As with any area of healthcare, the cosmetic surgery industry is one that had changed and developed over the past few decades. Minimally and non-invasive surgeries are becoming commonplace across the industry but did you know that they were still available back in the 1960s? In fact, on July 7th, 1960, a man by the name of Theodore H Maiman created the first ever laser hair removal contraption that used ruby lasers as part of the process. As you can imagine, technology has improved ever since, but how? Here, we’re taking a look at how laser hair removal has improved from the better.
Safety
The first laser hair removal devices might’ve done the job to a certain extent, but it certainly wasn’t quite as seamless as it is today. In fact, the process tended to be slow, painful and left patients with burns and severe damage in some cases. For this reason, laser hair removal needed to improve and thankfully, it did. Today, this technology is not only safe, but it’s also practically painless and has no need for downtime. With some lasers even working alongside device that deliver cool puffs of air, the overheated sensation can be lessened too.
Effectiveness
Laser hair removal procedures typically take multiple sessions to get the full result and while this has always been the case, they haven’t always been effective. In fact, until recently, laser hair removal has typically reached sub-par results without the value for money that you can find in the industry today. With new and improved precise technologies that are more effective on a variety of different skin tones, patients are more inclined to opt for these procedures with the peace of mind that the results are much more likely to be visible.
Inclusivity
Laser hair removal works by targeting pigmentation and so as you might expect, there were higher risks of burning for those with darker skin tones. The lasers would pick up the darker pigment of hairs in order to destroy the follicles, but with dark hair on dark skin, this heat would be targeted at the entire expanse and not just the hairs. However, improvements have made lasers more precise when targeting hairs, increasing inclusivity of the procedure as a whole.
Availability
Despite the first laser hair removal device having been created back in the 60’s, even as late as the 2000’s saw a very low availability for laser hair removal outside of dedicated cosmetic surgery hubs. However, over the years this has changed completely. With the popularity and awareness of the procedure growing, more and more people are opting for the procedure, increasing demand. This increased demand has led to a number of private clinics opening their doors to laser hair removal procedures and, as a result, the patients looking to book an appointment.
Laser hair removal may have been around for over 50 years now, but it hasn’t been until the past decade or so that things have truly taken off. With increased safety, inclusivity, effectiveness and availability, laser hair removal has become a fairly standard method of permanent hair reduction in men and women alike. Would you give it a try?
