Having unwanted hair removed using a laser is often a method people might choose and seems pretty straightforward at first. With the average person sprouting over five million hairs on the human body that’s a lot of hair to think about. Laser hair removal is thought to be a quick, convenient way to look aesthetically more pleasing and you might believe it can be achieved in one session. Sounds simple enough for the technician to use multiple lasers and take at the different areas the client desires to get rid of this hair.
The answer is something called growth cycles where hair is continually growing in and some even fall out on their such as the hair on the human head. With three cycles in the growth cycle laser energy is really only effective to remove hair when it’s in one of these three cycles. In any session the goal is to catch as many hairs as possible that are in the same cycle.
The Three Cycles
Surprisingly each hair has their own plan, yes all five million of them is off doing their own thing at their own pace. Some areas such as the male beard spend more time growing and yet individually they’re moving through their own little growth cycle with no regard for all the other hairs.
One of these cycles is the anagen ( growth ) cycle, then there is the catagen ( transitional phase between growth and rest ) and lastly is the telogen or rest phase. The catagen and telogen phases are about stopping the nourishment of the hair, shedding it and restarting a new hair shaft. To employ laser energy when hair is in either of these phases of the growth cycle would have no effect at all as the hairs are already on their way out. This means the laser energy cannot get into the hair follicle to damage the hair. The only time laser energy will be effective on an individual hair that hair needs to be firmly anchored in the hair follicle.
The anagen is the only phase when this occurs as the hair is receiving nourishment through the hair follicle and still growing. The body is holding onto this hair and is not ready to shed it just yet. Timing is everything and by applying laser energy to the hair in this phase the melanin in the hair shaft absorbs the light and then converts it to heat. That heat then travels down into the hair follicle which damages or destroys the hair follicle preventing any hair growing there again.
With 5 million hairs and only some in the anagen phase it’s understandable why it takes multiple sessions to achieve permanent Vancouver laser hair removal from Pure Light Laser Skin and Body Clinic.
Pure Light Laser Skin and Body Clinic
Unit 606 – 777 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
V5Z – 4J7
604-568-8042
