Information on Potential Risks of Laser Hair Removal Treatment

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Potential Risks of Laser Hair Removal

Every treatment or surgery has some pros and cons related to the process and laser hair removal is no exception. Patients who have undergone laser hair removal surgery may suffer some short-term side effects, which are mostly minor. These effects may entail some reddening of the skin or swelling that disappears in a few days. It is certainly irritating but can be allayed with the help of a soothing cream or lotion.

The laser procedure may be ineffective on certain hair and skin colors. If you have darker color skin, the pigment in the skin absorbs the laser light. This way the laser doesn't reach the hair follicle thereby restricting the effect of the treatment, and it might be potentially damaging to the skin. Conversely, because laser hair removal requires pigment to be present in hair follicles to work, unpigmented hair cannot be so easily removed with laser treatments compared to dark hair.

Some of the side effects from laser hair removal are:

  • The Skin Darkens: Sometimes dark spots appear, on and around the treated areas on a patient’s skin. These spots are termed hyperpigmentation. Usually it is a temporary side-effect, but in rare cases it can persist and becomes permanent. This side-effect, if not gone by itself, usually takes considerable time to get cured. To minimize the chances of this happening after laser treatment direct sunlight should be avoided for at least a week.
  • The Skin Lightens: This is the cause of major concern in the people who have darker skin. Laser hair removal treatment is best suited to fair skinned people, but people with darker skin can also be treated of excessive hair by laser hair removal surgery. But it may cause permanent lightening of the skin in the treated area if it is not correctly applied.
  • The laser treatment works by affecting the pigmentation in darker colored hair. It can sometimes lighten darker colored skin as well. How skin lightening takes place is not known yet, but it seems the laser destroys the skin’s pigment producing cells.
  • The skin lightening may be a permanent effect, though it can recover its color very slowly in some cases. Patients having gray or white hair are more likely to have their skin discolored due to the laser hair removal treatment.
  • Blisters Might Appear: Blisters can sometimes appear on the skin after the treatment. It is painful and embarrassing, but it is a temporary side effect. This happens mostly because of using higher influence laser, especially in the case of dark skin. It can also result from improper care of the irritated skin. The pain caused by blisters can be allayed by tissue cooling through a contact chill tip or cryogen spray during treatment and by ice packs after treatment. Your laser clinic should advise.
  • Scarring might take place: Inappropriately applied laser hair treatments can cause severe burns which can result in scarring. If the intensity of the laser light applied exceeds what the skin can bear then burning occurs deep inside the skin. However no risk of burning exists if the device is correctly adjusted to the skin color of the patient undergoing laser treatment.
  • Changes to hair characteristics: Hair of finer and lighter in color may grow after the treatment. Some people might also see new growing hair in areas next to the treated areas. Additional laser treatments will be required to remove them.
  • Alteration of skin texture: The long exposure to laser energy beams might cause skin texture to change its characteristics and it can also damage the skin.

There might be some short term side effects such as, skin irritation, redness or swelling. These usually last for some days and the pain can be taken care of through using anesthetic skin creams. The laser clinic should advise you about this.

While laser hair removal treatment is quite a safe procedure, it is still not completely risk free. However, if you make sure that the procedure is done by a qualified and experienced doctor or technician, you can significantly lessen the chances of side-effects. Don’t forget to take necessary precautions before and after the laser hair removal surgery treatment, to further reduce the chances of side-effects.