After 3 laser hair removal sessions

To those who say "it doesn't work,"

what I always tell them in the exam room

As summer approaches, the clinic starts to get crowded

with people asking, "I had 3 sessions, so why is it still the same?"

There are really a lot of them.

"Someone clearly said it would be done in 5 to 6 sessions,

so why isn't mine coming off?"

I hear that all the time.

Today I'll explain the reason step by step,

starting with the follicle cycle.

Laser hair removal all looks similar, right?

But in fact

Laser hair removal is a procedure that destroys the hair root

by having the melanin in the follicle

absorb light energy.

Unlike shaving or waxing, which only remove hair on the surface,

laser targets the follicle itself

and weakens its ability to grow back.

Common devices are broadly divided into

Alexandrite (755nm) and

Nd:YAG (1064nm),

and different wavelengths penetrate to different depths

and work better on different hair thicknesses.

That's why, even under the same name "laser hair removal,"

the choice depends on the patient's skin tone

and hair thickness.

Why you need 8 to 10 sessions,

the answer comes from understanding the follicle cycle

"Hair responds to laser only during the growth phase.

Based on the follicle cycle, you need 8 to 10 sessions

at 4 to 6 week intervals

to achieve over 80% permanent hair reduction.

If you say it has no effect after only 3 sessions,

that's too early a judgment."

— Director Wi Young-jin (Beauty Stone Clinic, Hongdae)

This may not fully click if you only read it,

but a real case makes it clear.

Last month, a 26-year-old woman came in,

who had received 3 underarm sessions at another clinic

and came to us after getting a refund, saying "it doesn't work."

What I told her after the consultation was,

"Rather than recommending more treatment right now,

let's wait 4 more weeks and reassess."

It was more important to accurately judge the effect

of the prior treatment than to start over.

Here's why. Hair grows through three stages:

anagen, catagen, and telogen.

Of these, only hairs in the growth phase

respond to laser.

Melanin must be sufficiently present at the hair root, and the dermal papilla

and follicle must still be alive

for the light energy to reach the hair root.

The problem is that the growth-phase ratio

differs by body area.

Underarms are about 30%,

legs around 20%, and facial peach fuzz is even lower.

That means only 20 to 30% of the total hair

can be targeted in one session.

That's why 8 to 10 sessions at

4 to 6 week intervals are recommended.

You give hairs in the resting phase

time to move into the next growth phase,

and each time you catch another 30% or so.

Repeating this 8 to 10 times

reaches over 80% permanent hair reduction through cumulative effect.

To be honest, at 3 sessions,

you've barely gone through one cycle.

It's too early to judge the result.

And then equipment selection comes into play.

We mainly use GentleMax Pro Plus,

which can switch between 755nm Alexandrite and 1064nm Nd:YAG

in one device.

For people with lighter skin and dark, fine hair,

we use 755nm,

and for people with darker skin or thick, deep hair,

we use 1064nm

by area even within the same session.

If you use only a single-wavelength device,

the risk of burns rises on darker skin,

and fine hairs can be missed.

Director Wi Young-jin's key summary

Hair removal is not a one-and-done procedure,

but a treatment that accumulates

by following the follicle cycle.

You need to keep 4 to 6 week intervals and complete 8 to 10 sessions

to enter the permanent hair reduction range.

Judging it as "ineffective" after 3 sessions

is too early a conclusion.

See how it applies to you,

by area

One thing I should definitely mention is that

this is an "average."

If you are affected by hormones or naturally have

thick, dense hair, you may need 12 to 15 sessions

to feel satisfied.

If you know in advance that your hair type is like that,

the frustration of "why is the result so slow?"

tends to ease.

The 3 things customers ask

about hair removal most often

Q1. If the interval is shorter, say every 2 weeks,

won't it finish faster?

A. I really understand the desire to finish quickly.

But if you ignore the follicle cycle and only shorten the interval,

you end up spending more money for about the same result.

It takes at least 3 to 4 weeks for hairs in the resting phase

to move into the growth phase.

If you treat again after 2 weeks,

you're essentially treating the same spots again,

so you won't catch newly emerged hairs.

Q2. Once the 10-session package is done,

A. There's a reason we use the term

"permanent hair reduction" rather than "permanent hair removal."

After 10 sessions, hair is reduced by over 80%

and the remaining hair becomes finer and lighter.

But if dormant follicles wake up due to hormonal changes or stress,

some hair can grow back.

That's why many people get

a maintenance session once about 1 to 2 years later.

Q3. Is there anything to watch out for during treatment?

A. The two most important things are

sun protection and avoiding waxing.

Do not wax or pluck with tweezers starting 2 weeks before treatment.

If the root is removed,

the laser has nothing to target.

Shaving is fine.

You need to be careful with UV exposure before and after treatment.

If laser is used on tanned skin,

the risk of burns goes up.

If you take only one thing from today,

— hair removal should be evaluated not by the number of sessions,

but by how many cycles of the follicle cycle you've gone through.

In the next post,

"why some people are done in 5 sessions,

while others need up to 12"

I'll break down the hormonal and constitutional variables.

This has been Wi Young-jin.

Read also

• Beard hair removal: don't believe claims of permanent removal unless it's GentleMax Pro Plus

• GentleMax beard hair removal: why simply increasing the number of sessions doesn't help

• Underarm laser hair removal: how many sessions does it take? A realistic session guide