Laser hair removal Information

Body Image and Laser Hair Removal
Through my years as an expert on laser hair removal, I have seen a definite increase in the amount of people who are now more aware of body hair issues. Women come in to my clinic all the time and ask about how they can get rid of their unibrow or bikini line. In fact, the collective conscious has changed dramatically over time as to what makes a woman beautiful.

If you take a quick look at history, the definition of beauty has developed significantly over the years. It is said that you can trace the public understanding of body image through the art work of luminaries such as Reubens and Renoir. In their depictions in the 17th and 19th century, women are full-figured and are not seen as what is thought of today as being attractive. Now women shown in movies and magazines are generally skinny and lack significant definition.

Even cultural differences exist around the world as to what defines beauty. For example there is a small tribe in Burma, called the Padaung, where women at a young age have rings put around their neck. As they become older, more rings are put around their neck, and their neck stretches. In the Paduang culture this is a sign of beauty. Even closer to home, if you go to the beaches of the French Riviera, you will see women with hairy arm pits. In the French culture, women who have arm pit hair are accepted.

In the United States, a general beauty custom is that women are not to have visible hair on their body. Besides the hair on top of their head, women with excessive hair on their legs, arms or face are seen as not properly groomed and generally unfeminine. However, it is not as if American women have developed a gene that makes us immune to unwanted hair. While that would be fantastic, there are realistic options to remove hair.

As we all know, hair removal can be a pain-staking process and can cost a lot of money over time. In fact, a major national hair removal center recently conducted a study with Zoomerang that found women spend more than $10,000 on hair removal products and services over the course of their lifetime. Survey respondents also reported they will spend more than 58.4 days removing hair from their bodies during their lifetime. Imagine what you could do with all that money and time! The one tried and true treatment that makes hair removal easy, affordable, and painless is laser hair removal, which provides permanent hair reduction.

To understand how laser hair removal works, it is important to understand hair and how it grows. Human hairs are made up of three parts: the bulb at the base of the hair follicle (which produces hair), the shaft and the hair. The bulb and the shaft are embedded beneath the surface of the skin, therefore the hair is the only part visible to the naked eye. The hair growth cycle is comprised of three stages: telogen, catagen and anagen.

At any given time, approximately 30 percent of your hair is in its anagen growth stage, which is the only time the hair is susceptible to laser hair removal treatments. Each laser hair reduction session will permanently damage 30 percent of the hair follicles in the treatment area. Essentially, laser hair removal works by destroying the hair follicle.

The only way to permanently reduce the amount of unwanted hair is to damage the hair follicle to a point where is unable to produce hairs. The hairs that are destroyed with each treatment are destroyed permanently. While patient protocol is determined on a case-by-case basis, on average our center recommends a minimum of six treatments, spread about two months apart per treatment.

Modern laser hair removal is really a marvel of technology and has effectively removed the discomfort that was once associated with laser hair removal and are still associated with some of the older equipment that is out there in non-specialty clinics.

Whether you are looking at laser hair removal as an alternative to your daily shaving ritual or are looking to save money over the long-term, the treatments are easy, fast, and painless. In fact, I even have had patients come in to my office on their lunch hour for a session. Laser hair removal will help to restore your body confidence and will bring you peace-of-mind that you might never have to shave again. And if that is not beautiful, I don't know what is!

AmericanLaser.com is the largest and most successful laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation and cellulite reduction therapy company, with more than 220 locations in the United States. For more information, please visit AmericanLaser.com.