Laser Hair Removal

Your very first laser hair removal appointment can be exhilirating or nerve-wracking or both! Here is a checklist of things to remember:

Four weeks or more in advance

It's important to stop using depilation creams, sugaring, tweezing , epilating and waxing at the latest 2 weeks prior to treatment, and ideally a month or more in advance. These depilation methods interfere with the root that the laser treatment for hair removal is designed to target.

Lose your tan! The whiter your skin is at the point you have your laser treatment for hair removal, the more effective and long lasting your results from laser hair removal are likely to be.

Talk about pain prevention with your hair laser removal clinic and choose a plan.

There are topical anesthetics such as EMLA, which you apply to your skin. These products are excellent if you are concerned about pain during the treatment, however do be cautious if you are spreading it on large areas of skin as the chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream. Follow the directions closely.

Think about whether you wish to take photographs of the areas of the body you are having treated to have a visual record of how well the treatment works. The clinic might do this but even so you might want to keep your own record.

About a week in advance

Consider the option of booking some vacation time if you are having laser hair removal on the face and feel you might be embarrassed about the red skin that you'll probably have present immediately after your laser hair removal treatment. For other areas of the body, you can most likely go immediately back to your regular day after your hair laser removal appointment.

24 Hours to go!

The night before is a ideal time to shave the areas of the body you are going to have laser hair removal done on. If you shave within 24 hours of the treatment you will find the pain more tolerable and it can also be more effective because less of the laser energy is used on torching the hair above the skin, meaning a greater proportion of the laser energy is directed where it is most useful, at the root, to kill it off.

The morning of your appointment

If you are getting your underarms treated, don't apply any deodorant. Just wash your underarms with soap and rinse thoroughly. If it's a hot day and there's a danger you might get too sweaty prior to your appointment, you could use unscented baby wipes to ward off any smells.

For any areas of the body, don't put lotions or creams on before laser hair removal.

20 minutes prior to your appointment

For those of us who get a bit concerned at the thought of pain from laser hair removal, taking two oral painkillers at this point seems like a really good idea - better to be safe than sorry!

Wishing you a successful and stress-free laser treatment for hair removal!