A – Having people ask us ‘is laser hair removal permanent?’ is one of the more common questions we receive here.
Laser hair removal CAN be permanent, but it will always require a number of successive treatments in order to achieve permanent hairlessness on the region of the body being treated. To understand why this is, it is helpful to understand that hairs have three different growth stages; anagen, catagen, and telogen phases. Each hair follicle will pass through these 3 stages, but will do so on different cycles than other hair follicles in the same vicinity on the skin.
Laser hair removal is only effective when the laser meets hair follicles that are in the anagen (growth) or catagen (transition) stages. When a laser hair removal procedure is underway some of the hairs in that area will be in the telogen (resting / shedding) phase and they won’t be affected by the laser. Follow-up treatments are the only way to be sure you’re removing hair that was in telogen stage when you had your previous treatment.
Most patients are able to achieve permanent and complete hair removal in their treated area within 3 to 5 sessions, and your follow-up sessions will be scheduled based on the best time intervals for giving the treatment.
Keep in mind, however, that for some patients more than 3 to 5 treatments may be required, for any number of different reasons. The primary one is the different densities of hair people may have on certain body regions based on their gender, ethnicity, or other factors.
Is laser hair removal permanent? Yes, it can be but it always requires an initial treatment followed by successive treatments. The number of those treatments will depend on the individual.