Beauty Care and Health

Intense Pulsed Light Method as a Hair Removal Tactic

13 November 2008 50 views No Comment

Intense pulsed light is a treatment method that is most commonly used to remove hair and permanently reduce the amount of hair you grow in certain areas. Though there are numerous disputes, it is believed that this method has at least equivalent results to the laser hair removal, or Epilation, method.

Unlike the laser hair removal system intense pulsed light can also be used to help your skin. It can reduce acne, the dyspigmentation or vascular changes caused by sun damage to your skin, Poikilodermia of Civatte, your broken capillaries, and Rosacea. All of this can be done in addition to your hair removal. For skin conditions like Rosacea, a dermatologist that specializes in this treatment should be the one administrating the treatment.

When you use the intense pulsed light method as a hair removal tactic you should expect several things to happen. First, you can expect a broad spectrum light to be applied to your skin. This can be done with a hand held wand or articulated arm, depending on what the person who is doing your treatment prefers. Then, you can expect this light to travel down into the skin and hit your hair shafts or the bulbs of your hair. You can find the biggest concentration of melanin in the root, or bulb, of your hair, though you can still find some in the hair shaft. When this light is finally converted to heat energy, you’re the entire follicle and root of your hair will vaporize almost instantly. This intense heat that is radiated from your hair destroys the whole of the hair follicle which is called the hair producing papilla.

Though this sounds like something that would cause a lit of damage to your skin, it isn’t really. For the most part, the irritation that you undergo is very similar to mild sunburn that you can help heal quickly with lotions. Unlike sunburn though, this treatment does not have the affect of UV ray damage on your skin. All of the UV rays are carefully filtered out to avoid this type of damage.

The effects on men tend to be a little more dramatic, and sometimes painful, than those on women. This is because men normally have thicker hair which takes more to get rid of. Some treated areas can also be more painful than others, for both man and women. Areas like the chest and face are sensitive and it may feel as though you are waxing them at first, however, this pain, for the most part, pretty much goes away immediately. If your skin is really sensitive it is possible that you may blister from the intense heat. All of this depends on the setting of the machine used and the experience of the person that is conducting your treatment.

If you are thinking about undergoing any of this, you should talk to your doctor. Though the risks of this are minimal, there is always a chance that you will react badly and your doctor can help decide if that will happen to you.