Informing patients

This laser hair removal guide's main goal is to answer all your questions on laser hair removal. Nowadays, Switzerland and France are the less equipped countries as for the number of hair removal lasers per inhabitant, very far behind Germany, Great-Britain, and even Spain.

We are also very late as compared to North America and Asia, where laser became part of the culture a dozen years ago already. Main factors: the public's lack of information and still insufficient regulations.

These two factors led to the proliferation of « institutes » and other non medical businesses, which mostly removed money from wallets, and cast doubt on a marvellous technique, now mature. You will understand by reading these few pages how the laser works, and which criteria to take into account in order to select completely serenely the practitioner you will rely on.

If you really think about joining the clan of the people addicted to soft skins, this guide will help you find a laser practitioner, and will enrich your discussions with him. If you have already made your decision, the guide will inform you about the technique, and make you aware of what is necessary to do before, during, and after the interventions.

The laser hair removal technique is now mastered and the different families of devices well integrated. The therapeutic schemes have become stable and you will see that the prices are more affordable.

In order to make this guide, we systematically reviewed the 188 articles published up to today and went back to university to add to our knowledge the scientific contribution of the complex but enthralling laser physics. But a confrontation between theory and practice was necessary to obtain a realistic image of today's laser hair removal. The companionship specific to the medical field enabled us to work with most of the devices present on the market and to share the experience of many of our colleagues - senior laserists.

This confrontation between practice and sciences led us to firmly believe that: a well-led laser hair removal, following well-determined indications always yields good results. This belief is confirmed by the testimony of people who experienced the treatment, most of whom are very happy with the results.

It is important to keep in mind that the number of sessions to reach the desired results varies and that a few failures have been reported, probably due to unspecified indications (history of hormonal imbalance,.), or to a treatment that is not dynamic enough.

From this viewpoint, the recent techniques led to decisive progress. Associated to the laser, they increase the efficacy of the treatment, decrease its total cost, and improve the safety of the intervention. Practitioners who use them and patients who benefit from them are very enthusiastic.

The importance of the different lasers will evolve in the next years, as more and more improvements are made. This guide reports the results established on the basis of an analysis independent from the literature confronted to a large experience. Our conclusions are clearly indicated. You will thus be able to find your way through the maze of advertisements.

Beware: hard drug!

If the medical indications are respected, the equipment correct, and your physician trained and thorough, you will obtain permanent hair removal all year long. However, the biggest problem with hair removal is not to be tempted to finish the job!

"How many sessions?" will ask the wisest among you. Well, no definite answer can be brought to this question as the number of sessions varies greatly from one area to another, as well as from one patient to another. Some areas will not require more than two sessions (eyebrows), whereas others will require six to ten sessions (upper lips)! The average is approximately six sessions for the three frequently asked areas: underarms, legs, bikini.

Now or later?

The technique used in laser hair removal is a stabilised technique which can still be improved. In the next years, further progress will mainly concern the peripheral systems associated to lasers. A reduction in laser diode prices is expected, still, nothing is happening. However, no need to wait to benefit from the advances in sighting, which enable a safe treatment of hair considered until today as rebellious. And no need to wait to benefit from more and more efficient cooling systems (constant air flow), which radically improve hair removal effectiveness and the comfort of the treatment.

Thanks to these two advances, the Alexandrite laser can now treat blond hair, which was unthinkable a few years ago. We will also see that using a homeopathic spray can improve even more tolerance to the treatment.

By listing the advances made by laser hair removal in the last six years, we can assert that it is time to undergo hair removal! Considerable progress and success factors have been reported:

researchers (notably French) responsible for major discoveries in the way energy is delivered,

inventive practitioners using cryo-anaesthesia devices to improve the cooling of the skin,

manufacturers who keep investing in order to adapt their lasers to the medical needs.

The history of laser hair removal can be compared to the history of intensive care, in the 1950s, when impassioned researchers and inventive practitioners conceived a resuscitation ventilator.with a vacuum cleaner, and daring manufacturers marketed the creation. Certainly, the matter is less vital, but the eradication of hair at an affordable price is on the same path. In a few years, barbaric methods such as shaving, plucking and other extirpations got nearly forgotten. The skin, freed from its Paleolithic bulb by permanent hair removal, is softer to the touch than with any other technique.

In a word, laser is great, keep on reading!

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