To some people, it is very essential to look presentable. In order to feel their best, people often turn to painful methods such as waxing, shaving, or threading in an attempt to get rid of body hair. While these are effective temporarily, in the long run they could cause itchiness, bruising of skin, redness, and ingrowth of hair. Moreover, these need to be done on a regular basis.

If you are tired of this as well, a better alternative is laser hair removal, a process where body hair is permanently reduced with exposure to laser lights that destroy the unwanted hair follicle. Laser sessions, over a period of 4 to 6 weeks, reduce the size of hair follicles and finally stop the hair from growing. However, sometimes hormonal changes can cause the hair to grow again.

The benefits of laser hair removal are:

• It removes a lot of hair at once
• No harm is done to the skin while performing the laser hair removal procedure
• Removes hair permanently over a few sittings
• It’s not painful and does not require to be repeated like shaving or waxing

Some important points to remember before getting a laser treatment done:

• Precautions before starting the laser hair removal process
  Avoiding waxing and shaving for at least four weeks before the laser hair removal process helps in the successful removal of hair from the roots.
• Avoid taking antibiotics
  Before starting your laser hair removal treatment, one should not take antibiotic medicines. If you are already on antibiotics, you should inform the person performing the procedure before starting the treatment.

Types of laser hair removal

• Diode
  This hair removal technique is mainly used for people with dark skin tone. It offers safe removal of hair from the roots. Sometimes, scars and burns might be caused due to diode treatment but it does not damage the skin.
• Nd:YAG
  This process is usually used to remove tattoos and hair follicles from large areas. Although it can be used on all skin types, it is less effective on people with fine hair and is a bit painful when compared to other laser hair removal techniques.
• Alexandrite
  Alexandrite is apt for people with fair skin tones. This technique takes lesser time as compared to other laser treatments. Moreover, it can be a bit more painful than other laser hair removal treatments .
• Intense pulsed light (IPL)
  Low – intensity light beams are produced in IPL as compared to the other laser treatments. This procedure is usually used to remove hair from the bikini line and facial hair. It does not cause damage to the skin and is more suitable for light, sparse hair. Moreover, it effectively works on both light and dark hair.

Aftercare

• Apply ice packs on the area of treatment to soothe the irritation
• Applying aloe vera gel also helps as it contains antioxidants
• Protect the skin from UV rays as it can worsen the discomfort
• Use a natural cleanser to clean the treated area
• Do not use makeup for at least 24 hours