Side Effects Of Laser Hair Removal You Should Know About (2023)

FAQs

Are there any negative side effects to laser hair removal? ›

Rarely, laser hair removal can cause blistering, crusting, scarring or other changes in skin texture. Other rare side effects include graying of treated hair or excessive hair growth around treated areas, particularly on darker skin.

There do not appear to be any long-term health risks associated with the procedure. However, some people may experience minor side effects after laser hair removal. People should ask their dermatologist to test how a small patch of skin reacts to the treatment before having it done on a larger area of skin.

The primary hazard associated with laser hair removal facilities stems from inadvertent exposure to laser emissions. Exposure to an individual may occur directly from the laser beam, or when the beam is reflected from a shiny surface such as a mirror, ring, glass picture frame, etc.

It's also a myth that laser hair removal can cause infertility. Only the skin surface is affected by the lasers, so the minimal radiation from the procedure can't penetrate to any of your organs.

It does not work well on dark skin

Laser hair removal works better on people with pale skin and dark hair. It's not as effective on tanned skin or hair that's been bleached by the sun. If you've got a tan you'll need to let it fade before having treatment.

Do not pick/scratch/wax/thread/tweeze the area. Avoid picking or scratching the treated skin. do not use any other hair removal methods or products, other than shaving, on the treated area during the course of your laser treatments, as it will prevent you from achieving the best results.

On the face, laser hair removal isn't typically permanent but may be long-lasting. Some people report seeing no hair return after 10 years or more. Others experience regrowth sooner and rely on annual touchup treatments to keep unwanted hair at bay.

After your laser session, the growth of new hair will be less noticeable. However, even though laser treatments damage hair follicles, they're not destroyed completely. Over time, the treated follicles may recover from the initial damage and grow hair again.

A hormonal imbalance may result in increased hair regrowth after laser hair removal procedures. Alternatively, laser hair removal may remove existing hair, but excess male hormones will rapidly stimulate regrowth.

Can laser hair removal affect heart? ›

Answer: Laser hair removal does not affect internal organs

Lasers create a beam of highly concentrated light that penetrates into the skin only where it delivers a controlled amount of therapeutic heat. This light energy is absorbed by the pigment located in the hair follicles.

Most of the radiation is transmitted to the retina*. Overexposure may cause flash blindness or retinal burns and lesions.

Initial treatments may cause short term muscle spasm, mild fatigue, mild nausea or headaches. It is thought that these healing reactions are the result of increased metabolites in the blood stream. This usually subsides within 48 hours.

“The lasers we use penetrate less than one millimeter into the skin, so there's no way they could reach your ovaries. But even if they did—which they never, ever could—they wouldn't do anything, anyway. They work on pigment and have no bearing on fertility.” Therefore, there's nothing to worry about.

One great thing about this treatment is that it's effective at any age. Whether you are 19 or 89, this treatment is the best way to permanently reduce your hair. The best time for you to seek treatment is whenever you realize that you have unwanted hair that you would be happier without.

Therefore, long term occupational exposure to laser plumes may lead to HPV infection and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas. There is significant morbidity associated with these lesions and their treatment.

Generally, clients need about two to six laser treatments in order to completely get rid of hair. You can expect to see about a 10% to 25% reduction in hair after your first treatment. As you continue your treatments, more and more hair will fall out, and you'll notice that it continues to grow back more slowly.

As a part of the immediate Lasik recovery process, you have to close your eyes for at least 2 to 4 hours after you have undergone the surgery. On average, Lasik treatment recovery time for some people may go from 1 week to 10 days while some others may take up to 6 weeks to get completely healed.

Why is laser hair removal every 4 weeks? ›

Given that only 85 per pent of hair follicles are in the anagen phase at any one time, and this is the most effective phase for laser hair removal, it is important to cycle your laser hair removal treatments every four to six weeks to ensure all hair follicles are treated over your treatment series.

Patients may notice more hair 1 – 3 weeks after laser hair removal sessions as follicles in the growing cycle begin to shed. During this process, exfoliating the skin, once swelling and redness have dissipated, can help hairs shed faster, leaving skin feeling smoother.

In short, no. Laser hair removal works by heating the hair follicles to stop new hairs from growing. This puts the hair follicles in a state of dormancy for a long period of time — much longer than with shaving and waxing. When the hairs do grow back, they'll be lighter, finer, and fewer in number.

Yes, you can shave in between each session of laser hair removal. During your course of treatment you can shave any hairs that may regrow. After your first laser hair removal session you will notice that you won't need to shave as much as before. After 2-3 sessions you may only need to shave once in a 4-6 week period.

As we mentioned a little earlier, if you don't shave before your appointment, the laser will singe the hair resulting in a burn to your skin. In addition, if the hair hasn't been shaved properly, treatment will not be as effective, and it may result in small temporary grazes on the top layer of your skin.

You can expect to see a lasting reduction in hair growth after 6 sessions, usually spaced four to eight weeks apart based on hair growth cycles. While laser hair removal is permanent, some clients opt for a follow up session in a few years.

The results of the study showed that the use of diode and alexandrite laser systems to remove facial hair in women are safe methods in terms of affecting thyroid function, because these laser systems have no effect on the concentration of thyroid hormones T3, T4 and TSH.

When laser light impinges on tissue, it can reflect, scatter, be absorbed, or transmit to the surrounding tissue. Absorption controls to a great degree the extent to which reflection, scattering and transmission occur, and wavelength is the primary determinant of absorption.

Answer: Laser side effects

It is unlikely that the use of a laser to treat facial veins would damage any nerves as they are typically much deeper below the skin's surface and are intimate with the muscles. In addition, nerves tend to be white and do not absorb laser light energy.

Unanticipated eye exposure during laser beam alignment. About 40 % of accidents occur during alignment! Fatigue, leading to carelessness or inappropriate shortcuts; horseplay.

Can laser hair removal cause clots? ›

Answer: Blood clots and laser treatments are fine

There is nothing in the medical literature regarding blood clots and surface laser treatments (like hair removal).

Effects can range from mild skin burns to irreversible injury to the skin and eye. The biological damage caused by lasers is produced through thermal, acoustical and photochemical processes.

Lasers can harm the skin via photochemical or thermal burns. Depending on the wavelength, the beam may penetrate both the epidermis and the dermis. The epidermis is the outermost living layer of skin. Far and Mid-ultraviolet (the actinic UV) are absorbed by the epidermis.

Laser exposures can have a wide range of effects including flash blindness, dazzle, dark spots, hazy vision, floaters, burns, retinal bleeding, etc. Of special interest are the hazards posed by visible lasers from glare and flash blindness, and from very high energy lasers that could cause serious thermal injuries.

The hazards associated with a laser cutter include the possibility of fires and the generation of hazardous and/or irritating combustion products. The laser cutter high powered laser can cause damage to eyes and skin, and it must be contained within the cutter.

These include both direct beam hazards such as tissue burns, eye damage, endotracheal tube fire, drape fire, and explosion of gases, or non-beam hazards (those that are secondary to the actual beam interaction) such as laser generated airborne contaminants (surgical plume), electrical damage, toxic dyes, and system ...

What they may not know is this: When operated unsafely, or without certain controls, the highly-concentrated light from lasers—even those in toys—can be dangerous, causing serious eye injuries and even blindness. And not just to the person using a laser, but to anyone within range of the laser beam.

Class 4-High Power Lasers and Laser Systems (top)

A high power laser or laser system that can produce a hazard not only from direct or specular reflections, but also from a diffuse reflection. In addition, such lasers may produce fire and skin hazards. Class 4 lasers include all lasers in excess of Class 3 limitations.

Can laser damage your skin? ›

Lasers can harm the skin via photochemical or thermal burns. Depending on the wavelength, the beam may penetrate both the epidermis and the dermis. The epidermis is the outermost living layer of skin.

NEVER put yourself into any position where your eyes approach the axis of a laser beam (even with eye protection on). Keep beam paths below or above standing or siting eye level. Do not direct them towards other people. Do not damage laser protective housings, or defeat the interlocks on these housings.

Laser therapy does not use the same ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths as those found in sunlight (i.e. UVA and UVB), which are known to damage the DNA in cells and cause skin cancer. Non-ionising radiation is also different to ionising radiation (e.g. nuclear radiation, x-rays), which is also known to cause cancer.

Class 2 lasers are low power (< 1mW), visible light lasers that could possibly cause damage to a person's eyes. Some examples of Class 2 laser use are: classroom demonstrations, laser pointers, aiming devices and range finding equipment.

Class 5 Photonics delivers ultrafast, high-power laser technology at outstanding performance to advance demanding applications from bio-imaging to ultrafast material science and attosecond science.

Laser warning signs are used to alert employees and visitors if there is a risk of being exposed to a naked laser beam. Exposure to certain lasers can cause eye or optic damage, and skin burns.