Hair removal is a cultural idea that nearly everyone adheres to. Removing your own unwanted body hair can be painful, time-consuming, and only last in the short term. There are many methods of longer term hair removal that rid you of the need to shave every day, and can help you be rid of the embarrassment of body hair in places that are not culturally accepted, such as on your back.

Some of these treatments can be a bit painful and a bit more costly than shaving or waxing. Laser hair removal is a fairly new commercial method of ridding your body of unwanted hair. There are many places that will remove your body hair using this method.

Laser hair removal is technically known as a type of epilation, which is the removal of the entire hair, including the portion under the skin. This type of hair removal causes the hair to grow back at a much slower rate than shaving, which only removes the hair from the skin level. In addition to the use of lasers, this type of hair removal can also be accomplished by waxing or plucking.

Laser epilation was performed on an experimental basis beginning in the 1970's. Widespread commercial availability occurred in the 1990's. Since then, laser hair removal has become a popular way to remove unwelcome body hair for longer periods of time, especially in bigger cities where wealth is plentiful, and people are really concerned about the way they look.

In laser hair removal, the lasers cause damage limited to a small area by selectively heating dark target material where the hair grows, but it does not heat the rest of the skin. Since light is soaked up by dark objects, the laser energy is soaked up by the dark material in the skin with high speed and concentration. Epilation lasers aim at one of 2 types of dark material in the skin. The primary dark target material for laser hair removers is the melanin, which occurs naturally in the skin, and gives it and hair its colour. Since the laser light that is used only selectively soaks up photon, only dark hair (black or brown) can usually be removed (easily).

Another type of dark material that laser hair removers target is hemoglobin. This material is naturally existent in our blood. This is not a primary target in laser hair removal, however. If you are interested in having laser hair removal in Canada done, there are some things to be aware of.

Number one, it is not painless. Just like plucking or waxing, when the hair is yanked out of your skin, it is going to hurt. How much depends on your pain tolerance. There are certain cooling methods that are used, depending on the laser hair removal clinic, in treating the pain and side effects, including chilled clear cooling gel, water misting, forced air cooling, and cryogen spray.

It is also important to know that no type of laser can remove your hair permanently without significant scarring, no matter what a laser hair removal clinic advertises. Multiple treatments of an area seem to be more efficient for longer-term hair reduction. In other words, if you have the treatments done on a fairly regular basis, when your hair does grow back, over time it will be thinner and lighter. There are current restrictions that most laser hair removal clinics will uphold for frequency of treatments.

Laser hair removal is a great way to rid your body of unwanted hair, especially in places that would be hard for you to treat yourself. Why shave every day when you can have smooth skin for up to a month at a time?

Book a FREE Consultation with a Skin Expert in one of our many Canadian Clinic Locations.