How many laser treatments would be necessary to complete the process and how often?

Laser hair removal usually utilizes a session of at least eight treatments. Depending on your condition, the number of treatments will be less or more in order to achieve 80-90% of hair removal. Laser treatment is effective only when hair is in the active growth stage. Hair follicles in their "dormant" phase have no hair shaft and is unaffected by the laser. Dormant hairs later turn to the growth phase. Moreover, hair follicles left in a resting phase, but not eradicated by earlier treatment, need to be removed with more sessions for best results. Some patients do not experience much extra hair reduction after the second treatment. However, results show a considerable reduction especially after the fourth treatment.

Besides the hair growth cycle mentioned, the number of treatment sessions depends on many other factors. Light colored hair usually needs more treatments unlike darker hair. People with darker skin need more treatments. Pregnancy, menopause, hormonal diseases, and syndromes affect the hormonal balance in the body leading to hair growth in an area of the face or body that was once smooth. The treated "area," mostly the legs, underarms, and bikini line react better because they are coarser hairs. Areas with lighter and thinner hair on lips, arms and lateral face may need more treatments than darker hair. Finally, multiple sessions are determined by hair density, age (turns hair whiter or grayer making laser hair removal difficult) and the hormonal balance of the patient.

The treatments must be consistent and are usually spaced four to six weeks apart based on hair growth cycles on different parts of the body. It can be less frequent depending on the patient’s schedule and the area treated. Certain body areas like the legs require longer treatment. During the treatment interval you hardly see any hairs on the treated places.

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