Hair removal . . .

Our bodies contain all the hair follicles we'll ever have from the very day we are born. Although over time, some may change in size, often due to hereditary hair loss, new hair follicles do not develop. As adults, we have about 100,000 individual strands of hair. Losing around 100 of them every day is completely normal and is simply the result of the natural hair growth cycle, similar to an 'on-off' system. This means that when an old hair 'dies', the growing phase starts again for a new hair to replace it. The hair growth cycle goes through three different phases:

Phase 1 - Anagen
This is the growing phase lasting anywhere from two to six years when hair cells grow rapidly, producing the hair shaft from the follicle, which itself grows deeper into the scalp. The length of the anagen phase determines the maximum length of the hair.

Phase 2 - Catagen
The catagen phase only lasts for one to two weeks. It is the transitional or regressive phase when the hair stops growing and the hair follicle shrinks while part of it begins to die.

Phase 3 - Telogen
This is the final resting stage, or so called 'off' phase when the hair follicle becomes active again and a new hair in the anagen phase develops, forcing the old telogen hair out.
At any one time, around 90% of a person's hair follicles are in the 'growing' anagen phase and approximately 10% are in the 'resting', or telogen, phase

Unwanted hair can be a serious issue for many men and women.
Not too long ago, the only options for hair removal were electrolysis, waxing or shaving. However, over the last 10 years, photoepilation using laser light energy has become the most popular method of hair removal. While many methods can eliminate unwanted hair, very few can match the speed, effectiveness and safety of laser while eliminating or reducing hair regrowth. During the treatment, light passes through the skin and is absorbed by the melanin in the hair shaft. This absorption raises the temperature of the hair follicle and thermally destroys the cells responsible for regrowth. The attributes of the light (wavelength, pulse duration and power) are chosen to ensure damage to these cells and not the rest of the skin.

The two sets of images to the left show before and after treatment for facial hair removal.

There are many reasons to throw out that razor and let the laser do the work. The treatment is fast, effective and results are such that permanent hair reduction may be achieved following a typical course of treatment. Only actively growing hair can be treated at a particular time and because hair growth occurs in phases, the treatments are scheduled several weeks apart. The number of sessions depends on the area to be treated, the density of the hair growth and the skin type. The rewards of the treatments are a beautiful, smooth and silkier skin.

The image to the left shows a soprano back before & after Laser Hair Removal treatments.