Many men and women across the world choose to remove unwanted body hair. The reasons for use of lasers for hair removal can be cosmetic, social, cultural, or medical. Medical and cosmetic indications for laser hair removal also include hirsutism, which is a condition characterized by excessive terminal hair growth on face, chest, back, abdomen.

Laser hair removal ? the latest hirsutism treatment

Laser hair removal is a relatively new method available for long-term hair reduction. Unlike electrolysis, laser treatment can target multiple follicles simultaneously. Since women with hirsutism have dark, thick hair which is different from the fine hair that some women have on their upper lip, chin, breasts or stomach, laser hair removal as hirsutism treatment is quite suitable.

The biggest advantage of laser hair removal treatment is that it may be used on large areas of the body. Use of lasers as a method for hair removal for hirsutism treatment is in fact the latest facial laser hair laser removal method offered by professional laser hair removal clinics. The different methods of laser hair removal available with these laser hair removal clinics are the ruby laser (694 nm), alexandrite laser (755 nm), diode laser (800 nm), and Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm). The laser hair removal treatment depends upon targeting melanin to produce selective photothermolysis of the hair follicles.

Mechanism of laser hair removal

During hair laser removal treatment, a beam of light is passed through the skin to the hair follicle to destroy it. With lasers, the light energy is absorbed by pigments in the hair follicle and the energy is converted to heat. As the hair follicle heats up it gets cooked and this destroys the hair follicle and its ability to grow hair fiber. People with light skin and dark hair usually achieve the best results with laser hair removal treatment.

With hair laser removal treatment all patients will see a delay in the growth of their hair and the majority of patients will see a permanent reduction in hair growth. This laser is more effective for dark hair. Blonde and gray hairs are more resistant to removal with this laser and white hairs do not respond to treatment. While ruby lasers are not usually available in the average laser hair removal clinic, they are used by professional laser dermatology clinics, usually as one of several lasers types for use in treating various conditions ? not just laser hair removal.