Do it yourself laser hair removal... Unhappy medical spas?
The're are a growing number of 'home laser hair removal' devices appearing on the market. This article on do it yourself laser hair removal supposes that medical spas and laser clinics are feeling the heat.
Want to get rid of some unsightly hair, but don’t want to spend the big bucks for electrolysis or a laser clinic? Now, you can buy your own laser and do it yourself.
And people are.
The growth of the at-home cosmetic-device market, which includes personal lasers, has some professionals buzzing. At an annual conference hosted by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Barry DiBernardo, a New Jersey surgeon, delivered a talk in Seattle about the pros and cons of the DIY market on the ASPS’s “Hot Topics” panel.
“We have to make sure that the patients are getting good, safe treatments. If they are getting good, safe treatments, then whether they are doing it at home or not, I’m not as worried,” DiBernardo told Wired.com by phone. “What I’m worried about is that they are seeing things in the Skymall on the airplane and spending hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars on something that is not going to work or is unproven.”
New cosmetic medical devices including DIY lasers are expected to explode into a $1.3 billion market 2013, up from just $296 million in 2008, according to the analyst group Medical Insights. The growth in the market appears to be coming from light-based products that claim to either remove or grow hair on the human body. The Silk’n Hair was the first at-home laser device to be approved by the FDA, in 2006, although it didn’t come on the market until early 2008.
The laser hair removers damage the hair follicles that are in their growth phase, generally leading to some permanent reductions of body hair. DiBernardo questioned whether the lasers used in the home devices were powerful enough to get the kind of results that clinics achieve.
“In general, these devices are low-powered versions of the doctor versions. We’ve been doing hair removal since 1998, so we know that they work and how well they do,” he said. “I think these home devices have some effect, but they legally can’t have the power of what we fire at people.”
From nother nice post from Wired:
My own experience is that people looking to do it yourself home laser hair removal (or skin tightening or complexion light-based photo-therapies) are really looking to save money and are buying a device in the hope that it will work. Patients who are actually interested in laser hair removal or skin tightening are put off by these types of home remedies. I've never heard that a laser clinc or medical spa is suffering from this, but I may be wrong.
Does anyone running a medical spa or laser hair removal clinc feel differently? Is laser hair removal at a medspa moving to home laser hair remvoal that a do it yourself laser treatment?
Jeff, Medical Spa MD
Reader Comments (1)
At Assara, we're not concerned about the impact that the home devices will have on our ability to attract, retain and give service to laser hair removal clientèle. The at-home devices are expensive and likely to be ineffective. Hopefully, the products will , however, increase general market awareness of laser hair removal as a solution to unwanted hair.
Below, I’m including a few points of comparison between professional medical lasers and the handheld devices, which is cribbed from one of our blog posts.
Light-Source/Wavelength: For an effective laser treatment (for all skin types, and particularly for dark and tan skin), the correct wavelength of laser must be used.
Tria uses a diode laser and Silk’n uses an intense pulse light – IPL – flash lamp to work. For light skin, the Alexandrite (or Alex) laser is generally thought of has the most effective wavelength for laser hair removal purposes. IPLs are generally known as an antiquated system, which is less effective and more likely to cause injury. Neither the Tria’s diode laser, nor the Silk’n’s IPL system, is appropriate for tan or dark skin; most practitioners would recommend use of the Nd:YAG laser for skin with pigment.
Fluence/Energy Level: The fluence (or energy level) is another important factor in laser strength and effectiveness for hair removal. The handheld devices do not produce enough energy to be effective for laser hair removal.
Fluence is measured in joules per square centimeter (J/cm²). The Tria has an adjustable fluence level of between 7 and 20 joules. The Silk’n has a fluence level of 5 joules.
True medical lasers used for laser hair removal, such as the Cynosure Apogee Elite (Alexandrite, and Nd:YAG) have maximum fluence levels selectable by the laser practitioner of between 50 and 80 joules.
An experienced laser practitioner will normally select an energy level of between 25 and 60 joules for an effective treatment. The practitioner must be careful to not provide too little energy, which impairs the effectiveness of the treatment, and also must be careful not to provide too much energy, which can damage surrounding skin.
___
To read our original blog post, please click here: Assara Laser Blog Post on At-Home Laser Hair Removal Devices