Steps to do before a laser hair treatment

Getting laser hair treatment done on your body is a process that can take awhile, but it is well worth it. If you are worried about cost and the time it takes, then you simply need to follow these tips to help make the process go faster and help you be more comfortable with the process, and how much it is costing you.

As you may know, laser hair removal is not done over one session. Often it takes several sessions, spaced weeks apart. Each session can run around $500 and if you do 10 sessions, that is $5,000 you have paid to have your hair laser removed. A small price to pay for never having to shave again. However, if you want to save money and time, there are some things that you can do to ensure that you are able to ready your skin and hair so that there are less problems when you are getting the hair removed.

The golden rules are:

1. On the day that you are going to have a laser hair removal session, make sure you wear clothes that are loose fitting and comfortable. Depending on the area of the body you have treated, it will be a tad red, it may be itchy and there may be some slight swelling that will last about three days. To prevent irritation, do not wear tight clothing. Loose clothing will feel much better when you are leaving the clinic.

2. Do not go in any tanning beds or have tanning creams put on your skin within six weeks of the treatment. Remember, the laser hair removal process works best when there is light skin and dark hair. If you darken your skin, it will take longer to find the follicles and remove the hair, and that will cost you money.

3. If you have darker skin, you can apply Ultraquin twice a day for four weeks leading up to the treatment. This is a temporary bleaching cream that not only helps quicken the laser process, but can also prevent bleaching and darkening of the skin. It should be noted that after using this cream, your regular skin color will return within about three to six months, roughly how long it takes to go through a typical laser hair removal treatment.

4. You should also stay out of the sun for about six weeks before the treatments for the same reason as why you should not tan.

5. If you are going out, get a UVA/UVB sunscreen that is SPF 30 or higher and it should be applied to all the areas of the skin that are going to be exposed.

6. Do not tweeze, bleach or wax the area that you are having treated. You cannot do any of these things to the area within six weeks of your treatment. If you do any of these, you can leave open pores that the laser may target, which can cause problems on the skin. You can shave but you cannot shave within three days of the treatment.