Laser Derm Med Spa: Have the Skin You Deserve

By Eric Leiker

Q: How does laser hair removal work? Am I a good candidate?

A: The darker and coarser your hair is, the more effective the treatment will be. The dark pigment, or melanin, in the hair follicle absorbs the laser (light) energy and is converted to heat that destroys the hair follicle. This is why we have our patients shave four to twenty-four hours prior to treatment, so the laser energy is absorbed at the root of the hair follicle, rather than above the skin.

At any given time, about 15 percent of your hairs are actively growing and can be targeted by the laser. Because your hairs grow in cycles, it typically takes five to eight sessions to get the best result. Depending on the area being treated, we suggest spacing the treatments four to eight weeks apart.

As far as which skin tones can be treated, advanced clinics such as ours have lasers for all types of skin, including Alexandrite and Diode lasers for lighter and medium skin tones and YAG lasers for darker complexions.

Q: Okay, be honest. How bad does it hurt?

A: Let’s start this answer with the obvious yet fair point that all of us have different pain tolerances. So, to help us answer this question better for our own patients, we have done surveys of hundreds of past patients, and the average is always about a three or four out of ten level of discomfort.

Speaking of our patients, of the tens of thousands we’ve treated, virtually every single one says it’s considerably more comfortable than waxing and much quicker, as well. But to be fair, laser has come a long way in the last 20-plus years! So, if you know someone who has done a treatment in the past, it’s very possible that it really was quite painful.

Most older lasers do not have built-in cooling technologies. However, all the lasers we use at our office have a cooling system built into the laser itself and/or include a device that blows cold air continuously onto the skin before, during and after every single laser pulse. Fortunately, these new technologies not only make for more comfortable treatments, they also are safer and more effective.

Laser Derm Med Spa owner Eric Leiker is one of the most experienced laser hair removal providers in the country. He’s personally performed more than 100,000 treatments over the course of nearly 20 years. Eric’s depth of knowledge has allowed him to implement countless safety and quality-improvement protocols establishing a record of excellence in patient safety and satisfaction and allowing Laser Derm to grow to a team of 27 staff members who are literally laser focused on laser hair removal. Laser Derm has more Cynosure Vectus lasers under one roof than anywhere in the world. They now have more than 10 top-of-the-line lasers designed specifically for performing laser hair removal as safely and effectively as possible.

7420 Quivira Road | Shawnee, KS | 913-962-1869 | laser-derm.com