To my surprise she said she does laser hair removal right in her office and told me if I chose to go anywhere else to simply make sure it was done by a licensed and trained professional who knows how to properly operate a laser. And what about those at-home devices that are so popular? Engelman said to beware.
The intense heat from the laser damages the hair follicle, preventing future hair from growing. The best type of hair to laser is dark, coarser hair on the background of lighter skin, Engelman told me. Because of my fair skin color and seriously dark, coarse underarm hair, Engelman said I was an ideal candidate. I also asked if there was anything I should do before the appointment. She said it was perfectly fine to shave and treat my underarms normally.
The only request she had for me was not to wax, as the hair follicle still needs to be physically there under the skin. And you also don't want the hair to grow out too long because the laser would be more attracted to the hair than the follicle root, meaning it would take much longer and many more sessions to see progress.
Once it was time for my appointment, I was escorted into a tiny little room with a giant, white, super-intimidating machine. Sticking out of its roof was a long, black tube, which I assumed emitted the laser on to the selected area of skin.
Once Engelman came in, she explained exactly what was going to go down. And so we began. Engelman lifted my right underarm and placed the black tube on the surface. I felt the cold air and then a tiny zap, which was accompanied by a beep sound from the machine. Not bad at all!
It honestly felt like someone pulled a tiny elastic back and snapped it against my skin. This light is converted to heat, which damages the hair follicles to impede or delay new hair growth.
Underarm laser removal sessions are not long, but it will require several sessions to complete treatment. The number of sessions required to achieve your desired results varies from person to person, but several treatments over 2 to 3 months are effective for most people. Follow the same protocol to prepare for each office visit to increase the success of the procedure.
You're always advised to shave the night before a laser session to avoid the laser burning any hair as it blitzes over the area being treated.
Although results vary depending on each person, I started seeing a difference in the fine texture of my regrowth after the second session. The growth was fine enough that I didn't feel the need to shave in the six weeks between that session and the next. After the first session, though, you may start noticing hairs growing as normal and then quickly falling out as the follicles slowly die. This is completely normal. For underarm treatments in particular, you're required to get six to eight treatments with six weeks in between each session to allow for each follicle to be targeted in the right stage of its growth cycle.
The sessions themselves take five to 10 minutes of actual laser zapping. So, if you thought it was a one-and-done scenario like I did, you're sorely mistaken because you'll be getting treatments for up to eight months. Keep in mind that any direct sun exposure that occurs on the area being treated will mean you have to wait two weeks to ensure the laser doesn't cause further damage. Depending on what your expectations are, laser hair removal might fall on either side of the fence when it comes to whether it's worth it.
As someone with coarse hair that is more prone to ingrown hairs, I developed sensitive, blemished underarm skin because of constant abrasion from shaving and exfoliating, so the break I got from my normal grooming routine was more than worth it, sore underarms and all.
Image Source: Getty Despite how long laser hair removal has been around now, there is still a lot that many don't know about the process.
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