| Lasers are very effective in permanently reducing or eliminating unwanted hair and tattoos Although the lasers used for hair and tattoo removal are different, the concept is the same. Lasers are of a specific wavelength, and therefore can be used to "attack" certain colors. In hair, for instance, we attack the dark pigment of the hair shaft and follicle. With tattoos, we go after the particular colors in the tattoo we want to remove. This is why we can damage the colored structure (tattoo or hair follicle) and not damage the skin, which is a different color. For the most part, these treatments are not painful and are well tolerated. You do have a sensation of heat while being treated, but most people tolerate this quite well. Tattoo removal is a little more uncomfortable for most people so we will pre-treat the skin with a numbing cream before starting. HairLasers work best on dark hair. Because the hair follicle is most prone to be damaged during its growth phase, we must treat the hair during that phase for effective hair removal. Since only about 1/3 of our hair is in active growth phase at any one time, we usually have to do at least 3 separate treatments to get most of the hair. We cannot guarantee complete and permanent hair removal on everyone, but typically over 95% of the treated hair responds permanently. TattoosDepending on the colors in the tattoo, we may use different laser heads (wavelengths) to treat the tattoo. The energy from the laser "explodes" the pigment in the tattoo allowing your own body's cells to devour and eliminate the ink. Because the lasers can only break up the pigment, and cannot actually remove it, it does take several treatments (usually 8 or more) and several weeks to get a good result. Occasionally, some scarring may occur after laser treatments. |
