You’ve started laser hair removal. Your growth has reduced and everything seems to be heading in the right direction. Then you notice hair appearing again. Understandably, one of the first thoughts is often, “Has my laser stopped working?”
Not necessarily.
Your hair doesn’t all grow at the same time
The first thing to understand is that your hair doesn’t all grow at once. Every follicle moves through the stages of a natural growth cycle. Laser works best when a hair sits in its active growth phase.
So the hairs we can target at one appointment aren’t necessarily the hairs ready to target at your next. That’s precisely why laser hair removal needs a course rather than a single treatment.
Regrowth and shedding aren’t the same thing
Shedding causes a lot of confusion too. After treatment, targeted hairs can take a while to work their way out of the follicle. While that’s happening, it can look as though the hair is simply carrying on growing.
This doesn’t necessarily mean a brand-new hair is coming through. Give the area time. Please avoid waxing or tweezing those hairs out, because that disturbs the follicle we need for your future treatments.
Some areas are more persistent than others
Some areas of the body are simply more stubborn than others. Hormones play a significant role in hair growth, so areas influenced by hormonal changes can behave differently over time. It’s one reason why two clients having the same area treated can still have very different treatment journeys.
How to judge your own progress
Try not to judge success purely on whether you can see any hair at all. Look instead at how that hair behaves. Is it taking longer to come back? Does it feel finer or softer than before? Perhaps it only appears in smaller patches now, or you’re reaching for the razor far less often.
Those changes tell us far more about how your course is progressing than a bare hair count.
Do you need maintenance treatments?
Some people choose to have occasional maintenance treatments once they’ve finished their initial course. How often you might need them, if at all, depends entirely on you.
Laser hair removal in Manchester and Harrogate
At The Laser Base, the girls monitor your response throughout your treatment. We don’t expect everyone to follow exactly the same pattern.
If you’re considering laser hair removal in Manchester or Harrogate, we can assess your own hair growth first. We’ll then talk you through realistic expectations before you begin. You’ll find us in Harrogate (HG1 1EQ) and Manchester (M28 1DW).
Book your consultation, or simply speak to your Laser Base practitioner at your next appointment.