Laser hair removal Harley Street, London

With laser hair removal, laser light is delivered directly into the root of the hair, within the hair follicle. The light targets the melanin pigment, and the heat generated disrupts the cells in the hair root to permanently inhibit hair growth.

Permanent hair removal can be achieved with a course of treatments. Where hair regrowth isn’t completely prevented, the hairs become so fine that they are barely noticeable.

You can have your treatment at our Harley Street clinic. Our experienced practitioners will talk through your desired results at a free, initial consultation. If they and you are happy, you can go ahead with your treatment straight away.

Skin tone and hair colour are factors which determine our approach to laser hair removal. Our advanced lasers have settings which can be adjusted to suit a range of skin tones and hair types.

We will confirm your viability at the free initial consultation. However, patients who may not be suitable for treatment include:

• Those with ginger, blonde or white hairs, which may respond poorly to treatment.
• Dark skin types such as Asian and Afro Caribbean skin. These skin types may not be suitable for the stronger lasers because the skin pigment absorbs too much energy, which can risk causing skin damage.
• Patients with a recent sun tan.
• Patients with a history of sensitivity to light based treatments.
• People with an active infection in the area to be treated.
• Pregnant women.

Some clinics may offer a lower cost option of hair removal using IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) technology. At our Harley Street clinic, we use the more effective Cynosure light-based laser technology.

The benefits of using this method of laser hair removal over IPL include:

• Successful results with 90% of patients receiving permanent hair loss after 3 to 6 sessions.
• Precise treatment targeting dark, coarse hairs or smaller areas whilst protecting the surrounding skin.
• Settings can be adjusted to specific skin tones and hair colour.
• Laser heat is absorbed by the follicle and not the skin, decreasing the risk of damage.

The laser light is naturally absorbed by the darker melanin pigment in the root of the hair, within the follicle, without heating the surrounding skin.

Our laser systems have a built-in cooling device to ensure that your treatment is comfortable.

Hair growth takes place in cycles, so at any given time, some hair follicles are actively growing and some are ‘resting’.

Laser hair removal is most effective when the hair is actively growing. Therefore, a series of treatments are needed at our Harley Street clinic to ensure that as many hairs as possible are treated during their growing phase.

Laser hair removal can be performed on any area of the body to remove unwanted hair.

Laser hair removal is an effective treatment for ingrown hairs, and it can help to reduce the skin irritation caused by nuisance hairs.

Treatment time depends on the area being treated, so this is something that your practitioner will advise during your initial consultation.

As a guide, treating a small area, such as the upper lip, might take only a few minutes. Whereas treating a larger area, such as the back, might take an hour or more.

For best results 6 to 8 treatments are needed at 6 to 10 week intervals.

Depending on skin tone and hair type, some patients require maintenance treatments once or twice a year to maintain the results.

The number of treatments depends on hair colour, skin tone, hair density and the site of hair growth, all of which we will advise you about during your free initial consultation.

Hairs will fall out over a period of days to weeks, so the results will develop over time.

Because laser hair removal works best when hair follicles are in their growing stage, a course of treatment ensures that all hairs are caught at the correct point during the growth cycle.

It is not recommended to have another treatment on the same day, in the same area of skin as the laser hair removal treatment.

Tanning treatments and tanning injections are not suitable treatments to have in conjunction with laser hair removal.