Whether you choose to have professional laser treatment at a hair removal clinic or spa or you are planning on buying a laser hair removal machine for use in your own home be sure to stay out of the sun for at least two weeks before your treatment and do not plan any sunbathing sessions for at least two weeks afterwards either.
In many cases you won't want to go sunbathing anyway as you will probably want to cover up until the hair is treated and has shed and gone. But just in case you are tempted here is why you should not.
Laser Surgery
1. Tanning Makes Skin More Sensitive
Of course you will know the feeling of getting sunburnt and how sore that is. You definitely would not want to feel the sting of laser therapy on your sunburnt skin. However, whether it looks healthy or not, even light tanning actually damages your skin. The color you produce (melanin) is simply your skin's response to the damage caused by the sun. Laser hair removal will make your skin a bit sore anyway so you definitely do not want to increase its sensitivity. Any salon you go to should refuse to treat you if you have exposed your skin to the sun enough to give you any color at all. if they don't then that speaks volumes about the lack of professional care at the salon. Go elsewhere.
2. Tanning Makes the Laser Less effective
Lasers target the dark pigment in hair leaving the lighter surrounding skin undamaged. The darker the skin the more likely it is to absorb some of the laser light waves and the less energy will get absorbed by the hair follicles. While tanned skin will mean the hair follicles won't receive enough laser light energy to destroy them the skin will get enough of it to be damaged. You will not see it straight away but you will have "aged" your skin. Sunlight also has a bleaching effect on hair and that lightening effect again reduces the effectiveness of the laser light therapy.
If you stay out of the sun while undergoing treatment you might miss out on sunbathing or looking a golden healthy color for a while but you will get the most effective and safer treatment as a result.
Avoid Tanning Before and After Laser Hair Removal
That exactly what my doctor told me before the laser hair removal treatment I did in toronto a few months ago. And you can't imagine how hard is to stay away from the sun in the summer:(
ReplyDeleteWhen I will do my next treatment I will definitely choose another period:)