f you’ve been having laser hair removal at one of those clinics, the ones where you buy endless packages, where treatments are cheap and you go every month hoping for results to eventually show, then this is the blog series for you.
Over the next 3 blog posts we will be sharing all of our laser insights with you to help you navigate the industry and make the most informed choice about laser hair removal and if the treatment and provider are right for you!
This post is all about the importance of the laser settings and how this can impact the success of your treatment.
The posts to follow will explain the timing of your treatments and how this impacts your results and lastly, why your laser therapist is vital to your treatment success.
We’ve been lasering at SkintifiX for a decade, personally, I have been wielding a laser beam for over 15 years and I’ve seen it all!
I’ve met new clients who have been elsewhere, had clients leave SkintifiX to go elsewhere only to quickly return, realising that not all laser treatments are created equally.
Yes, there is cheaper, we don’t dispute that for a second.
But there isn’t better!
Recently I met with the director of a major laser supplier and over a cocktail at an event we had a very frank chat about how despite using the same family of lasers, why is it that at SkintifiX we can achieve over 80% hair removal clearance within 6-8 treatments, yet some clinics are still treating clients 10- 15 and even 20 treatments in.
The discussion that ensued was quite eye opening, but really only confirmed what we already knew.
We know that the biology of hair requires certain levels of treatments spaced at specific treatment times. If not following the basic principles of nature’s hair cycle and science, the success of a laser hair removal treatment is greatly compromised.
The setting of a laser, combined with the timing of each session will greatly impact your results.
Today, let’s talk about the settings.
Laser, if used correctly, should be set at a level that challenges the follicle, creating an effective clearance of the hair, whilst still keeping your skin safe.
Using a setting that is too low doesn’t destroy the follicle but weakens the hair, resulting in finer, fluffier hair but no reduction in the overall number of hairs.
You may have experienced this if you have had multiple low level laser sessions and are noticing that the hair that grows back between each session is finer and lighter in colour but still significant in number.
Once a hair is weakened, too light, too fine and lacks the chromophores that attract the laser, there is nothing further that can be achieved. The hair has been altered, beyond treatable.
When used outside recommended parameters, you can achieve a sub-par treatment that for a short while will retard the growth of hair or weaken it, but it won’t actually destroy the active part of the follicle that is responsible for producing hair.
Sadly, we see many cases like this where clients have a high number of treatments at another clinic and are frustrated when they present at SkintifiX and we are unable to treat the weak, fine hair that remains.
Why would someone treat at a level that is sub-par for getting a result?
This is a question we consider every day.
There are a couple of reasons we consider that might lead a clinic to using lower settings for your treatments:
Inexperience
When a therapist is new to lasering, or doesn’t feel confident for any number of reasons, it’s quite common to lower the settings to reduce any skin response or reaction. Yes, reactions can and do occur from laser treatments and the higher the settings the stronger the skin response, the higher the risk. Not all responses are bad. For a successful treatment, a visual response within the follicle is to be expected but is often feared so keeping the laser low, lowers the risk of this happening.
But we have learned that lowering the risk of anything happening also equals low reward. We are devoted to getting you results whilst keeping you safe.
To increase the frequency of sessions-
The lower the settings the more treatments you need. So overall a significantly lower entry price is relentlessly promoted, but the longer term investment of multiple sessions and multiple package treatments soon weighs up.
Worth it if you have great results. Not worth it if you are left with untreatable hair.
We liken it to buying a coffee a few times per week. You don’t mind the odd $5 here and there but over a year, it all adds up. Then, after a year of more of $5 coffees, you find out that they’d switched the regular coffee for decaf and suddenly that $5 every few days feels wasted. You feel cheated.
Having spent a significant amount of money on laser, over a long time period, quite often clients who come to us, having endured over 20 treatments with a low level of reduction, wish they had just started at SkintifiX from the beginning. The investment would have been similar yet the results effective from day one!
If you have been having laser sessions where you feel that the hair just isn’t responding. We would encourage you to come and see us for a consultation and test patch. Knowing the difference between hair that is no suitable and knowing the most effective settings for your skin is our speciality.
Head over to read part 2 of our mini blog series.
The next post talks about treatment timing.
This is vital to the success of your treatments.
Poorly timed sessions mean poor results.
