The Reduction Of Hair Permanently – How Permanent Is It?
The Reduction of Hair Permanently: Permanent laser hair reduction - is it truly permanent? How long can the results last?
This is a good question! To get an idea for how permanent laser hair removal is it is necessary to understand how hair grows and how laser hair removal works. Let's investigate these in turn.
How Does Hair Grow?
Hair grows from structures termed follicles below the skin. The root grows in the follicle, and the portion of the hair that you can see above the skin is termed the "shaft" of the hair. Your body hair grows in a cyclic way. At any one point, the hair in some follicles will be actively growing; other hair follicles will be resting, and yet others will be in the process of shedding.
How Laser Hair Removal Works
Reduction of unwanted body hair or even permanent removal is now achievable for most skin and hair colorings. Laser hair reduction therapy works by targeting hair root cells under the skin. It is possible for the laser beams to hone in on the hair root cells because of the melanin these cells contain, which makes them darker than the surrounding tissues.
However, this does mean that the efficacy of laser hair removal services is dependent on the disparity in color between the hair root cells and the skin. In other words, it works best if you have very white skin and very dark hair - where there is a strong disparity between the dark color of the hair root cells and the light color of the surrounding skin tissues.
Even in ideal circumstances, however, the laser beams do not do away with all of the hair. Why not? Due to the fact that the laser beams can only hone in on actively growing hairs. As we learned earlier, only a certain percentage of the body hair in any one area will be actively growing. This is why laser hair removal treatment sessions are typically spaced 4 - 6 weeks apart - so that different follicles will be active at subsequent treatment sessions, and can be effectively "zapped".
Conclusion
Usually, permanent laser hair removal can result in a permanent solution by incapacitating a large percentage of the follicles or roots below the skin. The therapy will not produce a 100% removal of body hair but is likely to provide relief by halting a large proportion of the growth; the rest of the regrowth should be significantly weaker, paler and thinner.
Permanent laser hair removal is a truly viable solution for excessive hair growth.
Ingrid Preube
