How To Prepare For Laser Hair Removal

How To Prepare For Laser Hair Removal

Preparing for laser hair removal involves avoiding a few things and perhaps doing a thing or two on your own to get ready beforehand. While you want to check with your laser hair removal clinic for their instructions, there are few givens that everyone should do prior to a treatment.

Here’s a quick checklist:

Disclose your medication regimen

If you take any prescription medications, tell your laser hair removal practitioner know ahead of time in case any conflict with the procedure or may be cause for concern. I recall prior to laser and IPL procedures being asked if I was on any prescription medication just to be sure.

Avoid work done on your skin

For at least 2 weeks prior to hair removal, avoid medical procedures such as Botox, chemical peels, injections and anything else affecting the hair to be treated. You don’t want to do anything to your skin that may negatively impact the laser hair removal procedure.

Avoid photosensitive products

For at least 72 hours prior to treatment avoid topical products that are known to cause photosensitivity. This article lists several popular examples. Your hair removal clinic may suggest others, too.

Avoid the sun

Avoid suntanning or significant sun exposure to the area being treated prior to laser hair removal treatment. Laser light looks for the contrast between skin and hair and the more the contrast the better the results. Typically sun avoidance is for 2 weeks prior to treatment.

I recall one time at an Intense Pulsed Light hair removal treatment, the hair removal clinician noticed that my skin was slightly tanned (which it was) and asked that I try to avoid doing that the next time I had an appointment.

Avoid the sun directly after treatment too for at least a few days If in doubt, ask your laser hair removal practitioner ahead of time what their instructions are.

You may also be asked to wear sunscreen on the area you’re having treated prior to treatment, but on on the day of treatment (we talk more about avoiding lotions, etc below).

Avoid hair removal on your own

Avoid shaving, waxing, plucking, electrolysis, depilatories or other hair removal procedures on the area you’re planning on having treated. Laser hair removal targets the hair shaft down to the root at the bottom of the hair follicle. If you’re removing hairs by the root by yourself between laser treatments, they can’t be treated with laser. In general, clinics will simply tell you to avoid doing any of these hair removals methods in between laser appointments on any areas you’re having treated. What’s the point in doing temporary hair removal on your own if you’re paying for a longer term option that does a better job?

Shave the area in question

This is something you should confirm with your practitioner ahead of time. When I had laser and IPL hair removal, I did nothing in terms of shaving. I arrived on site on the day of the treatment, and the practitioner took some clippers out and she trimmed the hair to the length she wanted. There was no extra charge for this. I was comfortable with this since she’s the professional and knows more about the correct length that the hair should be, not me.

I have come across at least one laser clinic online that tells clients to shave their own hair the day before treatment or they’ll charge the client at least $75 for their laser tech to shave them.

Avoid an unexpected bill. Ask ahead of time to ensure you know what is expected of you.

Preparing For Laser Hair Removal – Day Of Treatment

On the day of treatment:

Arrive for laser hair removal freshly showered

Have a shower and arrive as clean as possible prior to the laser hair removal procedure. Don’t apply anything to the skin you’re having treated on the day. Avoid using lotions, creams, oils, fragrances, sunblock, etc on your skin on the day of treatment.

Wear loose fitting clothing

While I didn’t notice a great deal of skin irritation following treatment, loose fitting clothing covering the areas you had treated may help to avoid skin irritation. Also, you might want to wear clothing that covers the area you had treated if it’s a sunny day as exposure to sunlight immediately following laser hair removal treatment may irritate skin further.

Conclusion

• How to prepare for laser hair removal essentially refers to avoiding doing certain things before treatment as mentioned above, to ensure the greatest chance of success.
• Avoid doing hair removal on your own prior to treatment. Let the laser hair removal process do that for you, as you’re paying it to do.
• Avoid lotions, creams, fragrances and other topical products on your skin the day of treatment.
• To be sure, ask the person performing the laser hair removal procedure well in advance of your first treatment about what is expected of you and what you need to be aware of in terms of preparation.