the legs, the bikini, and the underarms almost never relapse. A few very thin and scattered hairs sometimes reappear after several years. But then, a little maintenance session suffices to get closer to “zero regrowth”.

In areas with highly hormone-dependent hair, and in predisposed individuals notably presenting with relative hyperandrogenic factors, the vellus hair can keep on turning into terminal hair and reform pilosity (it is also possible during the pregnancy or the menopause…). This is why we use the word “permanent” instead of definitive when speaking of the hair removal of areas such as the face or the thighs.

Go on the Treatment Results page for further information

© 2003 - 2006 Guide de l'Epilation laser. Publisher CLV. Any copy or reproduction, partial or complete, of the present website on any other server or device for the purpose of reproducing it ulteriorly or redistributing it ulteriorly is formally prohibited by the regulations in effect and can lead to severe civil and penal sanctions