IPL Hair Removal
The marketing hype will tell you that with a few sessions of IPL hair removal – and some slight discomfort, you can be hair free forever. To anyone who has battled with unwanted facial or body hair this sounds like the perfect solution.
However, with the exceptions of Queensland, Tasmania and WA the laser industry is unregulated, and powerful medical lasers and IPLs are accessible to untrained and inexperienced personnel. Even in the states with some legislative controls, clinical application training isn’t covered.
How it works
- Permanent hair reduction involves the use of either a single wavelength of light (laser) or a flash of light containing hundreds of wavelengths (IPL or broadband light BBL).
- Melanin within the hair follicles is targeted, heating and damaging the follicles in an active growth cycle.
- Only hairs that have colour can be treated, so white and grey hairs won’t respond.
- Success of the treatment depends on your colouring, with laser generally working best on fair skin and dark hair.
- Fairer skin and red hair will respond to a lesser degree and those with darker skin can be treated, but only with a great deal of care.
All the experts CHOICE spoke to agree that laser or IPL hair removal treatment, in the hands of an experienced and trained operator can be very effective. Melbourne dermatologist Dr Philip Bekhor says its the best way to remove unwanted hair, as long as you’re a “suitable candidate”.
source: [source: http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/beauty-and-personal-care/hair-removal/laser-hair-removal.aspx]
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