Preparing for a laser hair removal session

Laser hair removal targets the melanin in the hair: the hair absorbs the light, and the heat reaches the follicle that produces it. It only acts on hairs in their growth phase at the time of treatment, hence several spaced sessions. The aim is a lasting reduction in hair growth, with no guarantee of permanent hair removal — and much of the procedure’s safety is decided in the weeks before.

What to expect

How long it takes depends on the area: a few minutes for the upper-lip down, half an hour or more for full legs. Several areas can be treated in the same session when their rhythms allow.

Plan for several sessions: often six to eight on the body and eight to ten on the face, four to ten weeks apart depending on the area. The actual number cannot be given before the examination: it depends on your phototype, the density and colour of the hair, and your hormonal balance.

Preparing, four to six weeks before

For the four to six weeks before, no waxing, tweezing, epilator or hair-removal cream: they take out the hair, which is exactly what the laser aims at. The razor, on the other hand, is allowed — and even requested: shave the area the evening before or on the morning itself.

No sun, sunbeds or self-tanner for the four weeks before, and no new photosensitising treatment without telling us: skin that is tanned or sensitised to light is not treated, as it is exposed to burns and pigment marks. On the day, come with clean skin, with no cream, deodorant or make-up on the area.

What to tell us

Any current treatment, starting with those that make the skin sensitive to light: isotretinoin — several months must pass after stopping it —, some antibiotics, St John’s wort. A pregnancy, even an early one: as a precaution, we do not treat.

Herpes or an infection on the area, a tattoo or permanent make-up the laser must avoid, a mole that has changed in appearance. And if hair has appeared or thickened recently on the chin, neck or abdomen, say so: a hormonal cause, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, is looked for before starting. An assessment can be arranged in a medical consultation: the laser treats the hair, not its cause.

How the session goes

At the first visit, a test may be carried out on a small patch, to check how your skin responds before the whole area is treated. Everyone in the room wears protective goggles, you included.

The device and its settings are chosen according to your phototype and hair, and the skin is cooled with every pulse. The sensation is often described as an elastic band snapping, with heat, more marked on thin or dense areas — upper lip, bikini line, underarms.

Afterwards, and what to do

Redness and small bumps around the hairs are expected, for a few hours to 48 hours. For those two days, no hammam, sauna, swimming pool, intense exercise or rubbing on the area; on irritated underarms, no scented deodorant on the day itself.

SPF 50 sun protection on exposed areas for four weeks, with no direct exposure. The treated hairs fall out within one to three weeks: this is expected, do not pull them out. Between sessions, only the razor is allowed — waxing or tweezing would remove the target of the next session.

When to call us back

Call the practice in case of a blister, a crust, a burn or a pigment mark on the treated area. These reactions are rare; they are easier to treat the earlier they are seen, and they lead to a review of the settings for the next session.

Let us know too if, on the face or neck, the hair seems to grow back thicker or more abundant around the treated area. It is rare, but it changes the approach.

None of the above replaces the prior consultation: it alone says whether this procedure is right for you, and on what terms.