For years I have been teaching people to pre-cool the skin surface before firing laser or IPL energy into the skin when treating hair. And I’ve always suggested pre-cooling for between 2 and 5 seconds. My thinking was that we should not “over-cool” the skin because that might lower the temperature of the hair follicle… Continue reading It is impossible to ‘over-cool’ the skin when treating hair with lasers or IPLs
Category: Lasers and IPLs – hair & vascular & pigmented lesions
“Pain free” hair removal. Is it real?
We often hear, these days, about “pain free” hair removal, with various lasers, usually diodes. But, is it true? Well, let’s look at this more closely… The aim with laser, or IPL, treatment of hair is to induce enough heat in the stem cells that stimulate hair growth in the follicles. To do this, we… Continue reading “Pain free” hair removal. Is it real?
Laser/IPL hair removal. How long should we leave between treatments? It’s definitely NOT six weeks…
Laser/IPL Hair Removal – what are the best intervals between sessions? Laser/IPL hair removal has been around since the 1990s. We first noticed that a Q-switched ruby laser could remove surface hair in the mid 1980s when we were treating tattoos. But we didn’t consider it a ‘treatment’ since the hair always grew back (the… Continue reading Laser/IPL hair removal. How long should we leave between treatments? It’s definitely NOT six weeks…
My concerns in today’s aesthetic industry…
I have been around since before the invention of colour…..!!! I have seen many excellent advances in the medical/aesthetic laser industry in that time. But I have also seen a few things which concern me greatly. Poor training I seem to be training more and more people who have already received ‘training’ on their lasers… Continue reading My concerns in today’s aesthetic industry…
Which is better – laser or IPL hair removal?
I am asked this question all the time.. There is a lot of mis-understanding about the differences between lasers and IPLs, and how they interact with the skin. Some people think that lasers are “superior”, but this depends on what you’re targeting! I put together a wee animation (below) to try to explain some of… Continue reading Which is better – laser or IPL hair removal?
New laser/IPL eBook – FREE – for medical/aesthetic applications
We have written an eBook discussing the basics and fundamentals of lasers and IPLs in the medical/aesthetic arena. This first Chapter is FREE!! Click on the image below for your free online copy. The book includes links to animations, videos and two quizzes, to test your knowledge. A downloadable pdf copy is also available for 25 Euros. Further… Continue reading New laser/IPL eBook – FREE – for medical/aesthetic applications
The Hair Growth Cycle & Laser/IPL Treatments. When is the ‘best’ time to treat?
Hair grows in a well-known cycle – anagen, catagen and telogen. The ‘active’ growing phase is anagen – during this phase the hair follicle will begin to grow from a single stem cell. The duration of this phase depends on the body location and can range from a few weeks to several years! However, these… Continue reading The Hair Growth Cycle & Laser/IPL Treatments. When is the ‘best’ time to treat?
Calibrating an IPL device
How do you know what fluence or energy is coming out of your IPL unit? Some devices will have an on-board meter, but many don’t. In that case, you really should get it properly calibrated. You can only do this with an appropriate meter which should be able to measure both the fluence and the… Continue reading Calibrating an IPL device
Laser spot size – how it changes with distance from the target…
Most laser systems have a lens to focus the laser energy down to a sale spot diameter (see figure 1 below). However, in many systems, the focal point (where the spot diameter is the smallest) is outside the handpiece assembly. This has a potentially hazardous effect if not properly understood! The problem with this design… Continue reading Laser spot size – how it changes with distance from the target…
IPL filters
IPL systems typically use a Xenon flash lamp to generate light across a wide range of wavelengths, usually 400 to 1200 nm. To select a ‘useful’ range a filter is applied. These are generally ‘cut off’ filters which stop all wavelengths below a given value, from transmitting through. Hence, a 650 nm will stop all… Continue reading IPL filters
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