Possible Risks Involved With Laser Hair Removal

Laser hair removal is quickly becoming the leading alternative in long-term hair removal of unwanted hair. Laser skin treatments, depending on your pain threshold, can be virtually pain free, and only requires a numbing cream applied to the treatment area, and the procedure also has zero downtime and most patients return to work within the hour after treatment. Regardless of how painless the procedure is or that it has zero downtime, it is still a medical procedure and risks should be disclosed with patients before they undertake this treatment.

There were two fatal accidents involving laser hair treatments, and in both cases they involved toxic shock from applying excess numbing cream. Two ladies with pre-existing heart conditions purchased a laser hair removal in-home treatment device and numbing cream and proceeded to give themselves an in-home treatment. In both of cases, these two individuals applied more than the recommended dosage of numbing cream and as a result went into toxic shock and had complete heart failures as a result. Those tragedies could have been easily avoided if they went to professionals at a reputable laser hair removal center.

Some of the other, less serious risks, involved with laser hair removal, are associated with the actual laser from the device rather than the numbing cream. Some of these risks are hypopigmentation, or hyperpigmentation, which is the lightening or darkening of the skin. People with darker complexions, at the hands of the inexperienced, could receive laser treatments at with device at wrong settings and could run the risk of having temporary, or worst case scenario permanent, lightening of the treated area. The exact opposite is the case with lighter skinned individuals, especially those with blonde hair, who run the risk of skin darkening.

In very rare cases, during treatment, light bleeding has occurred, the general rule of thumb is if it feels uncomfortable or painful you should tell the nurse practitioners or skin treatment professional about the pain before proceeding any further. Most clients experience a light snapping, like an elastic band being shot at their skin.

Skin texture changes, although rare, are one of the risks to consider. Most of the time this is a change for the better because the laser will actually smooth the skin, which in most cases is a favorable result.

In rare cases some patients have experienced blisters following the skin treatment procedure. Skin type really is the biggest factor that comes into play with scarring, darker skinned individuals have a tendency to scar after laser treatments. To avoid scarring an individual may series of less intensive treatments, and instead of 6 treatments 7-8 treatments at lower levels may be required. Every individual's skin, and hair type are unique so please consult a professional before you consider these types of skin and hair treatments.

Infections do persist if the patient experiences blistering, so it's important to be very cognizant of treated areas and call the appropriate organization, practitioners or nurse if there are any signs of blistering or infection.

All these occurrences are very rare, and can be avoided by the patient researching, finding a reputable laser hair removal center and receiving a proper consultation prior to their laser hair removal.

Mark Bakr is an expert in southcoastmedspa.com laser hair removal and owns southcoastmedspa.com laser hair removal Los Angeles practice.