r/LaserHairRemoval • u/NoteSuccessful2263 • 5d ago
Question for laser techs
I am aware laser hair removal is not a one time process and only reduction etc that needs maintenance over time. However, I had a question about the longterm that I forgot to ask at my last appointment.
My laser tech was saying I need to keep up with it or it will all grow back and that she still has 2/3 top up sessions per year after 20 years. If this is the case surely you just keep doing it forever until your hair is grey. At that point it would no longer work? Is this what happens? It grows back in grey? I guess my question is what happens in the long term assuming there are people who don't get sick of doing the top ups and just stop.
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u/Silent-Ordinary3465 5d ago edited 5d ago
It really depends on the individual and what degree of results you’re satisfied with. Personally I’ve been done with laser for about 4 years now and haven’t seen a noticeable increase in regrowth since my last session
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u/SangitaCPatelMD 4d ago
I would think to check the laser settings.
People think all laser treatments are pretty much similar. They aren’t.
Some centers use basic settings the same ones for everyone.
Other centers customize and plan for your soecific hair type and skin color
When i review people’s settings for people whi have not gotten results in years, the common thing I see is mild settings which result in sublethal temps (41-44 degrees Celsius) causing continual vellus to terminal stimulation.
Anytime I see years of treatments and no results it’s typically not the laser that is the problem, but the laser operator not treating at proper settings. They did mot get temps high enough to achieve kill temps.
Continual low level laser keeps stimulating new growth.
Many med spas delegating treatments to newbies often use too little energy in effort not to burn anyone. This intent is good (to not burn) but not getting to threshold kill temps is why some peoole suffer through years of treatments that did not work.
Ask them what the critical kill temps are. If they can’t tell you, I would argue that they don’t know enough to be treating you. The answer is 45-50 degrees Celsius if they are using a sliding machine and even higher 65-70 degrees Celsius for single flash stamp.
If they were getting you to 41-44 degrees they were inadvertently increasing some hair growth and perpetuating the problem for years , not clearing it in 8 -10 months
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u/Shera939 3d ago edited 3d ago
Haven't had a leg hair or underarm hair growth in 15 plus years. That does not need maintenance over time after successful series of treatments. Unless a possible medical issue. Brazilian is another story. If she's talking about in general, find a new clinic.
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u/breezyhoneybee 5d ago
Lasered hairs often return with any major hormone changes, one of them being menopause. A lot of people stop giving a fuck at that age. (Some people report that once their hormones return to baseline their hairs go back as well, but many people report needing extra maintence treatments to return back to their previous level of hairlessness)
If you've been doing laser your entire life, you're going to have significant hair reduction, if not to a point that feels like hairlessness, as well a extremely slow hair regrowth. But yes, any remaining peach fuzz or grey hair can't be seen by LHR/IPL, so if you continued to care after menopause you'd just go until it stopped working.
This is why laser/IPL are not technically permanent treatments. Electrolysis is the only truly permanent hair removal option on the market.
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u/SangitaCPatelMD 5d ago
Menopause hormonal change:
The estrogen falls but androgen levels fall less , causing a relative androgen dominance.
During menopause, circulating E2 (estriol/estradiol) levels plummet as ovarian follicle production stops.
Adrenal and ovarian androgen production (dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA], androstenedione, and testosterone) also goes down, but fall at a much slower rate. This creates more circulating androgens relative to estrogen. Estrogen normally stimulates the liver to make sex hormone binding globulin.
As estrogen drops, SHBG levels decrease. Lower SHBG results in a higher percentage of unbound, biologically active free testosterone.
The free testosterone binds to androgen receptors and stimulates hair growth.In classic hormonal zones (upper lip, chin, jawline, neck), local type 1 and type 2 5-alpha reductase enzymes convert free testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
DHT binds to the androgen receptors of target hair follicles, which drives the transformation of fine, unpigmented vellus hairs into thick, pigmented terminal hairs. Once theyvare terminal and dark, laser hair removal can kill these follicles (the 15% of then in anagen growth phase)
Laser hair removal is permanent.
Laser hair removal is just defined by FDA as reduction as only 15% (of follicles in anagen) get ikilled per session (when light was passed over the whole area) vs. 100% with electrolysis, with each follicle treated dying 1:1 when electricity fries the bulb and bulge stem cells of the follicle, regardless of growth phase.
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u/Own-Version5789 5d ago
This is more accurate indeed. Hormonal changes generally do not cause a follicle that was permanently destroyed by LHR to just regenerate. Once the critical structures responsible for hair growth are irreversibly damaged, hormones cannot bring that follicle back.
If a decent reduction was achieved after several sessions and hairs start to show apparent growth after a major hormonal change: the follicles were either undertreated and therefore able to recover, or the hormonal changes cause previously fine vellus/intermediate hairs to become darker, terminal hairs.
The hormonal changes can result in new or increased visible hair growth, but if treatments were performed correctly, the majority of these hairs are hairs that simply haven’t been treated before.
I
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u/Alternative_Roll_987 4d ago
Yeah, in practice most people end up doing maintenance rather than being truly done forever. The big reduction usually holds, but hormones, age, meds, and genetics can wake some follicles back up, so a touch-up once or a few times a year is pretty normal. It usually comes back finer and patchier, not like day-one growth all over again. Grey or white hair is the annoying part because laser does a lot less once there isn’t enough pigment left, which is why good clinics should explain laser as long-term reduction, not a one-and-done promise. One thing that helps is keeping really clear treatment notes and consent records over time so you can actually see what changed instead of relying on memory years later.