Give Unwanted Hair The Star Trek Treatment

Unwanted hair is such a pain. You pluck, pull, wax, tweeze, or use napalm-like creams to remove your unwanted hair, and then in a few weeks there it is again, and you start all over. Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of the hair permanently?

Laser hair removal at Dr. Fedele’s does just that.

A Popular Thing To Do

Getting rid of unwanted hair is a popular thing to do. Year in and year out laser hair removal ranks just behind dermal filler/Botox injections for the number of non-surgical procedures. In 2015, 1,277,581 people had laser hair removal done all over the world.

How It Works

The key to removing hair with laser energy is melanin. Melanin is the substance in our skin and hair that gives it color. Laser hair removal works very well on darker hair, as it contains more melanin. When laser light energy is applied over the targeted hairs, the wavelength is set to match the color of the hair. The hair shaft absorbs the light energy and the energy converts to heat. That heat energy now travels down the shaft into the hair follicle, damaging or destroying the follicle and preventing future hair growth.

Because the laser needs to target the melanin, laser hair removal isn’t as effective on blond or gray hair — those hairs have less melanin.

Timing Is Key

To be effective, the laser needs to catch the hair in the correct phase of the growth cycle. There are three phases: anagen (active growth), telogen (transition), and cathagen (hair ejection and rest). Humans average something around five million hairs on their bodies, and each follicle can be in a different phase of the hair growth cycle. Laser hair removal works on hairs in the anagen cycle; that is when the hair has the most melanin and it is still firmly anchored in the follicle.

That’s why multiple treatments are required for effective hair reduction, as around 20 percent of the hair in a given area will be in the anagen phase. We recommend from 4-6 sessions to effectively treat an area. This should eliminate around 80 percent of the actively growing hairs.

Are you tired of dealing with unwanted hair? Call Dr. Fedele at 216-464-1616 and schedule a laser hair removal consultation.

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