Are you looking for a simple, effective, and long-lasting solution to the hassle of shaving every day? Do you want to look great, lessen body odor, and not have to worry about unsightly hair when removing your shirt? Today, laser hair removal for men is a popular option. While electric razors, waxing, and electrolysis can help, hair quickly grows back. To get the most out of your investment, laser technology is a long-lasting, practical answer.
What is Laser Hair Removal?
Laser hair removal consists of several treatments that target dark hair pigment with a hot laser beam of light. This pigment called melanin absorbs the laser beam, toasts the hair shaft, and spreads heat throughout the hair follicle. The procedure causes inflammation that makes the hair contract, shrink, and move into a resting phase. Since hair grows in cycles, it takes several treatments before all unwanted hair enters this phase. During rest, damaged hair falls out but doesn’t grow back. With the hair follicles intact, laser hair removal for men isn’t permanent but does last a long time.
Laser treatments take about 30 minutes. How many depends on the amount of unwanted hair, its location, and growth cycle. On the average, it takes about five to eight sessions, two to three months apart. The benefit is that laser hair removal for men requires touch up procedures only once every year or two.
Laser Treatment Side Effects
Each laser pulse removes a patch of hair about the size of a quarter. The sensation feels like a rubber band snapping the skin. Pain is minimal; most men don’t require an anesthetic. There are several possible side effects:
- Numbness or tingling feeling
- Red or itchy skin
- Swelling around hair follicle
These side effects should not last more than three days.
Do You Qualify for Laser Hair Removal?
Some men want their hair thinned while others want it totally removed. Either way, overall results depend on many factors:
- Hair color
- Skin pigmentation
- Skin type
- Laser type
- Laser settings
- Hair re-growth causes
- Laser technician experience
Lighter skin and black-haired men are easiest to treat. They need fewer sessions since dark hair absorbs laser light more easily. When skin color is lighter than hair color, laser light gathers inside the hair shaft and destroys it without harming the skin. Men with blonde or white hair are never suitable while a special type of laser works on men with black or very dark skin.
Aftercare requires the application of ice packs or aloe vera gel to soothe the inflammation. Hair stops shedding in as little as three weeks. If you gently scrub the skin everyday while showering, you can quicken the process. Once shed, your skin will remain hair free for several weeks. When new hair begins to grow, you simply return for the next treatment. Laser hair removal for men continues until hairs are too fine to target or is as thin as you want it.