Many people who are coming in for their first time to have laser hair removal have numerous expectations for the procedure. On top of that, many clinics will promise the world to get you in the door. Here at Renu Laser and Skin Care we want to make sure to educate our clients as to what the reality of their procedures will be, and what to expect throughout the process. Within this month's blog, I would like to cover a few things that will help everyone to understand laser hair removal and the realistic expectations that you should have:

  1. Laser hair removal should really be called laser hair reduction. Yes, some people will experience total and permanent hair loss after their series of treatments. This is the goal of all treatment plans; with that said, the efficacy of a laser hair removal session, and the end results, area heavily dependent upon a number of factors that could affect just how much hair will come back.
  2. Any sort of hormonal changes could heavily affect your results. Many times, if you have the goal of becoming pregnant or undergoing hormone therapy, it would be best to wait until after your pregnancy and when your hormones have leveled off and come back into balance. Some people decide to continue laser treatments even though they are having significant changes in hormones. This could heavily delay your results as your hormone levels may be working against you. Some of these cases include: medications that you may be taking, high-testosterone levels, age, hormone therapy, and pregnancy. If you have any changes that could affect your hormones, make sure to talk about this with your laser clinician to ensure that continuing on with your treatment is right at the time for optimal results.
  3. You may need more sessions than you expect. A lot of clinicians will quote you for an initial package that includes a specific number of treatments within a series. Keep in mind that EVERYONE'S body and results are different, and the number they give you is a starting point. Some people may achieve their desired results much faster than they were expecting, and some may take longer. Should your results take longer, this is quite normal and could be due to a number of factors: age, hormone levels, color of hair, coarseness of hair, length of time you wait in between procedures, color of skin and level that is needed to reach the hair (i.e: a lower level may be needed for someone with dark skin as to not burn), if you go in the sun and need to wait until your melanocytes are no longer active (also to avoid skin burn). Another thing to keep in mind is that different areas of your body may take different numbers of sessions. Some people note that hormonal areas such as the bikini/Brazilian and under arms may take more trips than your arms or legs.

Keeping an open dialogue with your laser clinician is a good idea to identify how the process is going and what your goals are for the procedure. Remember that within your consultation, the number of sessions that you are quoted is a starting point. Many laser clinics will also offer touch up pricing that is lower in cost in order to provide a more cost-effective solution to those who have completed their packages and only with to come in sporadically for a touch-up visit.

Give us a call at Renu Laser and Skin Care if you have any questions and we would be happy to discuss and set you up for a FREE consultation. Here at Renu, we put the Client first and make sure that they are educated and have realistic expectations for the procedures that they undergo. We also want to make sure that we give the absolute best service that we can to each and every person who enters our door.