There are tons of methods out there for removing unwanted and unsightly hair, but some last longer than others. Many people prefer laser hair removal over other methods like waxing, depilatories, or at-home IPL hair removal kits. If you're interested in laser hair removal but don't know the mechanisms behind how it works, then this guide will provide a quick and easy explanation. 

Hair Follicles

Everyone has something called hair follicles. These tiny holes in the skin produce hair and allow it to pass out of the skin and above the surface. Hair follicles look a lot like pores, and the two sometimes co-exist.

Not everyone's hair follicles work similarly. Some people will experience rapid hair growth on a regular basis, while others have hair follicles that don't function normally due to either age, damage, or a blockage. To increase hair growth, hair plugs were usually used to transplant an active hair follicle to another part of the body, allowing bald spots to be returned to full heads of hair. While it's not the easiest thing to turn a hair follicle back on so that it starts producing hair again, turning it off is much easier, and can be achieved with laser hair removal.

How the Laser Works

When you undergo laser hair removal, you can rest easy knowing that your skin won't be harmed and that it should have no real cosmetic impact on you, other than getting rid of the hair you don't want.

Lasers contain a large amount of energy, but they can be directed to only shoot in specific directions or into specific things. With laser hair removal, even though the laser is pointed at the surface of the skin, it has little to no impact on the skin itself. Instead, the laser's light enters a living piece of hair, and its energy travels down into the follicle. This overloads the follicle, damaging it, and prevents it from growing a new hair.

Laser hair removal tends to destroy hairs in a single shot, but multiple treatments may be necessary to fully get rid of all your unwanted hair. This is because hair follicles aren't synchronized. Any hairs that have been recently released from the body won't be available to channel the laser's energy, meaning those follicles can't be impacted. By having multiple treatments, you can ensure that any remaining hairs that grow out after the first treatment will be zapped as well.