TWO KEY FACTORS:

• Are you a candidate for laser?

• What is the reward vs. the risk?
  
  

LASER HAIR REMOVAL

• Best candidates: Pale skin with dark hair.

• Limitations: Ineffective on gray, blonde, white, and most red hair.

• Technology advances: New interchangeable-wavelength lasers can be effective for people with darker skin tones.

• Advantages: Treats large areas at once; for those who are good candidates, can deliver 20–80% hair reduction.

• Disadvantages:

  • Some people may notice regrowth a couple years after treatment.

  • Paradoxical hypertrichosis: In rare cases, laser treatment may actually stimulate increased hair growth in or near the treated area, particularly on the face and neck.
    

ELECTROLYSIS

• Best candidates: Electrolysis works on ALL hair and skin types.

• Advantages: The only hair removal method recognized by the FDA as permanent.

• Disadvantages: Each individual hair must be treated, making it more meticulous and time-consuming than laser.
  

SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS & ELECTROLYSIS + LASER COMBINATION APPROACH

• BODY: If your treatment area is not on the face, (on the body, other than for surgical prep) you might benefit from starting with laser to achieve significant hair reduction, then follow up with electrolysis to permanently remove remaining hairs—especially for large areas such as the torso, legs, arms, back, or bikini.

• FACE: If you do not have a full beard, electrolysis is usually the better option.

  • If you have significant unwanted facial hair (such as for some trans folks), starting with laser may be the best strategy, to reduce quantity, density and coarseness before finishing clearance with electrolysis— a combination approach could potentially save significant time and money.

• SURGICAL PREP: Laser results are not always permanent, and some hair may regrow within a few years. For surgical prep, this can cause unpleasant complications if hair returns in a post-surgical site. If your surgery is within the next 3 years: Choose electrolysis