Laser Hair Reduction

Hello, 

I am Dr. Monisha Kapoor, Cosmetic/Plastic Surgeon. I do a lot of surgical and non-surgical procedures for my patients including acne, laser hair reduction, hyperpigmentation, melasma, skin resurfacing, anti-aging therapies, stem cells. So, today I will speak about laser hair reduction. So, the most common things are asked by the client and clearing out the misconception. 1. Does laser hair reduction cause cancer? And: No, it does not. First I will explain that this is not going to penetrate inside your body or cause any harm to the internal body organs. Over the skin, you see the hair shaft. The hair root is inside the skin. The laser targets only 1-2 mm under the skin. The laser has a target. Let's suppose the laser has the target of the black pigment of the skin and it is not going to target the skin. It always depends upon the target of the laser. So, it targets the melanin. Laser beam targets clumped up melanin in the root of the follicle. It increases the temperature of the follicle.

When the temperature increases, it kills the cells. When the follicle and follicular cells are killed, the hair is permanently gone from the body forever. But as it is called laser hair reduction, not removal. Removal means all the hair is gone. If we see our skin then only a few hair is on the surface. A few of the follicle is in the sleeping stage. So, the laser is not able to target that hair. It targets the hair which is in an active stage. That is the reason a couple of sittings are required for complete hair reduction. People should not fight with professional that look you said laser hair removal but I see these couple of hair. The point is to give you a clean and hair-free skin. If you see hair with the microscope that does not mean that the treatment offer to you was not successful. So, the laser has a specific target and it does not target the other stuff. It is not something that is going to damage your DNA. So, at what age you can think of getting it done? You can get this done as young as 16 years of age. People think at this age a lot of hormonal changes are going to happen but nowadays it is safe to take this procedure.

If you see like waxing and shaving leads to a lot of ingrown hair and dark spots. When you wax, you apply force. But when they start to grow, their direction is changed. They start to grow inside the skin. And that leads to a small pimple in the skin. It leads to folliculitis which is quite a difficult thing to treat. So, making another problem because you are not aware that young girls and boys can also be treated with laser hair reduction. In 6 sessions, 80-90% of the result will be achieved. At my center, I have the best technology. I have a gold standard laser technology. So, I have all the technologies under one roof. Sometimes what happens when you are undergoing laser hair reduction, your hair is resistant to one time of wavelength or the lasers. And with repeated sessions, you are not getting any results. So, you switch on to different centers. So, at my centers, because I have all the top brands, you do not have to here and there. Under one roof your problem would be solved. If you are not responding to one wavelength, then I have another option. Now coming on to the side-effects. What can go wrong? If you have a beach holiday or you are on the Himalayas trekking, you have a tan, then make sure you do not get this procedure done.

Why? As I just said that it targets the melanin pigment. So, when you have a tan, your skin is rich in pigment. So, it will heat up your skin which can lead to skin burn and blistering. So, this is the thing you need to be careful. The other side-effects the people with acne-prone skin, their cane can be exaggerated. Because once the laser targets the follicle, the follicle is dead. The body takes care of it. So, you may have a small acne lesion which is actually a good sign. A lot of people get disturbed over it. You can put calming creams, mild steroids. And you should be happy that thing has happened. And this will go away in a couple of months. You don't have to be worried about it and do not take too many medications. What can go wrong with laser hair reduction? If it is done by the wrong hands, if it is done by untrained people, you can get burns. Suppose, I got the laser hair reduction but the energy was too low so I can have a reaction where I will start growing more hair. So, make sure wherever you go for laser hair reduction, it should be done under Dr supervision. So, this was the information I wanted to give you. Where to get it done and where not. What all things I have to keep in mind and what can go wrong and thank you for watching.

Thank you