Laser hair removal is a permanent reduction in hair growth. Treatments are 6-8 weeks
apart and can take a minimum of 3-6 visits. Laser hair removal is not effective
on white, blonde, gray or red hair.
Most Treatments take 3-6 visits, every 6-8 weeks between each visit. If you purchase
a pkg at your 1st visit, then last treatment is at no charge.
The LightSheer™ Diode Laser System is indicated for the treatment of unwanted
or excess hair. It was developed from research performed at the Wellman Laboratories
of Photomedicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, under the direction of R.
Rox Anderson, M.D. of Harvard Medical School. The near-infrared laser energy produced
by the system is selectively absorbed by melanin in the hair shaft as well as the
surrounding follicle, causing thermal destruction of several key anatomic sites.
Consequently, the hair's re-growth is significantly impeded or eliminated.
In February, 1998, the LightSheer™ System was approved by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for hair removal.The system is manufactured by Palomar Medical
Technologies and distributed by Coherent, Inc.
In the LightSheer™ Diode System, the ChillTip™ cooling lens provides
thermal protection for the epidermis, allowing higher doses of laser energy to safely
and effectively target unwanted hair follicles. The handpiece consists of an actively
cooled sapphire lens that has three purposes. First it cools the epidermis to help
prevent thermal damage. Second, it focuses the laser light to maximize dose penetration
to deep hair follicles. Finally, its convex shape allows compression of the skin
during treatment which temporarily collapses the blood vessels, lies down hairs,
brings the root of the hair closer to the laser energy, and increases transmission
through dermal collagen by as much as 40%.
A variety of techniques have been used traditionally to remove unwanted hair. The
most common include:
- Shaving
- Waxing
- Tweezing
- Mechanical epilating devices
- Chemical depilatories
- Electrolysis/Electrothermolysis
While all of these methods are effective over the short term, they are in turn inconvenient,
messy, painful, or associated with significant risks such as infection or scarring.
And of all of them, only the electricity-based methods have been shown to provide
permanent hair removal.
The two types of electricity-based removal of hair are called electrolysis and electrothermolysis
(or thermolysis for short). In electrolysis, a weak DC current is passed into the
deep portion of follicles between two electrodes. The procedure works by generating
hydrogen gas and reactive hydrogen ions that chemically destroy the adjacent hair
follicle. In electrothermolysis, high frequency alternating current at low voltage
and low current is used to generate heat and thermally destroy hair follicles. Electrolysis
is safe, less painful, and less likely to cause scarring than electrothermolysis,
but the tradeoff is very slow treatment times, especially when large areas are epilated.
Devices that blend both electrolysis and electrothermolysis are common.
The LightSheer™ Diode System is designed to remove unwanted hair through selective
photothermolysis. The process involves local selective absorption of an intense
light pulse at wavelengths that are absorbed by the desired targets (hair follicles)
but not by the surrounding tissue. Like electrothermolysis, photothermolysis destroys
hair follicles through thermal damage. Unlike electrothermolysis, the skin is not
breached (which reduces the risk of infection), and many follicles can be treated
simultaneously.