Page 19 - Chapter 3 - Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal

Chapter 3 – Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal 1st Edition
13. Unfortunately, we cannot target the germ cells directly using light – they have no targets we can direct the light at specifically. That’s why we use melanin in the hair shaft – it is a ‘conduit’ to generate heat. This heat energy will naturally diffuse (or conduct) out towards the germ cells, over time.
14. The whole point of these treatments is to raise the temperatures of the germ cells to a sufficient level and for a sufficient time to ensure that they are ‘cooked’ thoroughly.
15. If enough light energy, of the correct wavelength (colour), is delivered to the skin surface over a suitable time, then we can selectively heat up the target hair follicles, without over-heating the rest of the skin (especially when using a suitable level of skin cooling).
16. The first treatment of any body area should generate the ‘best’ results, since, on the first treatment occasion, the maximum number of anagen hairs are presented. With each subsequent treatment, the number of anagen follicles decreases, simply because there are fewer of the follicle left to go back into anagen.
17. The total number of repeat sessions depends on the interval between treatments. A computer model has shown that leaving longer gaps between sessions results in fewer overall treatments!
If we can cook the germ cells sufficiently well, they will die. If all the germ cells in a follicle are destroyed, that follicle cannot regenerate – it is dead! We are born with around 5 million follicles – we do not grow any more over time. If we can kill 1 million of them, then there will be only 4 million left.
That’s all there is to it! Quite simple really.
Except, it’s not quite that simple....
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