Eighty percent or four out of five people respond well to laser hair removal. You can expect that each laser treatment will remove about a third of the hair from a given area. That means that multiple visits are usually needed in order to achieve...

long-lasting results. In fact, most people required five treatments to achieve the desired outcome. In order to protect the skin from excessive damage, laser hair removal treatments are spaced about one to three months apart. This allows the skin to fully heal before subjecting it to further treatment. Unfortunately, this may mean a spotty hair distribution in between visits.

 

The benefits achieved with laser hair removal can vary greatly from person to person. The type of laser used, hair color (that is the color of hair being removed), skin color, diameter of the hair shaft and preparation of the skin can influence the results. In general, patients with light skin and dark hair see the best results from laser hair removal. Most patients can expect hair removal lasting for up to six months and, with multiple treatments, the effects can last even longer. The FDA has certain criteria by which they determine “permanent” hair removal and this definition is sometimes at odds with commercial representations of the procedure. You should talk to your plastic surgeon about realistic expectations before embarking on the procedure.