Laser Hair Removal is Only Semi-Permanent

According to the Mayo Clinic, Laser hair removal is a procedure that uses a concentrated beam of light (laser) to remove unwanted hair. During treatment, the laser emits a light that is absorbed by the pigment (melanin) in the hair. The light energy is converted to heat, which damages the hair follicles in the skin and may inhibit or delay future hair growth. Although laser hair removal effectively delays hair growth for long periods, it usually doesn't result in permanent hair removal. This is because the laser may have damaged the hair follicle but failed to destroy it. If a hair follicle is damaged but not destroyed, the hair will eventually regrow. Many people also find that laser hair removal is not effective in hormonal areas of the body like the face, neck, breast, and bikini. Due to the hormonal nature of hair growth, if the hair follicle isn't in the growing stage or isn't completely destroyed, the hair will inevitably continue to grow.

Paradoxical Hypertrichosis

Not only is Laser hair removal not permanent, it has also been knows to INCREASE hair production.

This photograph was documented in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment by Doctor Mohammad Radmanesh of the Cutaneous Surgery and Oncology center. This was a patient who had six sessions of IPL laser hair removal sessions.

This patient now suffers from a condition called Paradoxical Hypertrichosis. This condition is a striking adverse effect of laser hair removal which causes an increase in hair density, color, coarseness, or a combination of all these in the treated areas.

Research states that it most commonly occurs on the face (sideburns, cheeks, upper lips, and chin), neck for women and the upper torso (back, shoulders and chest) for men. Even though more cases are found in people with a darker skin type (Fitzpatrick III-IV), it has been known to affect people with lighter skin tones.