Benefits of laser hair removal compared to alternative treatments

1. Larger areas may be treated with less discomfort than with electrolysis, waxing or tweezing.
2. The Candela GentleLASE combines speed, comfort and long lasting results.
3. The Candela GentleLASE works on any area of the body where a hair-free appearance is desired.

Hair removal methods like tweezing, waxing or sugaring which cause irritation may actually stimulate hair growth. This happens because one way the body defends itself against having hair yanked out is to produce thicker, stronger hairs which are harder to pull out next time.

Candela GentleLASE hair removal offers long lasting results, and even if hair does eventually grow back it is usually finer in texture and lighter in color than the original hair, and much less of a cosmetic problem.

The advantages over electrolysis

With electrolysis, the operator inserts a needle into the hair shaft with the intention of reaching the follicle, then sends a small electrical charge designed to disable the follicle. The operator then removes that particular hair with a tweezer. Hair removal is much faster with a laser as the laser is pulsed about once per second across the surface of the skin. Each "pulse" of laser light disables a large numbers of hair follicles. Electrolysis operators can only treat those hairs that they can see and which they can reach the follicle through the hair shaft. A laser treats any "active" follicle, even if the hair has not yet reached the surface of the skin, or if the hair shaft is not straight.

Laser epilation

Be cautious of permanent hair removal systems that use traditional light for treatment. The names of these devices, such as "EpiLight™" and "PhotoDerm™", do not contain the word "laser". These machines use a highly concentrated beam of traditional incoherent light, often in conjunction with a cream or gel, to burn the hair shaft. A serious flaw with these systems is that they lack the laser's ability to produce a selective bandwidth of light that will only affect the hair shaft. These devices produce a wide bandwidth of light that heats up all of the surrounding tissue. The creams or gels accompanying these treatments are supposed to absorb the excess heat from the skin but they are only marginally effective. These treatments are relatively painful and can produce serious long-term skin damage or irritation.