DepiCool UK – Blog

Permanent Hair Removal by Intense Pulsed Light or IPL

Of permanent hair removal techniques, IPL or Intense Pulsed Light hair removal is considered the latest although the US FDA gave permission for it’s use as a tool of permanent hair removal in 1997, a year before laser hair removal. This is because the technology was developed as flashlamps to treat other conditions and doctors and patients observed hair loss as a result. Unlike laser hair removal, there is a lot more information in circulation about IPL hair removal and the FDA do certify it for efficacy and safety.

Although both laser hair removal and IPL hair removal use light to cause thermal damage to the hair folicle, there are big differences. IPL uses specific wavelengths of light that are the optimum for absorption by the melanin pigmentation in hair yet at the same time minimising the trauma to the skin. IPL differs from laser by being able to deliver greater energies at optimum wavelengths while causing less damage to the skin. It is even said to be safe for dark skinned people, though being as I’m very fair I have no personal experience to testify to that.

Another similarity is that neither laser or IPL hair removal is effective where there is no pigment, so white, grey and red hairs aren’t suitable and will need to be removed through electrolysis. It’s also not something you should do if you get epileptic fits, or if you are a genetic woman who is pregnant. Equally don’t try and get a tan while taking a course of IPL treatments.

IPL as I said earlier, was initially developed for other purposes and so it is also used to treat thread veins and rejuvenates the skin – now that’s not bad for a side effect! On light skin it is pretty much completely safe as far as my research tells me and though IPL treatments are typically taken 6 weeks apart, studies have shown it to clear between 54 and 77% of hair in a given area in just 6 months, something that is just totally unheard of with electrolysis. Clearing a beard with electrolysis takes between one and four years with an average being around three, so this is a seriously big improvement.

Naturally with a newer technology, long term studies on regrowth have not been done, and certainly IPL hair removal is not subject to the same type of controvesy of skin damage and recurring regrowth that has dogged laser hair removal. As with all things to do with beauty, I have taken it upon myself to trial it for you all. Oh, the things I do for you! Nah, I’ll be honest, I’m interested in beauty and I’ve always wanted to be hairless so I’ve tried electrolysis and found it to be effective but slow, painful, costly and a possible source of scarring. I tried laser hair removal but hey Captain, those laser weren’t set to stun, they were set to kill! It gave me a massive red angry swelling on my test patch and I took the hint. So I investigated IPL hair removal and this is what I found:

• For the amount of coverage you get, it’s probably cheaper than getting a once over clearance by an electrolysist, though you will need to save up if you are used to just parting with a few pounds
• The amount of pain I experienced was so minimal, I hardly noticed it. I was told to expect a feeling “like being slapped with a hot rubber band” and my toes were starting to curl under before my first hit. After I had it, I was just like “have you done it yet?”
• In terms of the amount of hairs killed in one session, don’t expect to walk out hairless after one treatment. You’ll be needing somewhere between 6 and 10 typically on each area depending on your skin and hair type and the growth phase the hair is in. I’d still say I lost significantly more through one treatment than I would have done with a similar expenditure on electrolysis in fact one treatment I had removed close to 50% of the hairs in that area and kept me grinning for weeks!

Another great perk of IPL hair removal is that shaving the hair is mandatory! It can only be performed when the hair is short, so unlike electrolysis where full time girls are traumatised to have to actually grow their beard in order to get it treated, IPL hair removal clinics may actually charge you if you turn up unshaven!

**taken from http://www.danistroom.com/inspirations/beauty-and-health/beauty-therapies/ipl-hair-removal.htm, accessed on 11/04/09**