There are many ways to get rid of hair on your body these days. If you want to remove it at home, the easiest option is to reach for a razor and shave it away. Although, you might also opt for waxing or sugaring. But such methods are not perfect. They can take a lot of time and become expensive over time. Shaving is also quite inefficient. Waxing might be a bit more reliable, but it is also more uncomfortable and far less convenient. If you want the best of all worlds, your local skincare clinic offers several methods for hair removal that work better and with fewer hassles. Among them are lasers and light-based therapies.
Lasers Versus Other Light-Based Procedures for Hair Removal
One of the most common light-based procedures found in clinics is intense pulsed light treatment, or IPL. The purpose of IPL is to use short bursts of light of a particular type to affect each hair. The light used for IPL treatments is in a completely separate category from that of lasers.
Lasers are focused light beams. The particular type of light used also creates heat. The beams of laser devices for hair-removal are different from the bursts of cooler light used by IPL devices, but they serve a similar purpose. That is to weaken hairs by damaging both the shafts and the follicles. However, IPL treatments are typically more mild in nature. That means you may need more of them to achieve the same effects garnered from fewer laser treatments.
Advantages of IPL Versus Advantages of Laser Hair Removal
Laser hair removal is obviously the most advantageous of the two options in terms of strength. However, that strength does come with some cautions and potential risks. For example, laser beams are best used to treat your unwanted hair if it is dark and your skin is comparatively light in color. Yet, dark skin does make you a bit more prone to having the laser potentially change the color of your skin. Such changes can be annoying and embarrassing, but are often temporary.
In contrast, IPL treatments are milder. Therefore, they come with fewer risks. In fact, if your clinician determines you are a poor candidate for laser treatment, you may still qualify for IPL. You may also prefer IPL because you are likely to have less discomfort during each procedure. However, your clinician can manage your discomfort with the application of cool air or numbing agents to your skin during either type of procedure.
Laser and Light-Based Hair Removal Short-Term Outlooks
Neither IPL nor laser treatment is an immediate fixed for unwanted body hair. The procedures are not magical, and the results are not instantaneous. In fact, you may notice very little difference after a session, if any. It takes quite a bit of time for each hair to weaken and regrowth to slow. In the short-term, you must expect to attend a series of appointments to get the results you want. Your skin must recover between appointments, so they must be spaced accordingly.
Laser and Light-Based Hair Removal Long-Term Outlooks
Lasers are stronger than IPL devices. Therefore, the results of laser treatment are often more long-lasting. However, both procedures can give you a lengthy respite from constant waxing or shaving. You might go several weeks or more without seeing regrowth after completing your treatment session series of either procedure type. However, permanent hair removal is unlikely, especially on a widespread scale. Some hairs never grow back, but most do. They simply do so at a much slower rate because each entire hair has to regrow from the root up. Hair is not left just below your top layer of skin as with shaving.
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