Laser hair removal is all the rage, but little is known about the pain level to expect. If you’re curious about whether laser hair removal hurts, here’s what you should know.
Laser hair removal has grown and grown in popularity since it was first approved as a body hair management method. If you’ve grown tired of shaving, waxing, plucking, and grooming your body hair, you may be wondering if laser hair removal is right for you. While many hair removal methods—we’re looking at you, waxing—are known for their extreme pain levels, laser hair removal is often seen as a relatively low-pain experience.
Some describe the feeling of getting laser hair removal as similar to getting your skin snapped with a little rubber band over and over. While this seems mild, it could be a lot to tolerate depending on where you’re getting laser hair removal. Read up on the pain levels before your first laser hair removal session.
Which Treatment Areas Hurt the Worst?
While laser hair removal, on the whole, is a pretty mild experience, there are some places on the body that can hurt more than others during your removal session. In general, the areas on your body with thinner skin will hurt more than areas of your body with thicker skin. These thin-skinned, sensitive areas include your back, upper lip, underarm area, and brief line.
Unfortunately, these are also commonly sought-after areas for laser hair removal because shaving and waxing in these areas can be cumbersome or can be even more painful. Areas of the body that have thicker skin and therefore are less painful to get lasered include your legs, stomach, and cheeks. If you’re going for full-body laser hair removal, you can rest assured knowing that not all areas of your body will experience much pain.
What Does it Feel Like After Your Laser Hair Removal Session?
While you may feel prepared for what laser hair removal feels like during your session, you may not know what to expect after your first few sessions. Knowing what to expect before you head to your appointment is a great way to help put your nerves at ease and relax during the session as much as possible.
Because laser hair removal utilizes heat energy to target hair at the follicle and removes it, your skin may feel warm and appear red or inflamed after your removal session. It may even feel like a mild sunburn. Your skin in that area will also be more photo-sensitive—sensitive to the sun—after laser hair removal. However, while this is slightly uncomfortable, it usually lasts only about a day.
As with all esthetic procedures, there are some rare but painful side effects from laser hair removal you should be aware of. These include hyperpigmentation, scarring, and painful blisters. Though, again, for many people, these symptoms resolve within a few days.
Which Med Spa Should I Choose for the Most Painless Experience?
If you’ve decided to get laser hair removal on one or more parts of your body, you may be wondering where you should go to book an appointment. While the treatment is much the same from med spa to med spa, choosing the right office with the right staff can be key in ensuring your laser hair removal experience is as pain-free as possible. Look for places like SEV Laser, an Austin laser hair removal med spa with locations across the United States that employs a number of professional, empathetic estheticians and laser hair removal technicians who are there to help you achieve your body hair removal goals.
You want to find a staff that will make sure that your removal not only goes smoothly and is effective but also that you are as comfortable as possible the whole way through. If you’re getting hair removed in a more painful area, they’ll ensure you’re educated and prepared for your session, too. A place like SEV Laser may even provide a slight numbing cream to the site to help ease any potential pain you might feel during the removal process.
If you’ve been thinking about laser hair removal as a body hair grooming technique, but you’re scared off by the potential pain factor, fear not. Learning more about the pain level expected and where on the body tends to be a more painful procedure can help you prepare yourself for your appointment. Plus, choosing a great, qualified med spa will help you make sure you have a pleasant, relatively painless experience.
