In this country, laser hair removal is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing noninvasive forms of beauty surgery. In fact, any laser hair removal Orange County clinic will tell you about this. It is estimated that, in 2010 alone, some 6 million procedures were performed, and that this number has grown by 18% per year since then!

Cosmetic hair removal has long been something women are interested in. From about the age of 12, young girls and woman start to remove hairs on their legs and armpits, for instance. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of people who have laser hair removal are women. However, men are becoming very interested in it as well, getting rid of unwanted hairs on their chest, shoulders, and back, and helping them to cope with ingrown hairs.

What Is Laser Hair Removal?

Simply put, laser energy is directed towards the melanin in the hair, damaging the follicles and stopping them from growing new hairs. Essentially, after a number of treatments, the follicle dies and the hair will not return. In the past, this was only really possible of people who were fair skinned with very dark hair. However, one of the key benefits of laser hair removal today is that it is now quite effective on anyone. Unfortunately, laser hair removal continues to be quite expensive, even though it is now very popular. While that has certainly made the price drop, you can still expect to pay around $3,000 for a full treatment.

Can You Do it at Home?

Because laser hair removal is so popular, yet remains quite expensive, manufacturers have started to create at-home devices. But is it a good idea to purchase those? Some of the things to understand include:

• Laser hair removal is not painless. This means that, if you do it at home, you may be surprised by it and simply stop using the device, leading to not experiencing any results and you basically wasting your money.
• Clinicians are able to target the laser at the exact right place, so that you have more chance of the treatment being more effective.
• At home lasers, for safety reasons, are not as strong as those used by clinics. Hence, those who don’t have fair skin and dark hair may find it doesn’t work as well.

Of course, the greatest benefit of using an at home laser is that it is massively affordable. For many women, and men for that matter, this means they can just treatment themselves again and again, until their problem hairs have disappeared. However, no research has been done to determine whether this has an impact on other parts of our biology as well.

At the end of the day, there is a reason why clinicians receive training in different devices, and that is because, while they are non-surgical, they are not necessarily completely safe. It is always best, therefore, to be treated by a professional who has been trained in how to use it. Considering it is also far more effective, it seems worth paying the extra money.