How to Speed up Shedding After Laser Hair Removal – Is It Safe?
After a laser hair removal session, many patients anticipate that their hair will start to fall out almost immediately. This is a myth, though, because after your laser hair treatment, unwanted hair doesn’t magically disappear by the next morning.
So why does hair not fall out following a laser removal procedure? A laser device may only be able to remove 15% of the hair in a single session, and the remaining 85% will likely fall out on its own 5 days or more after the procedure. This mechanism varies depending on the individual and factors like age, skin type, hormones, and the body’s own hair growth cycles.
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Why Your Hair Isn’t Falling Out After Laser Hair Treatments
A medical procedure called laser hair removal enables patients to temporarily put off the need to wax, shave, tweeze, or pluck their unwanted hairs on a daily basis. The procedure uses a laser to deliver intense light that specifically targets the pigment in dark hair, allowing heat to permeate the skin and kill the hair follicle. A new follicle will eventually grow back, so it is not a permanent condition.
The hair bulb will emerge over a 7–30 day period following a single laser treatment. Although ingrown hairs may also become trapped under the skin during this period, redness and bumps may develop as your body pushes dead hair out of the follicle. Patients may mistakenly believe that their hair is growing when, in fact, their bodies are removing hair from their skin by pushing it to the surface and working it out of the skin.
Some patients might be concerned if not all of the hairs in the treatment area fell out after the laser session. It’s important to remember that not all hair follicles have the same growth cycle as those around them. Only when the hair is in the anagen phase, which is only about 15% of the time during a single laser session, can the laser kill it. Only these hairs will shed 5 to 14 days after treatment because only 15% of the follicles will be destroyed.
Additionally, the growth cycle explains why it might take six to eight sessions to completely destroy all hair follicles. Additionally, each treatment area has its own hair growth cycles. For example, the upper lip’s hair growth cycle may last four weeks, while the legs’ hair growth cycle may last eight to ten weeks. The sessions in your treatment plan will typically be spaced out by six weeks to coincide with hair growth.
How To Speed Up Shedding After Laser Hair Removal
You can gently exfoliate your skin after laser hair removal to hasten the shedding process. The hair follicles may be held in place by dead skin, which exfoliation will remove. Regular exfoliation of your skin can also stimulate your hair follicles and speed up the growth cycle of your hair, which will hasten the shedding process.
It’s important to be gentle when exfoliating and to avoid over-exfoliating if you have sensitive skin. Exfoliating the skin only needs to be done a few times per week, not daily. Exfoliating your skin too frequently can irritate it. Your skin will be smooth, free of dead cells and hair, and not irritated if you exfoliate every other day or a few times per week.
Use a loofah or washcloth along with a mild soap or exfoliating scrub to scrub away dead skin. Scrub your skin gently in a circular motion. You don’t need to apply a lot of pressure. Without hurting the skin, a little pressure is sufficient to exfoliate.
It is important to use caution and prevent skin damage when using laser hair removal on sensitive and noticeable areas like sideburns.
Understanding The Hair Growth Cycle
Before you can figure out the reason hair doesn’t fall out following laser hair removal, it’s essential to look at three major cycles of hair growth hair follicles experience:
Anagen: is also known as the growth cycle, and it’s the best phase that the laser treatment can be effective. The stage of anagen, during which hair begins to grow on the skin’s surface, allows the laser to remain in place while transferring heat to the hair follicle and down the hair strand.
Catagen: Before the hair is shed naturally, not as a result of laser treatment, is the catagen phase in the cycle of hair. As the hair is already dead and forced out of the hair follicle at this point, laser hair removal won’t be as effective.
Telogen: is the stage in which hair is not growing or developing beneath the skin. Telogen, also referred to as the resting phase, is not suitable for laser hair removal because there are no hairs visible on the skin’s surface.
Do’s And Don’ts Of The Hair Removal Process
Don’t freak out if you’re concerned that your hair isn’t shedding. Skin types, hormones, hair and skin color, and treatment site are just a few of the various factors that can influence the process. The rate of hair loss and regrowth also greatly depends on the individual. In the meantime, here are some do’s and don’ts you should follow:
After The Laser Treatment, Avoid Shaving.
Being patient is the most crucial guideline to follow. Avoid using methods that will remove the laser-targeted hair follicles, such as tweezing, waxing, picking, plucking, threading, or squeezing, as these will irritate your skin. The best course of action is to wait until they fall out because as you undergo laser hair removal, the thick, dark hairs will thin out and become simpler to remove.
Keep Up Regular Exfoliation.
You are free to scrub or shave the hair shorter to hasten the shedding process, even though you shouldn’t pull hair out forcibly. To remove dead hair, gently scrub the treatment area in a circular motion with a loofah or a washcloth made of soft cotton.
Do Not Skip Your Upcoming Session.
Even though unwanted hair may appear to have vanished, it’s possible that it’s still there, just under the skin in the telogen phase. Maintain your course of treatment and return to the clinic on schedule. If you wait too long between hair cycles, you risk missing a time when your hair is growing.
Make Sure To Moisturize.
After a laser hair removal procedure, keep your skin flexible, comfortable, and healthy. Use a cooling aloe vera gel to soothe your skin if you anticipate it feeling sensitive and sunburned afterward. You can manage the redness, swelling, and other uncomfortable side effects by keeping some ice or an ice pack close at hand.
Why Did My Hair Not Fall Out After Having My Hair Removed With A Laser?
With the help of a laser hair removal procedure, patients can temporarily postpone the need to shave, wax, or pluck out unwanted hairs. In order to target the pigmentation in dark hair and kill hair follicles, the procedure uses a laser device that emits intense light that is focused on the pigment in dark hair. A new hair follicle will eventually grow in its place because it is not permanent.
Your hair’s bulb is anticipated to develop over a period of seven to thirty days following a single laser treatment session. As your body pulls dead hair out of your hair follicle at this point, bumps and redness may appear. Under the skin, ingrown hairs may become impaled. Although some people might mistake it for hair growth, what’s really happening is that your body is forcing hair to the surface and removing it by pulling it away from your skin.
Not all of the hair in the treated area was shed after the treatment, which may worry some patients. The fact that every hair follicle might not have the same growth cycle as the hairs around it is very important to keep in mind. Only when the hair is in the anagen stage can a laser destroy it. However, at the time of a single laser session, only about 15% of the hair will be in this phase. This indicates that only 15% of hair follicles will be destroyed, and those hairs will fall out five to fourteen days after treatment.
The growth cycle explains why it might take six to eight sessions to completely destroy the hair follicles. Each treatment area has a different growth cycle, with the upper lip’s cycle lasting up to four weeks and the legs’ cycle lasting between eight and ten. In order to maintain hair growth, a cosmetic surgeon would space out the time allotted for your treatments by six weeks.
How To Remove Dead Hair Follicles After Laser
Exfoliating after laser treatments is the best method for getting rid of dead hair follicles. Although it may be tempting, it is not advisable to pluck or squeeze out dead hairs. Manually removing the hairs may result in infection, irritation, or ingrown hairs. Additionally, if you remove a hair that the laser did not successfully treat, the growth cycle will be disrupted, and it may not be treated during your subsequent laser session either.
Laser hair removal procedures demand endurance. While some people experience shedding in as little as 5 days, others may not experience any hair loss for several weeks. Apart from gently exfoliating, it is best to avoid interfering with the shedding process. Also, keep in mind that laser hair removal is a long-term procedure that might take some time but can produce permanent results.
After receiving laser treatment, gently exfoliate to encourage hair shedding in order to remove dead hair follicles. This will eliminate any dead skin holding the hair follicle in place and cause the hair to fall out if there is any. Additionally, this will stimulate the hair follicles and promote the process of hair growth and shedding.
Say Goodbye To Unwanted Body Hair At Ethos Spa
As NJ’s premier laser hair removal facility, Ethos Spa is committed to assisting our clients in comfortably and safely getting rid of unwanted body hair. Make an appointment with us to receive more details about our hair removal procedure.
FAQs: How To Speed Up Shedding After Laser Hair Removal
Why Hasn’t My Hair Shed Since The Laser?
If you have had laser hair removal treatment and your hair is still not shedding, the majority of your hair was probably not in the antigen phase when it was time to shed. After laser hair removal, only hair that is in the antigen phase will fall out. After laser hair removal, it might take several sessions before you experience noticeable shedding because you might need to give each hair more time to reach the antigen stage.
Additionally, it’s crucial to keep in mind that the shedding process that follows laser hair removal takes time. The hairs may not fall out for as long as a month. Although results from laser hair removal take time to manifest, the wait will probably be worthwhile in the end.
Is Hair Pulling Okay After Laser?
After receiving laser treatments, hair pulling is not advised. The hairs may become irritated if they are pulled out immediately after laser treatments, especially if they have just been done. In the days and weeks following laser hair removal, the treated hairs will naturally fall out.
The urge to pull hair out may be strong after the laser hair removal procedure, but doing so can not only irritate the skin and lead to an infection, but it can also impede the growth of the hair, making the next laser hair removal session less successful. When you pull out a hair, your hair’s growth cycle is restarted.
The hair may remain in the telogen, or resting phase, for some time after being pulled, depending on your particular growth cycle. When you receive your subsequent laser hair removal treatment, if the hair is in the telogen phase, the laser will not be able to remove it, and it will eventually grow back.
When Does Hair Stop Falling Out After Laser Treatment?
After a laser treatment, the length of time it takes for hair to fall out varies greatly from person to person. Some people might start losing hair just a few days after treatment, while others might not start losing hair for up to a month.
Based on a person’s individual hair growth cycle, hair type, age, and hormones, the outcomes can vary.
How Can You Tell If Laser Hair Removal Is Effective?
To determine whether laser hair removal is effective for you, there are a few warning signs to look out for. These signs are as follows:
- The rate of hair growth is slowing down. Hairs will grow back more slowly if laser hair removal is effective. This indicates that fewer hairs will regrow because the hairs from each stage and growth cycle are gradually being destroyed. Less and less hair will regrow as they leave the resting stage and enter the antigen stage.
- Thinner and lighter hair is on the rise. If laser hair removal is effective, your hair will get lighter and thinner. This is because the larger, thicker hairs will fall out first because they are the simplest to remove with a laser. The fine hairs that are more laser-resistant are probably what you are noticing if you notice thin, light hairs where previously there were thicker hairs.
- Shaving is much simpler. Shaving might be simpler than it used to be if laser hair removal is effective. You might discover that you can get a clean shave more quickly and that your razors are lasting longer. This is due to the fact that with each treatment, there is less hair to trim.
- Less irritability is plaguing you. As many hair follicles are being removed early on during the laser procedure, you might feel irritated. Your skin will become less irritated as there are fewer hairs to remove over time.
- For longer periods of time, you don’t have any hair. Another indication that the laser therapy is effective is if weeks have passed since your laser session and you haven’t noticed any regrowth. Less hair can grow back as more and more hair follicles are being destroyed.
How Does Shedding Appear Following Laser Hair Removal?
It will appear as though hair is growing back or stubble has shed after laser hair removal. The hair is pushing its way out so it can fall out of the skin, not actually growing back.
Additionally, as your skin sheds, you might notice black dots appearing on it. Commonly referred to as “pepperspots”, these dots are harmless and should go away on their own. To hasten this process, you can exfoliate.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to keep in mind that hair will gradually fall out in accordance with your hair follicles’ individual conditions and growth cycles if you’re wondering how to accelerate shedding after laser hair removal. You can gently exfoliate the skin with our suggested exfoliant to safely hasten the shedding process. Though it takes time, laser hair removal can eventually produce amazing results.
