What Is The Cost of Laser Hair Removal?

What is the cost of laser hair removal according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) who compile yearly information for major cosmetic procedures in the US?

In 2019, the national average laser hair removal fee was $287 up slightly over 2018 figures which showed an average treatment cost of $285. This is the average cost per appointment that doesn’t shed light on the cost of any specific body part and is just the overall average.

Source: Plasticsurgery.org

So taking that into account, it at least gives an idea of what you might expect to pay.

The small print states that these figures are national averages, will vary by area of the country and are for procedures conducted by physicians and other qualified staff:

ASPS procedural statistics represent procedures performed by ASPS Member Surgeons certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery® as well as other physicians certified by American Board of Medical Specialties-recognized boards.

ASPS

So you might find that your local clinic(s) has different pricing as not all hair removal clinics have a doctor performing the work. I’ve been to two hair removal centers in two different countries and in both cases, the procedure was done by a nurse/clinician ie. not a doctor. Other clinics that I’d looked at also offered procedures done by staff who were not doctors.

What Is The Cost of Laser Hair Removal?

Laser Hair Removal Prices By Body Part

While pricing will vary (possibly wildly) here is an idea of how much you might expect to pay to have laser hair removal by body part, per treatment session:

Upper Lip/Chin: $60-$300

Underarms: $150

Bikini line, chest, abdomen: $250-$450

Face, buttocks: $250-$650

Back: $300-$800

Source: SkinDeep Laser MD

Some clinics offer packages where you prepay for a certain number of treatments in advance and save money. What happens if you end up not needing the last treatment(s)? You’d have to ask ahead of time to see what the rules are and also how long you have to use all prepaid treatments.

How Many Laser Hair Removal Treatments Are Required?

Unfortunately this is a loaded question although you’ll see plenty of laser hair removal practitioners and clinics suggesting anywhere from 4-8 treatments may be needed for ideal results.

Your total number of laser hair removal treatments required will depend on obvious questions like:

• What is your skin color? Lighter skin colors find better success with most lasers.
• What is your hair color? Darker hair tends to have better success than light, grey and blond hair.
• How much hair needs to be removed? Clearly the more hair, the more treatments will most likely be required.
• How coarse is your hair? Some lasers work better with coarse hair than others and some unwanted hair might need more treatments as a result.
• How skilled is your practitioner? Some practitioners and clinics are better than others. Skill matters.
• How closely do you stick to the suggested schedule? If you are hit and miss and are sometimes going every 4 weeks for a treatment, and then don’t go back for 12 weeks, your success rate might be lower.
• Do you properly prepare for each session? If you tan before the treatment, some lasers won’t work as well. If you wax or shave your hair, you might not achieve results that are good as you otherwise should.

Sample Laser Hair Removal Schedule

If we extrapolate the idea that a hair removal session should take place every 4-6 weeks and that we’ll need 4-8 treatments total for significant hair removal…

Let’s pick one laser hair removal appointment every 5 weeks as our schedule. So we’d have hair removal treatment fully completed in:

Low end number of treatments: 4 treatments every 5 weeks = 20 weeks of treatments.

High end number of treatments: 8 treatments every 5 weeks = 40 weeks of treatments.

So that would mean we’d have completed our laser hair removal in about 10 months at the high end.

Is this an efficient and realistic schedule, and does it even make sense? It helps to understand how hair grows to get a better understanding and to plan for your hair removal success.

You may also want to check out some research that discusses longer term laser and IPL hair removal results to see how hair removal can be impacted by spreading out treatments over months and years. I discuss this in the post called What Is Permanent Hair Reduction For Men.

And as an FYI, I wouldn’t assume that every single laser hair removal practitioner knows enough about the hair growth cycle to be qualified to discuss it and plan for your success.

Hair Growth Cycle And Laser Hair Removal

Hair grows in a cycle comprised of 4 phases and it’s important to remember that at any given time, you will have hairs in various phases. The phase on the far right of the photo is really just the first phase beginning again. The 4 phases are:

Anagen or growth phase: This is the phase where laser hair removal works. The procedure removes hairs in the growth phase only.

Catagen or transition phase: This phase lasts around 2 weeks and is the phase where the hair stop growing. Once it hits this phase, the hair can’t successfully be treated by laser hair removal as it can in the anagen phase.

Telogen or resting phase: Scalp hair rests in this phase for about 100 days and for a longer period of time for other hairs. Laser hair removal can’t successfully treat hairs in this phase.

Exogen or shedding phase: This is the final phase where hair falls out. Laser hair removal can’t successfully treat hairs in this phase.

Laser Hair Removal Appointment Scheduling

How do you know when to schedule your next hair removal appointment?

Once you see hair stubble growing back, you can most likely make an appointment 1-2 weeks after that assuming there is enough hair at that point to make the appointment worth it. As soon as you see hair stubble growing, you know those hairs are in the growth phase.

Later on as you have more treatments, you might find that you only need laser hair removal scheduled every 8 weeks or so. Your practitioner should be able to help to advise you.

What If I Wait Too Long For Future Treatments?

As mentioned above, scheduling future laser hair removal appointments in a structured and timely matter counts towards success.

What if you wait too long between laser hair removal treatments?

You might miss the anagen phase which is where laser hair removal works. In that case, you won’t be able to successfully treat all hairs and are hurting your chances of having better success. Ultimately this costs you time and money.

Most laser practitioners will probably suggest you return as many times as needed every 4-6 weeks. Some might stretch it out to 8 weeks depending on the clinic and your personal situation. When I had IPL hair removal it was suggested that I return every 6-8 weeks.

Conclusion

Laser hair removal costs about $287 per treatment on average but this is an average cost in the US that doesn’t take into account the difference between body part being treated, region you live in, clinic type and other factors.

Prices may be higher or lower depending on where you live and the clinic you visit. If you are paying a doctor to perform the service it could cost more than a clinic where the service is performed by a clinician.

For other body parts, expect to pay $60-$800 per session with back hair removal being the most expensive given the large size (and often) large amount of coarse hair.

Laser Hair Removal main page: Check out my main laser hair removal page that discusses the four types of laser hair removal machines that are available. It’s good to familiarize yourself with the four types of lasers that are available as not all clinics will use each and some lasers may suit your skin and hair color more than others. Plus, many brand names exist for each type of laser. Some are more modern than others.

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) main page: Check out my main IPL hair removal page to learn more about the IPL hair removal process. I also wrote a detailed post discussing my personal experience with 16 IPL hair removal treatments for my back.