Page 252 - Chapter 3 - Laser/IPL Hair Removal

Chapter 3 – Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal 2nd Edition
Apply the ice packs to the treatment areas for a minimum of two minutes (on pale skin tones). But, the pre-cooling time depends on three things:
1. Skin colour
2. Applied fluence
3. Body site
Longer pre-cooling time mut be used on darker skin tones. We typically add at least 30 seconds for each ‘tone’, so it’s at least 2.5 minutes for a tone 3, at a ‘low’ fluence.
Likewise, longer pre-cooling times must be applied for higher fluences – again, We add about 30 seconds per 3 -5 J/cm2.
Finally, some body sites have a higher density of nerves endings than others – they require more cooling. This included the upper lip and chin areas.
Remember, we cannot over-cool the skin when treating hair follicles. It is always better to over- cool, than under-cool. These cooling times add to the overall time required for each treatment – but it is definitely worth it.
Water-based (ultrasound) gel should be used to assist this cooling process since the water will conduct heat out of the skin rapidly compared with air.
In addition, by ensuring that the skin is very cold, we can apply higher fluences with impunity. And higher fluences inevitably leads to better outcomes and more success.
We should remember that these treatments are classed as ‘photo-thermal’ meaning that we use light to generate heat in the targets. The heat is required to alter or change something that we don’t want – hair follicles, in this case. So, we must ensure that there is sufficient heating in the targets to achieve the desired endpoint.
________________________________________________________________________ 252 Chapter 3, Ed. 2.0 Laser/IPL Hair Removal
© The Laser-IPL Guys, 2025