Lasers for blonde hair: TV3 interviews

TV3 interviews Dr. Patrick Treacy about lasers and blonde hair. Epilation by laser was performed experimentally for about 20 years before it became commercially available in the mid 1990s. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) epilators, though technically not a laser, use xenon flash lamps that emit full spectrum light. Laser works best with dark coarse hair. Light skin and dark hair are an ideal combination, but new lasers are now able to target dark black hair even in patients with dark skin. Laser hair removal normally focuses on the colour molecule melanin, which is mainly found in the hair shaft, with a small amount present in the upper third of the skin. When an appropriate energy source (such as a laser) is directed at the skin, light is absorbed in the hair shaft melanin and heat is generated and diffuses to the surrounding skin. The AURORA/ELOS laser system mentioned in this interview uses optical energy to heat the hair shaft, combined with radio frequency, which heats and coagulates the follicle itself. The radio frequency is safer because it is not affected by skin color and can treat blonde hair.

Channel: Education
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: lasertreatments

Length: 02:59
Rating: 5.00
Views: 16507

Tags: Ailesbury  Dr  Laser  Patrick  Treacy  

Video Comments