Help - I’m About to Have Laser Hair Removal for the First Time!
In the run up to your laser hair removal appointment, especially your first one, the strain and excitement can make you forget something. Here is a handy checklist:
Four weeks or more prior
It’s important to stop tweezing, using depilation creams, sugaring, epilating and waxing at the very least 2 weeks before treatment, and if possible a month or more prior. These methods interfere with the root that the laser treatment for hair removal is designed to target.
Discuss pain management with your laser hair removal clinic and decide on whether to use topical or oral pain relief, or both.
There are topical anesthetics such as EMLA, which you apply to your skin. These products are very valuable if you are worried about discomfort during the treatment, however do be cautious if you are putting it on large areas of skin as the chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream. Ensure you follow the instructions carefully.
Lose your tan! The paler your skin is at the point you get your laser treatment for hair removal, the more successful and enduring your results from laser hair removal are likely to be.
Consider if you wish to take photos of the body parts you are having treated to have a visual record of how well the treatment works. The clinic may do this but either way you may want to keep your own record.
About a week prior
Post treatment complications are reasonably rare, assuming that your hair laser removal appointment is with a reputable clinic who have properly serviced machinery and well experienced operators. However your skin will probably be red after the treatment so if you are having facial laser hair removal then you might want to consider whether you need to take the rest of the day off work if you’re at all worried about people at work knowing you had something done.
During the last 24 hours before your appointment
This is a perfect time to shave the body parts you are going to have laser hair removal carried out on. If you shave within 24 hours of the treatment you will find the pain more tolerable and it can also be more successful because less of the laser energy is used on destroying the hair above the skin, meaning more of it is directed where it is most useful, at the root, to kill it off.
The morning of your appointment
If you are getting your underarms treated, don’t apply any deodorant. Just wash your underarms with soap and rinse well. If it’s summer and you are at risk of getting too sweaty before your appointment, you could use unscented baby wipes to remove any smells.
For any body parts, don’t put creams or lotions on before laser hair removal.
The last 20 minutes
Now is the time to take two pain killers - there’s no need to feel more discomfort than you have to when undergoing laser hair removal.
Good luck with your laser treatment for hair removal!
Ingrid Preube
Tags: appointment, beauty, electrolysis, hair, Hair Removal, health, laser, laser hair removal, shaving, sugaring, waxing