Hair Removal Lasers use a single wavelength of light over a broad surface area to disable the growth of hairs and can be used on all areas of the body. Many different lasers are currently being used for hair removal. The Cynosure® Apogee EliteT, considered to be the "Rolls Royce" of hair removal lasers, is used at Dr. Salzman's office. It is actually two lasers in one, delivering both a long Yag pulse and a shorter Alexandrite pulse. An advantage of the Apogee EliteT is the ability to change the pulse width and length. Unlike fixed pulse width lasers such as the Gentlelase and many others on the market, we can customize the treatment to the color and thickness of the hair by changing the type of laser, its pulse width and energy level.

The removal of unwanted hair from the face or body.		Click To Enlarge

All laser hair removal systems require some type of skin cooling. The Apogee EliteT has a Smartcool advanced skin cooling jet of super cold air that not only protects the skin from unwanted heat, but dramatically reduces treatment discomfort.

Hair on the body goes thru 3 phases of growth: active, resting and dormant. Lasers can only disable actively growing hair, therefore requiring a series of treatments in order to affect ALL of your hairs. Anywhere from 3 to 8 treatments at 4 to 8 week intervals may be necessary to achieve a satisfactory reduction. Most patients can expect an 85% permanent hair reduction after the recommended treatments. Any remaining hairs are typically to thin or light in color to respond well to the laser. For these hairs, we have a third light source that works differently from a laser. The Syneron Aurora uses broad band light with radiofrequency to target the depth of the skin where the hair follicle is located.

Do not wax, tweeze or have electrolysis for 4 to 6 weeks prior and during your hair removal laser treatments. You should shave the area to be treated 1 to 3 days prior, depending on the normal growth of your hair, so the hair is just visible at the skin level. After the treatment, aloe vera can be applied for a few days to soothe the skin. Your lasered hair can shed for 1 to 4 weeks after the treatment. Once shedding occurs, you should have a brief hair free period until the next set of hairs that were dormant begin to grow. At that time you can retreat. This process continues until an acceptable reduction of hair is achieved.

The best candidates for laser hair removal typically have dark hair and lighter skin colors, other wise known as Fitzpatrick types I-III. Darker skin colors, Fitzpatrick types IV-VI, have more pigment in the upper layers of the skin and will have trouble with lasers that are attracted to melanin. For these patients, our long pulse Yag laser works better and is less likely to remove natural skin color or suntan.

Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, MD, PhD of the Harvard Medical School developed a skin classification based on the person's response to sun exposure. Whether the person tanned or burned correlated with the intrinsic level of pigment in the skin.

• Type I: Highly sensitive, always burns, never tans
  Example: Red hair with freckles


• Type II: Very sun sensitive, burns easily, tans minimally
  Example: Fair hair and skinned Caucasian


• Type III: Sun sensitive, sometimes burns, tans slowly to light brown
  Example: Darker Caucasians, European mixes


• TypeIV: Minimally sun sensitive, minimally burns, always tans to moderated brown
  Example: Mediterranean, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian


• Type V: Sun insensitive, rarely burns, tans well
  Example: Hispanic, Middle Eastern, light skin African Americans


• Type VI: Sun insensitive, never burns, deeply pigmented
  Example: Dark skinned African Americans, Middle Eastern

The real question is why we feel we are superior to the chain strip mall laser centers. Firstly, you are in a Board Certified Plastic Surgeons office. Secondly, consistency is paramount for a good result and when there is tremendous turnover in the spa industry your treatments will vary with technicians. Our technicians are Registered Nurses who have been in our office for years, not weeks. Chances are that you will probably have the same person perform all your treatments.

We use the best technology available. We currently have two lasers and one IPL to do hair removal. We can customize the treatment parameters to match your hair and skin color better than any other laser combinations. Being a plastic surgeon, Dr. Salzman can choose from the different laser technologies based on peer reviewed scientific journal articles. He has taught laser courses to physicians all over the US and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Louisville and regularly lectures the staff and resident physicians on Cosmetic Surgery. We realize that some people will purchase on price alone, our prices are not the lowest but are competitive with the community standard. We will recommend upon evaluation a number of treatments based on your skin and hair, however, we do not insist that you pay up front with a "package." You decide how many treatments you need based on your results and we will try our best to do as few treatments possible to get the best result with the least risk of adverse events.