Laser Hair Removal

Old techniques such as shaving, plucking and waxing, provide only temporary hair removal and may cause infections or result in ingrown hairs. Excess hair growth can be the result of genetic factors, hormonal problems, or medications. In women, a common cause of excess body hair growth is polycystic ovary syndrome caused by cysts on the ovaries associated with increase in male hormones. Women with PCOS have growth of facial and neck hair, or excessive hair in the breast, abdominal area, or lower back, often associated with hair thinning of the scalp, acne, irregular periods and weight gain.

The best way to remove unwanted dark hair is using lasers, which have proven over the last 20 years to be effective, efficient and safe when used by a well trained physician, and have replaced older methods such as shaving, plucking and waxing. Laser Hair Removal works by targeting the pigment inside the hair follicle without damaging the delicate structures of the skin. The physicians at The Skin Clinic have experience in treating thousands of patients with hair removal lasers. Dr Touma is on the leading edge of laser hair removal and has authored several publications on hair removal:

  1. Aldraibi MS, Touma DJ, Khachemoune A. Hair removal with the 3-msec alexandrite laser in patients with skin types IV-VI: efficacy, safety, and the role of topical corticosteroids in preventing side effects. J Drugs Dermatol. 2007 Jan;6(1):60-6.
  2. Touma DJ, Rohrer TE. Persistent hair loss 60 months after a single treatment with a 3-millisecond alexandrite (755 nm) laser. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2004 Feb;50(2):324-5.
  3. Nahm WK, Tsoukas MM, Falanga V, Carson PA, Sami N, Touma DJ. Preliminary study of fine changes in the duration of dynamic cooling during 755-nm laser hair removal on pain and epidermal damage in patients with skin types III-V. Lasers Surg Med. 2002;31(4):247-51.

At The Skin Clinic we have three different laser machines of the newest technologies that we use for hair removal. We use our expertise to tailor each patient’s treatment based on the laser machine that works best for them. The Vectus® laser, a Diode hair removal laser, from Palomar®, the company that invented laser hair removal. This laser is unique because it is the least painful, while maintaining a high efficacy in hair removal, in extremely fast treatments. Typically legs take 10 minutes, and a man’s back 15 minutes. Also this laser is equipped with the Skintel®, a patented melanin content reader, which measures the exact pigment intensity of the skin and adjusts the parameters in order to optimize the safety of the laser treatment and eliminate the risk of burns. It will complement the Alexandrite Gentelase®, a world best seller laser. For patients with the darkest skin types, we use the ND:YAG which is optimal in terms of combining safety and efficacy.

Although most patients obtain excellent results with our hair removal lasers, blond or fine hairs are better treated with electrolysis, a service we offer at The Skin Clinic.

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