FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What can I expect?

If you are booking a laser appointment you will receive a consultation prior to your treatment.  At that time the professional will review your health history and discuss your skincare goals before recommending  treatments that will address your skin concerns.

How does laser hair removal work?

Hair removal lasers emit a light at a specific wavelength that is known to be absorbed by the pigment (colour) in the hair follicle — without damaging the surrounding skin. The light is converted to heat energy, which in turns disables the hair follicle so that it will not produce another hair.

Why laser hair removal?

Removing hair with laser treatments aims to give you a long-lasting, even permanent results.  In only a few treatments we can clear your skin of the unwanted hair that has bothered you for so long.

Traditional hair removal methods, such as waxing, shaving, depilatory creams, plucking/tweezing, sugaring, and stringing provide only temporary results — some for fewer than 24 hours.  Within hours or possibly days, you are back at it again, hunched over a magnifying mirror to tweeze out facial hair, running a razor over tender skin, or enduring painful waxing. 

Laser has another advantage, in that you NEVER AGAIN have to let the hair grow out a few days before your treatments in order to get it to work, as you do with the other methods.  Once you start working with Laser you begin your life of being hair free where you want to be!

What causes hair growth?

Heredity and ethnic background constitute the primary causes of hair growth.  Superfluous or excessive hair growth in women often results from normal biological changes that they undergo throughout life, such as puberty, pregnancy, menopause and old age.  Any one of these changes may cause an increase in hair growth in areas that never had hair before, or cause a small to moderate problem area to worsen.  Other causes of hair growth can be associated with certain medications, stress and obesity. More serious causes can be an abnormality in the endocrine system, such as irregular menstrual cycles;  ovarian disorders, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS); and thyroid abnormalities.  If you suspect any of these conditions —  or if during your skin evaluation we suspect any of them – we will always recommend that you seek a medical evaluation.

Does laser hurt?

Most laser treatments will not be painful. Treatments are virtually painless and will vary patient to patient. Patients describe a range of sensations during treatment from tingling to the snapping of a rubber band.

How long does a laser hair removal treatment take?

A number of factors determine the length of time for a treatment.  At Rejuva Medi Spa we plan our appointments with adequate time to go as slowly or as quickly as is comfortable and appropriate for each client.  The size and “topography” of the area being treated factors into the time required, as does the amount of preparation.  As a general rule, legs and backs take an hour to an hour and a half, while an upper lip or the tops of ears may require eight to 10 minutes.  The front of the neck or underarms can take as little as 20 minutes.

Why does it take a more than one laser hair removal treatment to clear an area of excess, unwanted hair?

Hair grows in repeating cycles, and only in the actively growing phase does the hair contain enough pigment to absorb sufficient energy to disable the hair follicle.  When hair is in the dormant phase, it has little or no pigment, and it cannot absorb the laser light.  When you come in to Rejuva for your treatment, we disable all of the hair follicles with actively growing hair in the treatment area.  A few weeks later, some of your dormant hairs will have moved into the actively growing stage, and you will come in for a treatment to disable those.  As this cycle gets repeated, you experience increasing reduction of hair.

How many laser hair removal treatments will I need?

The exact number of maintenance laser treatments varies by individual. On average, it can take from six to eight treatments to achieve clearance of an area.  We have some clients who are happy after four treatments, and a tiny minority who have needed more than eight —  but far fewer than you would need to achieve clearance using electrolysis, the only other permanent hair removal method. Areas of coarser darker hair, like the lower legs, bikini and underarms do the best with the fewest treatments. The face can be one of the more persistent areas and may require more sessions. Once treatment is complete, some of the hair will never grow back, but some hair may still need intermittent treatment every year or so.

At Rejuva Medi Spa we utilize the Cynosure Palomar Icon (Starlux 500).

For more information, visit our clinic or contact us.