Preparing for a treatment

Unlike waxing, the area to be treated must be shaved. The less hair above the surface, the more effective the treatment. If your follicles aren't generally agitated by shaving, you can shave just prior to the treatment. Otherwise it is best to shave sooner and allow them time to settle down before the treatment.

If you have recently been in the sun or on a sun-bed, you will need to wait until your skin has returned close to its normal color before a treatment.

The treatment procedure

You will lie comfortably on the treatment bed and your eyes will be covered with protective goggles. The desired area will be marked into smaller sections (~10cm square areas) and each of these will be treated in succession. A cooling hydrogel is applied to the small section.

The treatment wand (a liquid cooled unit with a sapphire light guide) is placed against the skin. As the laser pulses, the wand is continuously moved about the section.

The skin will gradually warm towards the desired point of 45 degrees at the follicle. You will then feel a prickly sensation as the follicles respond to the energy and the area will get hot within a minute or two. You're in full control during the treatment and by simply saying "stop" or "move" you determine how much you can take and the intensity. The power levels can also be adjusted to more gradually warm the area or determine the overall heat.

The treatment then moves to the next area and the process repeats till the entire area has been treated.

After the treatment

There is no lasting sensation in each of the sections but the treated sections typically remain pink or red for 30 minutes. Skin within the treated area will generally return to normal color within an hour, but the follicles may exhibit slight inflammation or redness which generally subsides within several hours or a day or two.

The skin may be slighty sensitive to hot water for a day or so. Avoid exposure to sun!

Between treatments

Hair growth will continue between sessions. The hairs that were effectively treated in each sesseion will appear to grow out as well but will be expelled from the follicle within a week or two. In some cases, they may fall out sooner due to various exfoliation methods.

In order to deal with hair growth between treatments, you may continue to shave the treated area. After each session, hair growth will become increasingly sparse in the treated area.