Page 256 - Chapter 3 - Laser/IPL Hair Removal

Chapter 3 – Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal 2nd Edition
Getting the right combination of these three will inevitably yield successful outcomes.
Finally...
We MUST de-couple the mistaken idea, that seems to be all-pervading, that fluence is linked to skin colour. This is just wrong.
The fluence is chosen according to the target – the hair follicles;
the skin colour determines the amount of pre-cooling.
Many devices offer a ‘skin type’ or ‘Fitzpatrick’ option on their screens, when setting up for treatments. In most cases, this limits the maximum fluence available to the user. As the skin tone darkens, the available fluence drops – this has been set by an engineer during the design phase of the device.
This is utterly pointless! The task in hand is to ‘cook’ the follicles, using energy. If we reduce that energy, the chances of success also drop.
The skin colour is a barrier to the energy – it will ‘steal’ some of it and raise the epidermal temperature. We must mitigate against this by pre-cooling the epidermis and upper dermis. That’s why we pre-cool with ice-packs – they offer a sustained and powerful cooling action on the skin.
________________________________________________________________________ 256 Chapter 3, Ed. 2.0 Laser/IPL Hair Removal
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