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Laser Hair Removal

Patient Frequently Asked Questions

How the New LightSheer Diode Laser for Hair Removal Works

The new, specially designed LightSheer™ Diode Laser effectively removes unwanted, excess hair much faster, more reliably, and more comfortably than standard long-term methods like electrolysis and electrothermolysis. To understand how the LightSheer diode laser works, it helps to know a little more about how hair grows and how laser light vaporizes unwanted tissue.

How does hair grow?

Hair forms in a pouchlike structure below the skin called a hair follicle. What we see as hair is actually the hair shaft, which is the keratinized, hardened tissue that grows from this follicle.

Humans have more hair follicles per square inch of skin than most higher primates, including chimpanzees and gorillas. Because most of this hair is fine and pale (called vellus hair), it usually isn’t visible to the naked eye. Consider this: the forehead has more hair follicles than any other part of the body. The thicker, fully pigmented hair most people consider “real hair” is called terminal hair. This hair is found on scalp, eyebrows, legs, backs, underarms, and genital areas. This is the hair the LightSheer diode laser treats.

Phases of hair growth

Everyone’s hair grows differently, depending on age, weight, metabolism, hormones, ethnicity, medications, and other factors. But all hair goes through three distinct growth phases:

  1. Active growth phase (called the anagen phase), which lasts up to several years. At any given time, the majority (85%) of our body hair is in this phase. During anagen, the hair has an abundance of melanin.
  2. Regressive phase (catagen phase), which lasts about two weeks, during which the hair stops growing but is not yet shed. About 3–4% of our body hair is in this phase at any given time.
  3. Resting phase (telogen phase), which lasts 5–6 weeks, at the end of which the hair falls out and a new hair begins to form. Approximately 10-13% of our body hair is in this phase at any one time.

The LightSheer diode laser most effectively disables hair that is in the active growth (anagen) phase. Because all the hair in a treated area may not be in the anagen phase, more than one laser treatment may be necessary to remove the hair that subsequently enters the growth phase.

How does the LightSheer diode laser work?

A laser produces a beam of highly concentrated light. Different types of lasers produce different colors of light.

The light emitted by the LightSheer diode laser is absorbed by the pigment (melanin) located in hair follicles (melanin pigments give hair its color) and hair shaft. The laser pulses for a fraction of a second, just long enough to vaporize the pigment — disabling several hair follicles at a time to eliminate or significantly impede the hair’s regrowth — but not long enough to damage the surrounding skin. The LightSheer diode laser’s special contact-cooling handpiece further protects the epidermis (upper layer of skin). This patented method of epidermal preservation allows delivery of more laser energy deeper into the hair follicle.

Additionally, the LightSheer diode laser is able to treat a broader range of skin types than most other hair-removal lasers. It is delicate enough for a woman’s fine, sensitive skin and robust enough for a man’s beard, back, or arms.