Page 43 - Chapter 3 - Laser/IPL Hair Removal

Chapter 3 – Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal 2nd Edition
We know this will go ‘against the grain’ of current thinking, but the physics is very simple. Reducing the fluence to ‘compensate’ for skin colour is quite wrong!!
However, SC6 skin (black) can attain very high temperatures, especially when using lower wavelengths (Figure 11). It is likely that many (darker) black skins cannot be sufficiently cooled, using standard surface cooling techniques, for this process. Long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser are the only ‘safe’ choice for these skins.
Mike wrote a blog post about this to explain the concept. In it, he pointed out that we must select the fluence according to the target hair (particularly, their depth) and the skin cooling according to the skin colour/tone.
This is contrary to the way many people currently think, but it is the correct way to approach this. Selecting your fluence based on the skin colour is entirely wrong!
Tans – Sun or sunbeds
Tans are bad!! A well-known dermatologist once described tans as “damaged skin”. They are also bad when considering light-based treatments. They are merely barriers – they get ‘in the way’ of the light trying to enter the dermis. As a consequence, there is more melanin to absorb more of the incoming light energy, with subsequent more epidermal heating.
Our advice is simple – don’t treat a ‘tanned skin’ – whether it is tanned by the sun’s radiation or a sunbed. Leave at least six to eight weeks after the tanning event to allow the skin to return to some sort of normality.
So-called ‘fake’ tans are also just as bad. They merely present a barrier between the skin surface and the target follicles. They must be removed prior to treatment or allowed to fade (depending on the type used).
________________________________________________________________________ 43 Chapter 3, Ed. 2.0 Laser/IPL Hair Removal
© The Laser-IPL Guys, 2025
laser may generate temperatures from 38.6 to 133oC (instantaneously).