Hair Still Growing After Laser Hair Removal -

After a few laser hair removal sessions, you can enjoy hair-free skin for years. During treatment, hair follicles are damaged and they are unable to grow any more hair. However, it is possible that some follicles survive treatment and will be capable of growing new hair in the future.

If you find an area of your body is experiencing noticeable hair growth a couple of years after your treatments, you can safely receive a follow-up session. Several factors, such as hormone levels and prescription medications, can lead to hair growth. There’s no way to predict the future and say with complete confidence that your follicles will never grow hair again. However, there is also a chance you will enjoy permanent results.

In this blog, we’ll also consider patchy hair growth after laser and stubble after laser hair removal.

Why Does Hair Continue to Grow After Laser Treatments?

As mentioned previously, several factors affect whether hair will grow back after laser removal. The type of hair treated is another factor that affects the possibility of future hair growth. After your laser session, the growth of new hair will be less noticeable. However, even though laser treatments damage hair follicles, they’re not destroyed completely. Over time, the treated follicles may recover from the initial damage and grow hair again.

It’s a tall order to eliminate every hair follicle in a given area. Therefore, you may notice a tiny amount of hair regrowth. Your hair goes through several phases of a growth cycle. During the anagen phase, there is extra melanin in the follicle from the hair being grown. The laser hones in on this melanin. It does not burn surrounding skin tissue or hair follicles in any of the other phases of the hair growth cycle.

Is it Possible to Enjoy Permanent Results?

It is possible to enjoy semi-permanent results. You can expect the results of your treatments to last for a couple of years. However, it is not very realistic to believe your follicles will never recover from the heat damage they received. Also, please note that when your hair grows back after laser treatments, it will grow back smoother than ever before.

It is also important to note that the location of the treatment affects the longevity of the results. If you’re eliminating unwanted hair from your arms, lower legs or pubic region, the results will last longer than if you were removing thinner unwanted hair from your face, neck or chest. Your skin health also affects the longevity of the treatment results.

How Does This Method of Removing Unwanted Hair Work?

Laser treatments for removing unwanted hair work by emitting lightwaves that emit heat. These lightwaves are attracted only to the follicles in the anagen phase of the hair growth cycle and destroy them. Your follicles are responsible for growing new strands of hair. They can’t grow new hair strands when they are damaged. Shaving, waxing and tweezing are ineffective for the long-term removal of unwanted hair because they only remove the hair from the skin’s surface.

The follicle remains undamaged to grow new hair another day. Laser therapy is incredibly convenient. If you’re looking to treat a smaller area, like the underarms, you can be done in just a few minutes. It is only if you are trying to treat larger areas, like your chest or back, that you should expect your treatment to last at least an hour.

An Important Reminder

It is possible that your hair follicles recover from the burning. You should be prepared to receive several sessions for the ideal results.

Why Do I Need Multiple Treatment Sessions?

You need to receive several laser therapy sessions to enjoy all of the benefits offered by laser therapy. Exactly how many treatments you need depends on how quickly your follicles cycle through the hair growth process. The average person needs no more than six treatment sessions.

For the best results, these need to be spaced out several weeks apart. It can take up to 12 months to finish your treatment course. However, it’s important to understand that you will enjoy better results after every session. If hair grows back, it will be thinner and lighter.

How Can I Prevent Hair Regeneration?

You can mitigate the risk of future hair regeneration by scheduling regular follow-up treatments. You may need one or two treatments annually once you have finished your laser therapy course.

Exactly how often you will need maintenance sessions depends on the area targeted for treatment. Note, your laser therapy sessions won’t take as long when you come in for preventative maintenance, especially if you only have a couple of small areas with slight hair growth.

Is it Possible to Wait Too Long Between Treatments?

Yes, it is possible to wait too long between laser therapy sessions. If you wait a couple of months between sessions, it is possible the follicles will not be damaged enough to stop growing hair. Although you could still enjoy the initial benefits of treatment three to five days after the first session, it is possible to lose the progress made.

At some point, your follicles may go back to growing hair at the rate they used to. In contrast, you should enjoy virtually permanent results if you complete a course of sessions in a timely manner and come in for maintenance once per year.

How Many Sessions May I Need?

As we’ve mentioned previously, the average person needs no more than six sessions in a course to achieve the desired effects. Furthermore, you should wait several weeks between treatment sessions. Most people get the best results when they schedule their sessions between four and eight weeks apart. We will discuss a tailored treatment plan during your initial consultation.

There are many factors we must consider when determining the most effective treatment plan for you. Among these factors are the areas you are targeting for treatment, your skin tone, your hair color and how quickly your hair follicles cycle through the hair growth process.

What Can I Expect Before My Treatment Session?

Before your treatment session, you need to come in for an initial consultation. During this consultation, we will tailor a treatment plan for you based on your skin tone, hair color and the parts of your body you want to remove hair from. We will also discuss your medical history and the drugs and supplements you are currently taking. We may advise you to stop taking certain drugs and supplements temporarily and take other steps to prepare for your laser therapy.

Preparing Your Skin for Laser Therapy

We urge you to shave before your laser therapy session. You may find it hard to reach certain areas you may be targeting for treatment but you should do your best. However, please note, it is more important to not wax or tweeze your hair than it is to shave. Waxing and tweezing will make your laser therapy less effective because the hair is removed from the follicle. There won’t be pigments in the treatment area for the laser to hone in on and burn if there is no hair.

Don’t wax or tweeze during the 72 hours leading up to your laser therapy. If you can’t go three days without smooth skin, you may shave. Again, shaving is encouraged. Just make sure you mitigate your risk of irritated skin by using a clean, sharp razor and shaving cream. Furthermore, you should moisturize your skin diligently but avoid any cosmetics in the treatment area with fragrances. Finally, wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen diligently and don’t tan your skin.

What Can I Expect During My Treatment Session?

During your treatment session, you will be provided with eye protection designed specifically to protect your eyes from laser light. Even if your eyes are closed completely during treatment, you will be able to tell when the light is being emitted. Don’t worry. Your eyes will not be damaged. We also advise you to protect areas not being targeted for treatment with comfortable clothing. You should only expose the treatment area.

What Can I Expect After My Treatment Session?

After your treatment session, the treated skin will feel warm if you did not opt for a topical anesthetic. If you opted for a topical anesthetic, your treated areas will feel numb for a while after treatment. Regardless of whether your treatment areas were numbed, you will not feel any pain. You are free to continue with your daily routine as long as that includes protecting your skin from UV damage.

Roughly three to five days after your laser therapy session, you will notice the hairs in the treated area falling out. This process may take up to 14 days. However, it is okay to shave after your treatment session if you feel the need to. It’s also worth noting that your skin won’t be discolored after laser therapy. This is in stark contrast to shaving or waxing which often leads to hyperpigmentation.

A Crucial Note About the Manual Removal of Unwanted Hair After Laser Therapy

By now, you know it is important to not wax, tweeze or pluck your hair in the three days leading up to your laser hair removal treatment session. If possible, refrain from using these methods for removing unwanted hair between your scheduled sessions. It takes roughly six weeks for your follicles to grow hair that can be targeted effectively by lasers. Remember, you need the shaft of the hair intact so the laser light can target large amounts of melanin.

What Else Should I Avoid After Treatment?

After your laser therapy, you should also avoid activities that cause excessive sweating, such as steam rooms, dry saunas, hot showers, and vigorous exercise. You should also make a concerted effort to not tan until you have received your last laser session. The more contrast there is between your skin tone and the color of your hair, the more effective your laser session will be.

What is shedding after laser hair removal?

Shedding is what happens after you treat the hair on your body with laser hair removal. It means that the treatment is working as the hair is dying and gradually falling out.

When you wax or shave, the hair follicle remains intact and therefore the hair can begin to grow back instantly. During laser hair removal, the light used damages the hair follicles more and more with every treatment until the follicles are destroyed and hair cannot grow back.

Because you are only damaging the hair follicle and not the actual hair strands themselves, the hair will remain until the follicle can no longer support the hair and it will fall out, known as shedding.

How To Speed Up Shedding After Laser Hair Removal

Hair shedding after laser hair removal is a perfectly normal part of the treatment process. Don’t let the connotation with animal hair put you off what is the best form of permanent hair removal!

While the process may have some cons for certain individuals, at the end of the day there is no better way to eradicate unwanted hair on your body. You can even have laser hair treatment for ingrown hairs if you keep getting painful and irritating ingrown hairs.

Read on for more information specifically on shedding during laser hair removal, or get in touch to book your first course of treatment.

When does shedding start after laser hair removal?

Text Hair shedding after laser hair removal begins around 7-14 days after you have treatment and will reoccur with every treatment that you have until your hair is removed at a standard that you are happy with.

Because you will need many laser hair removal appointments before your treatment is finished, you will experience shedding quite a lot until you receive adequate hair loss.

The reason for this is that laser hair removal only targets hair follicles in the anagen (growth) stage. Only a certain number of hairs on your body will be in the anagen phase at a given time, so by attending regular treatments you can increase your chance of repeatedly damaging the most hair follicles and as a result decrease the growth of hair in the future.

woman-receiving-laser-hair-removal-on-face

Patchy Hair Growth After Laser

Patchy regrowth after laser treatment is common, indicating possibly the areas of patchy regrowth either were not in the active growing stage at the time of treatment, or received less energy than the surrounding areas. This will however normalize and eventually become even.

Stubble After Laser Hair Removal

Stubble, representing dead hair being shed from the hair follicle, will appear within 5-30 days from the treatment date. that is normal & they will fall out quickly.
Exfoliate to speed up hair shedding.
Anywhere from 5-30 days after the treatment, shedding of the hair may occur & this may appear as new hair growth.

Hair Still Growing After Laser Hair Removal