22nd September 2011 - How many of us would be recognizing laser as it was originally discovered - a device that emits electromagnetic radiation in the form of light, securing an advantage over other technologies owing to its ability to provide high degree of spatial and temporal coherence.
In today’s world, one of the areas where this technology not only advanced rapidly, but provided much-needed cosmetic solutions and thus wide-spread popularity, was dermatology.
Almost two decades before laser technique could be commercially available in late 90s, it had been tried in dermatology field for Laser Hair Removal and USA took pride in being a pioneer in laser’s use for cosmetic approaches.
Not only widely practiced in cosmetic surgery clinics, this technique was elaborately studied by various research groups to determine its efficacy and safety to finalize the right methods to perform it for such purposes. The introduction of laser hair removal technique replaced the once-preferred and much older electrolysis method, where hair removal was done by giving a mild electric shock in the hair roots with a success rate of almost 100%, as it can be used for hair of any color while laser had been proved to be more effective on only black or brown hair on a light skin because it worked by selectively heating the colored pigment found in skin known as melanin.
The recent advancements in the field have led to the discovery of newer approaches where now dark hair can be removed from dark skin, thus broadening its area. Though much painless compared to other hair removal techniques like thermolysis and electrolysis, laser hair removal can have side-effects too which can range from mild effects like itching, redness, and swelling around the treatment area or in extreme cases, hypo- or hyper-pigmentation, blistering, scarring and skin texture changes.
Thus the customers are strongly advised to go for laser hair removal only under the expert supervision and by adhering to the right schedule involving multiple sittings with required intervals between consecutive sessions. Choosing a right clinic is often made difficult in today’s era of blooming laser clinics each promising themselves to be better and cheaper than others.