Question
I've been reading this forum as of late. I believe the facts and myths regarding Laser hair removal should be answered in one post. I do not have the answers, it would be good too see people who know what they are talking about comment in this post.
Such topics could be.
Is it Permanent removal or just reduction reduction.
Long term effects . i.e. effects on skin - I've seen people talk about how it makes your skin sag etc.
Facts about each laser.
I think that is a good starting point. Especially, for people considering the treatment. However, I think only people who are truly knowledgeable on the subject should comment. I don't believe it is good to hear biased opinons or rumours on what they have heard from a friend.
Over to you.

Answer
I've been reading this forum as of late. I believe the facts and myths regarding Laser hair removal should be answered in one post. I do not have the answers, it would be good too see people who know what they are talking about comment in this post.
Such topics could be.
Is it Permanent removal or just reduction reduction.
Long term effects . i.e. effects on skin - I've seen people talk about how it makes your skin sag etc.
Facts about each laser.
I think that is a good starting point. Especially, for people considering the treatment. However, I think only people who are truly knowledgeable on the subject should comment. I don't believe it is good to hear biased opinons or rumours on what they have heard from a friend.
Over to you.

Answer
1. For some people its permanent, for some it's not. Results vary and you won't know in advance until you try it. Best results are on coarse dark hair and light skin, provided that the practitioner is very experienced, uses correct settings and laser for your skin, and that you follow the correct schedule and complete all 6-8 treatments. Most people develop hair over the course of their lives, especially on certain areas, so even if you remove it now, you will most likely need some touch-up treatments later, usually 1-2 times per year depending on how much hair you have, your age, hair growth rate, etc. But there should be only fine growth at that time, not what you originally started with.
2. Lasers have no known documented effects such as sagging of the skin. They don't penetrate deep enough to cause any damage like that. Even though hair removal lasers have been used for less than 10 years, other lasers for other procedures were used way before that, and no such side effects were reported.
3. Not sure what you mean by facts on each laser. Effectiveness of laser and results depend on many factors and variables, but usually the practitioner. You should probably know that IPLs are not lasers, they are flashlamp machines that are cheaper and often operated by someone who is not particularly experienced in hair removal because there machines first perform other skin procedures in addition to hair removal. Most don't report great results from IPL treatments, but that might be due to lack of practitioners' experience as well. Hard to judge. In general, you will find that laser results vary from person to person. Because there are so many variables involved, it's a lot more difficult to compare different patients' results. They can depend on the machine used, skin type, hair type, tanned/non tanned, hair color, practitioner's experience and knowledge of hair removal, etc etc. If you have light skin and dark coarse hair, you should get the best results, granted the practitioner is very experienced and using the right laser and settings for your skin. Any alexandrite or diode laser in good hands should provide good results for that skin/hair combination. Any Yag laser in good hands should give desirable results for darker skin types, but treatments will take longer and it's harder to target fine hair with this type of laser.
The general consensus is that alexandrite and diode lasers work best on light skin and dark hair types, and darker individuals should only be using Nd: YAG lasers to avoid skin damage (darker than a type IV on a Fitzpatrick scale).

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you said to use yag on skin types more than IV, so ppl with skin type IV can use alexandrite and other such lasers? just making sure

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Good start blink.. Keep them coming, I think alot of people a discouraged from laser, from hearing negative stories and personal opinons from alot of unhappy people. Which is a shame, because from my personal experience so far laser is a fantastic solution to what can sometimes be an annoying problem. My advice is find a good tech with alot of experience.

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