Laser-skin treatments and skin cooling – should we do this?

There appears to be some confusion about the use of skin surface cooling and laser treatments. Why should we use skin-cooling at all? Let’s go back to basics… When we use lasers to remove hair, blood vessels, benign pigmentation, acne and tattoos we want to induce some sort of reaction in those targets using heat.… Continue reading Laser-skin treatments and skin cooling – should we do this?

How much hair is removed after each laser/IPL treatment?

This is an interesting question. It’s tricky to know precisely because it’s hard to ‘count’ the hairs… So, I used my computer model of the anagen-catagen-telogen growth cycle to find out. This is the model I developed last year to figure our how long we should leave between treatments for the best outcomes. To answer… Continue reading How much hair is removed after each laser/IPL treatment?

Why do ‘finer’ and ‘lighter’ hairs appear after laser/IPL hair removal treatments?

All hairs are part of a follicular unit which comprises the hair shaft, melanin (not always!!) and germ/stem cells. [There are other components such as the pilo-sebaceous units – but we’re not interested in those here.] The germ cells are responsible for initiating and growing the hair in the anagen phase. They reside in a… Continue reading Why do ‘finer’ and ‘lighter’ hairs appear after laser/IPL hair removal treatments?

Here is a list of my blog posts covering laser/IPL hair removal, tattoos, blood vessels, physics, MasterClasses and other stuff…

Last update – 29.1.23 Below are links to my blog posts… Laser/IPL Hair Removal Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal – online now! Hair Removal – Why is it painful? Why are laser/IPL hair removal treatments painful? And how do we minimise it? “I’ve burnt my patient!!” With IPL treatments, that is precisely what we are tying to do… What… Continue reading Here is a list of my blog posts covering laser/IPL hair removal, tattoos, blood vessels, physics, MasterClasses and other stuff…

How to apply the ‘SHR’ and ‘stamping’ technques properly during hair removal – my videos

Laser/IPL operators often use the ‘SHR’ or ‘stamping’ techniques when applying their devices to hair removal on the skin. But I often see people using the wrong approach. This will, inevitably, lead to poor results or an excessive number of treatment sessions. In this video I explain how to apply these technique correctly, to increase… Continue reading How to apply the ‘SHR’ and ‘stamping’ technques properly during hair removal – my videos

Hair removal using Diode lasers vs Nd:YAG, Alex lasers & IPLs

Hair Removal Systems These days there are a number of different systems available for hair removal, which can make it a bit tricky when deciding which to purchase. In particular, diode lasers are a different type of laser when compared to the other systems (and IPL). Here I outline some of the differences between these… Continue reading Hair removal using Diode lasers vs Nd:YAG, Alex lasers & IPLs

Hair Removal – Why is it painful?

We all know that the choice of fluence and wavelength is important when treating hair with light energy. However, many believe that the fluence should be reduced when treating darker skin colours. This is fundamentally wrong!! The pain felt during laser/IPL hair treatments is principally due to the epidermal heating. As a direct consequence, darker… Continue reading Hair Removal – Why is it painful?

Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal – online now!

The latest chapter of our eBook is now available online for your perusal. We have ‘hidden’ some pages – the ‘best’ ones, in our opinion, because we don’t want to give away all the good stuff too cheaply… This is the online pdf version which is outlines most of the contents. It will give you… Continue reading Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal – online now!

Finally… Our laser/IPL book is in hardback, printed form…

After much gnashing of teeth and chasing of couriers, our eBook is now finally availabe in hardback format! All attendees of our MasterClasses will receive a copy automatically – the Birmingham peeps will be receiving theirs soon. We will soon announce a page where you can purchase these books, if you so desire… Mike. PS… Continue reading Finally… Our laser/IPL book is in hardback, printed form…

Why are laser/IPL hair removal treatments painful? And how do we minimise it?

We often hear about “pain-free” laser/IPL hair treatments. And we hear, often, that they are not!! Why are they painful in the first place? What causes this pain and where exactly is it located? Here’s a wee video I made to try to explain this… Knowing this makes it easier to control the amount of… Continue reading Why are laser/IPL hair removal treatments painful? And how do we minimise it?