What happens to the hair of the first laser hair removal procedure? How long does it take for the skin to become smooth and the hairs to disappear forever?
Long before the first procedure, patients are concerned with the question: “How many days does it take for hair to fall out after laser hair removal?” The desire to quickly see and feel smooth skin causes impatience. But professionals recommend calmly waiting for the desired result.
Hair after laser hair removal: let's start with theory
The principle of laser operation is based on the destruction of hair stem cells by heating the melanin in them. The speed of this process and the choice of intensity of the working radiation of the device is influenced by a number of factors:
Hair type (soft, hard).
Color (light, dark, red).
Growth zone (dependent and independent of hormone levels).
Hair growth stage.
Not all hairs are equally susceptible to laser treatment. To understand why hair is not immediately removed after laser hair removal, you need to understand the principles of its structure and development. Each hair has three stages of its life cycle:
1. Anagen is a period of active cell division and development of the hair follicle.
2. Catagen is the stage of cessation of hair nutrition and the death of its follicle.
3. Telogen – the phase of “sleep” and gradual rejection of the hair shaft.
The laser beam has the maximum effect on hairs in the anagen phase - active growth. During this period, their structure is saturated with melanin along the entire length. When heated by the laser, the hair is destroyed down to the root. After laser hair removal, the hair root loses nutrition and gradually dies, and then the shaft is pushed out by skin cells.
After laser hair removal, hair falls out within 7-10 days
The result of the first procedure is the complete removal of all growing hairs in the treated area. Of the total “volume” of hair, this can be, depending on the zone, from 15 to 30% of hairs. With each subsequent session, there will be less and less hair on the body, and the intervals between sessions will be longer. On hormone-dependent areas of the body (in the armpits, in the bikini area, in men - in the cheeks and chin), there is more hair in the anagen stage, they can make up from 30 to 50% of the total volume, respectively, and the visual effect after the first session can be more tangible.
The process of hair loss is unnoticed and painless. After the first laser hair removal, hair falls out gradually over 7-10 days, leaving behind areas of perfectly smooth skin.
How many days does it take for hair to fall out completely after laser hair removal?
To accurately answer the question: “How long does it take for hair to fall out completely after laser hair removal?”, you need to know all the individual characteristics of the patient. Laser hair removal at Epilike has the following features:
To remove the maximum possible amount of hair, an average of 4-6 procedures are needed.
In total, up to 90% of hair is removed during the course.
From session to session it can take from 3 weeks to 2 months.
A full course of hair removal can take 6-12 months.
After a course of hair removal, you can forget about the problem of unwanted hair for 1-3 years.
If necessary, the procedure is repeated, removing single hairs approximately once every six months to a year.
With LightSheer DUET, the skin remains smooth and soft for a long time!
In recent years, it has become increasingly popular and relevant in the intimate area and on the legs. Many women save money for this expensive procedure in order to forget about it for several years and have a completely smooth body.
But the reviews of some clients of aesthetic cosmetology centers raise doubts, since about 20% of girls claim that hair growth increases after laser hair removal. Before signing up for the procedure, you need to figure out how long hair does not actually grow after laser hair removal, what the effect depends on, and what mistakes can lead to the lack of the desired effect.
It is believed that treatment with a laser beam is the most effective method of combating excess hair. Before making an appointment, many women are interested in how many sessions will be needed to achieve ideal smoothness and whether hair growth is really delayed after laser hair removal.
Experts assure that the effect and speed of hair growth depend not only on the quality of the equipment used and the experience of the hairdresser himself, but also on the individual characteristics of the body:
- genetic predisposition. If one of your closest relatives has thick body hair, the feature can be inherited;
- color type Brunettes with dark skin have thicker hair and usually grow a little faster than girls with blond or brown hair;
- hormonal background of the client;
- the presence of endocrine diseases.
It is necessary to understand that after the first session, the skin will not be completely smooth in any case and the resulting effect will last for a short period. This is due to the fact that the laser beam only affects, but has virtually no effect on dormant follicles, which will also awaken a few days or weeks after treatment.
First procedure
On the Internet on forums you can find reviews that after laser hair removal, hair grows even faster and that laser hair removal does not help. This is due to the fact that the laser beam, in addition to removing growing hairs, activates the work of dormant bulbs, which is why new thin hairs appear on the skin. During subsequent sessions, these hairs are very easily removed.
How do hairs grow back after the first laser hair removal? After the first session, the hair on your legs and bikini area will grow almost the same as after sugaring. New hairs will emerge gradually, and the treated area will be covered with hairs again in about a month. The difference between these procedures is that after laser treatment, the hair will be thinner and lighter, and its growth rate will slow down significantly. After each session, the number of hairs will decrease by approximately 25%.
Series of treatments
If you complete the full course, the skin in the treated area will remain smooth for at least 4 years. If a woman initially had thin and sparse hairs, the effect can last up to 6-7 years. But experts warn that in order to achieve the desired result, you must complete the entire course, the duration and frequency of which is selected individually. If you interrupt it or go through the first few procedures, the result will be short-lived, and after a few months the hairs will begin to grow again.
Important! To get rid of unwanted hairs in the bikini area, at least 7 sessions are usually required. For thighs and legs, 5-6 procedures are enough.
What does the result depend on?
Since laser hair removal is a radical way to combat unwanted hair, it will be possible to achieve smooth skin for several years in any case. Regardless of the type and thickness of the hair, the laser beam will in any case affect the follicle and destroy it under the influence of high temperature. Approximately 30% of the hair is immediately burned during treatment, and the hair follicles are also either partially damaged or destroyed.
Why is there no effect from laser hair removal? This often happens because women do not complete the course or ignore supporting procedures. Total methods for destroying hairs on the skin have not yet been developed, and even such a modern technique requires periodic correction.
For the effect to be permanent, you need to visit a cosmetologist at least once a year and undergo preventive procedures. How long should hair not grow after laser hair removal? Ideally, hair growth should stop completely for 4-6 years, but you need to understand that everything depends on the individual characteristics of the body.
In the practice of cosmetologists, there are also women who have not been helped by laser hair removal. The lack of effect after light radiation is due to the specifics of the organism. Doctors assure that such an individual feature is extremely rare, in less than 1% of clients, and is an exception to the rule.
Why hairs grow faster after laser
The light beam not only burns the hairs located on the surface of the skin, but also activates the work of dormant follicles and accelerates their growth. This explains why hair grows more after laser hair removal. Heat exposure leads to the awakening of almost all dormant hair follicles, which can cause double the rate of hair growth. There is no need to be afraid of such a reaction, since new vegetation will be easily removed during subsequent treatments.
Possible complications and side effects
Despite the fact that laser has proven itself to be excellent and still remains one of the most optimal procedures, the technique has certain contraindications that must be taken into account before signing up for a session. If the session is carried out ignoring contraindications or is carried out by an inexperienced specialist, the risk of complications will be quite high. In addition, side effects may occur if the specialist did not take into account the type of skin and hair and turned on the wrong mode of the device, or the skin was treated with an insufficient amount of coolant.
The most common complications after a poorly performed procedure are:
In rare cases, after laser treatment, an increase in mole size may be observed. More often this happens in the absence of a full consultation and if the specialist did not cover it with special pads before treatment.
It is believed that laser hair removal is one of the most effective ways to get rid of unwanted hair forever. However, does hair grow after laser hair removal and what should be done to make laser hair removal as effective as possible?
Laser hair removal is a long process: the course of procedures to remove unwanted hair lasts for a year or more, and the hair continues to grow all this time. How does this method work and how many procedures are needed to completely eliminate the problem of unwanted hair?
The laser is not able to get rid of all unwanted hairs in one session. Laser exposure is most effective on hairs in the anagen stage, or active growth. There are 20-30% of such hair at the time of the procedure; the remaining hair follicles are in a state inaccessible to the laser.
Hair falls out after laser hair removal within 10-15 days. These are hairs that were active at the time of removal and whose bulbs were fully affected by the laser.
Other bulbs, which were dormant at the time of the procedure, are gradually activated, and the hairs from them grow at their normal pace. They are subject to re-processing with a laser. This way, all hair follicles are processed in several steps, and hair stops growing.
The specialist decides how many laser hair removal sessions are needed. This is influenced by the client’s phototype, area of growth of unwanted hairs, their stiffness, growth rate, and hormonal levels. At the first session, the specialist will definitely conduct a consultation, during which he will talk about indications and contraindications, possible risks, aftercare, laser hair removal and how many sessions are needed to treat the area of interest.
While working with a client, a specialist can adjust the duration of the course up or down depending on the client’s individual reaction to the laser. If hormonal treatment is carried out during the hair removal course, the number of sessions may also vary. You should be prepared for such changes.
How effective it is to get rid of excess vegetation can be judged by the popularity of the procedure. How long hair does not grow after laser hair removal depends on the characteristics of the body. If the full course is completed, you can count on a period of more than 5 years without unwanted hairs. At the same time, maintenance hair removal sessions are carried out 1-2 times a year to eliminate newly appeared single hairs in the treated areas and ensure smoothness of the skin.
Hair removal zones and number of sessions
Hair has different densities, hairs differ in thickness, amount of melanin and intensity of growth depending on the area where they grow. Thus, the thickness of the hairs on the legs and thighs is different, so to completely remove them will require a different number of laser hair removal sessions. When hair falls out after laser hair removal, depending on the area of growth, is indicated in the table below:
The table is valid for women; men should add 2-3 visits to the indicated number of procedures due to physiological characteristics.
Among men, adjusting the stubble line is popular, which allows you to achieve a natural and well-groomed beard without constantly maintaining its shape. Typical services for men include treatment of the front and back of the neck, ears and temples, chest and hands, and correction of the eyebrow shape. A lasting result on the face and neck will require at least 6-8 sessions, on the body - at least 8.
Does hair grow after laser hair removal?
Immediately after laser treatment, the hairs remain in place, and this is normal. The laser affects the hair bulbs, which ensures a long-term effect, and not just along the length of the hair. The latter, no longer associated with the follicle, remains in the skin, and as a result of metabolic processes is gradually pushed to the surface, from where it is easily removed.
During the first procedure, the master tells you how long it takes for hair to fall out after laser hair removal, so this will not be a surprise for the client. Hair loss can be expected within 1-2 weeks, after which untreated hair follicles begin to shed. Visually, after the first session there will be much less vegetation.
If hair growth persists after 2 weeks, it means that a mistake was made during the procedure: the wrong device was selected or the wrong parameters were set, as a result of which the laser energy was not enough to destroy the follicles. If hair does not fall out after laser hair removal, the client should contact the institution where the service was provided with a claim of poor quality service.
The administration and the master are interested in the client’s loyalty throughout the course and are ready to meet them halfway. It is possible to conduct a repeat session on favorable terms.
If for any reason there is a need to ensure smoothness of the skin between sessions, then you can shave your hair after laser hair removal. However, a recovery period should be allowed to allow the skin to recover after the procedure. If you shave immediately after laser hair removal, you can get microdamages to the skin, which leads to inflammation and redness. It is even possible to form focal hyperpigmentation, the treatment of which is long and expensive.
It is better to immediately check with a specialist about whether it is possible to shave after laser hair removal or use other methods of removing unwanted hair. There are hair removal methods that should not be used. There are reasons why you should not pluck your hair, use sugaring and waxing. If shaving does not affect the follicle, then pulling out the hair will injure the follicle. The laser is less effective on an injured and weakened follicle, which reduces the effectiveness of the procedure several times.
How often can the procedure be done?
The optimal hair length for laser treatment is from 3 to 5 mm. For the subsequent procedure, the hairs need to be grown again to the same length, so the time between sessions is individual and depends on the rate of hair growth. The interval between the first and second laser exposure ranges from 2 to 4-6 weeks. Since hair grows slower, with each subsequent manipulation the time interval between procedures increases up to 10-12 weeks.
Laser hair removal has recently been gaining powerful momentum and is the leader among all other methods of getting rid of unwanted hair. This happens because previous methods of solving the looming question among women: “How to destroy hair in those places where you want it for a long time?” did not bring the desired result.
With the advent of laser hair removal, waxing and shaving have faded into the background and women increasingly prefer laser intervention.
So what is laser hair removal? The cosmetic laser is adjusted by the specialist depending on the hair type and skin structure. It removes the hair follicle at the root with a directed beam of light coming from a laser.
After this procedure, the hair bulb and shaft are completely killed, which prevents the subsequent appearance of hair. In order to achieve complete destruction of unwanted hair, you need to undergo from 6 to 8 laser hair removal sessions with an interval of two months, and only after that can you consider that a winning result has been achieved.
The time it takes to destroy hair depends on the amount of hair and the area on the body. So epilation of the bikini area and armpits can last about 30 minutes, and on the legs approximately one hour.
The laser hair removal procedure cannot be considered relaxing because you have to feel pain from laser pulses, and it varies depending on the individual characteristics of the body. But the long-term option for getting rid of hair is worth enduring a few minutes of discomfort.
What you need to know if you decide to have laser hair removal:
- It is advisable to indulge in the procedure before the beach season;
- Before the procedure, be sure to shave the areas;
- It is strictly forbidden to do wax hair removal before laser hair removal;
- After the laser procedure, it is strictly forbidden to sunbathe and visit the solarium;
- Before the procedure, do a trial test to see how your body perceives the laser.
Laser hair removal is not carried out quickly, and in order to achieve complete hair removal you will have to go through the procedure several times, so tanning and solarium will have to be postponed for the entire time the laser is affecting the hair.
The best time for laser hair removal is considered to be autumn or winter. Having done the procedure during this period, you can have completely smooth skin by summer.
For better exposure to the beam of light from the laser, it is recommended that before coming to the treatment room, you do regular shaving of the areas that need to be treated. After this, hair removal becomes more effective.
You cannot go for laser hair removal after waxing. This is strictly prohibited. You will have to wait until your hair grows back, then shave it and only then do laser hair removal.
After a laser hair removal session, it is strictly forbidden to visit a solarium or sunbathe for several days so as not to cause skin irritation. If you need to go outside, it is advisable to treat the areas where laser hair removal was done with sunscreen.
Don't skip the practice test before your procedure. With this, the specialist determines what power to apply to remove hair on your body and what dose of painkiller to use.
Now that the new method of hair removal using a laser beam of light is clear, we can answer the question posed in the article: “Why can’t you pluck hair after laser hair removal?”
This is prohibited for one reason: after the procedure, all unwanted hair should fall out on its own, so there is no need to pull out the hair with the follicle that appears with tweezers, so as not to interfere with the process.
Provides complete hair removal by destroying hair follicles from which new hair can no longer grow. However, to achieve such an effect, as a rule, several procedures will be required - from 3 to 9 - since with each new hair removal session, hair that was previously in a dormant state will be removed. Once all the hair follicles under the skin are removed, new hair will simply have nowhere to come from.
However, until this happy moment, in the intervals between hair removal sessions, which are carried out every 3-4 weeks, new hair still grows, albeit lighter, weaker and thinner than before. And their owners face an important question: should they shave? And if you shave, when and with what?
Do I need to shave my hair before going to the clinic?
Answer - Yes. Before the laser hair removal procedure, the hair must be shaved. If hair removal takes place on time, then 2-3 days before the procedure, if on time, then 12 hours before. You need to shave them with a regular razor, without touching the hair follicles - neither sugaring nor electrolysis is suitable for this. The hairs should be short (1-2 millimeters), but in the active growth phase - only then will laser exposure be most effective. The longer the hair, the less laser energy will reach the hair follicle and will simply be wasted throughout the entire length of the hair.
How to remove hair between hair removal sessions?
The first thing to remember is to damage the hair follicles as little as possible in the intervals between laser hair removal procedures. Ideally, it is best not to touch the hair in this area at all, waiting for a new session.
However, if you still need to shave your hair, it is better to use a regular razor. Yes, there is an opinion that after shaving like this, the hair will grow thicker and faster and become stiffer. Let us hasten to refute: even if the hair begins to grow back faster, shaving does not affect the hair follicles themselves and does not in any way affect their number, which means they will not be able to grow thicker.
However, you need to shave with caution, without damaging the skin itself - laser exposure is prohibited on fresh wounds and scratches.
Also, if the hairs are light and soft, you can carefully cut them with nail scissors.
In addition, to remove hair without affecting the roots, you can use a depilatory cream - the chemicals in the cream destroy the hair shaft, but do not affect the hair follicle. In this case, the cream acts in the same way as a razor, but does not cut the hair, but dissolves it. However, you need to choose a cream that itself does not irritate or dry out the skin. It is better to check for an allergic skin reaction to the cream in advance by applying a small amount to the crook of your elbow, waiting 5-10 minutes and checking the next day.
But plucking hair or removing it with an electric epilator, wax or sugar mass is under no circumstances recommended. This method pulls out the hair by the roots, violating the integrity of the skin, leaving microtrauma and damaging the hair follicle itself.
Important! No hair removal method that affects the hair follicles is suitable between laser hair removal! One of the unpleasant consequences is that the bulb will remain in the skin, and the surface of the skin will be damaged by micro-impacts, and it will be impossible to carry out a new hair removal session - the laser will not only “not see” the damaged bulbs, but can also burn the skin.
Hair in the first days after hair removal
In the first days after hair removal, hairs continue to grow and are gradually rejected. They should not be shaved, they fall out on their own - this is a natural process, since the hair follicle that would hold them inside the skin no longer exists. Sometimes hair rejection can take up to 7-8 days.
In addition, after hair removal you should refrain from visiting the bathhouse, sauna, swimming pool, or active physical activity. The increased sweating that these procedures provoke can cause inflammation of the follicles.
To sum it up: Immediately before the laser hair removal procedure, it is not only possible, but also necessary to shave your hair. Immediately after the procedure - it is impossible. In the intervals between sessions, it is possible, but only with a razor or depilatory cream that does not injure the skin and does not affect the hair roots.
A cosmetologist will definitely tell you more about how to care for your skin after laser hair removal during your consultation, recommend care products and provide all the necessary recommendations. To sign up for the procedure, call us or use our website.
