What You Need to Know About the Cost of Laser Hair Removal
For most of us, hair removal is part of our regular beauty routine in one way or another, whether it’s keeping our legs smooth during warmer months or daily maintenance of facial hair. The amount of time and money we spend on it in a day may seem pretty small, but on average, it adds up to more than 1,000 hours of your time and more than $5,000 in equipment and utility costs over the course of a lifetime. People have used shaving to remove unwanted hair for millenia, but surely there’s a better way!
These days, there is: laser hair removal. When you consider the convenience of this method and the lasting effects it offers, it’s no wonder that it has become one of the most popular beauty treatments in the country. It’s obvious that near-permanent hair removal will save you time by cutting out the hassle of constant upkeep, but the question remains, how much does it cost?
The answer is a bit complicated, so we’ve compiled everything you need to know about the costs of laser hair removal treatment in this article.
How does it work?
As a relatively new, higher-tech method, laser hair removal is intimidating to some people. This is not just because they worry about cost, but also because they don’t fully understand the procedure.
It’s actually less complicated than it sounds. Laser hair removal equipment uses concentrated light to damage individual hair follicles so that they can’t continue to grow. Hair grows in cycles, and they can only be stunted by the light during the active growth phase. Since individual hairs are on offset cycles from each other, it takes multiple sessions to treat every hair during active growth. For most people, the magic number to completely treat an area is between six and eight treatment sessions.
You should note that, since this treatment works on the hair follicle, you can’t remove the root by waxing or plucking beforehand if you want it to work.
What are the benefits?
We mentioned earlier that switching to laser hair removal will save you a lot of time and money in the long run, but there are lots of other benefits to consider, too!
Comfort
Unlike waxing or threading, laser hair removal isn’t a painful procedure, and unlike shaving, it doesn’t risk cutting your skin. The worst you’ll feel during laser hair removal treatment is an uncomfortable tingling or burning sensation, and this diminishes with each session and can be further reduced with topical numbing products. This method is also able to prevent ingrown hairs because it acts at the follicle instead of on the surface of the skin.
Safety
Some people worry about potential negative effects on their health from being treated with a laser, but this is actually one of the safest methods of hair removal out there. In clinics, it’s done by trained technicians who take every detail about your health and your skin into consideration before starting treatment, making it much more personalized and less likely to cause reactions than other methods. It also has only rare and mild side effects; some people experience burning or irritation, but most only have a slight redness in the treated area, and any of these effects tend to go away quickly.
Precision
Laser hair removal treats only the hair follicles, without damaging the surrounding tissue. This makes it safe and convenient to use on any area of the body. Damaging the follicle also prevents hair growth for much longer than any conventional method.
How much does it cost?
The average cost for a session, across all types of laser hair removal, is $285. Unfortunately, this number isn’t really that useful, since the cost of laser hair removal session depends on a lot of factors. Taking these factors into consideration will give you a much better idea of how much it will cost for you.
Size of Treatment Area
Larger areas of skin have more individual hairs to treat and require longer sessions, so in general, you can expect to pay more for larger body parts than for small ones. The legs and back are often the most expensive areas to treat, with areas like the upper lip and the underarms being faster and less expensive.
Number of Treatments
You should be able to figure out a treatment plan with your technician during your initial consultation. If you’re like most people, this will involve six to eight sessions, but some types of hair and skin need more sessions to get complete results. This shouldn’t cost you any more per session, but it will mean you have to spend more in total to have all the hair removed from the treated area.
Geographical Location
Just like any other service, the cost of laser hair removal treatment will vary depending on where you live or where you receive the treatment. A bigger city with a higher cost of living will probably have more expensive laser hair clinics than smaller towns do. You might have an idea of your area’s relative cost of living, but you can also check out the websites of clinics near you to get an idea of how expensive laser hair treatment is in your city.
Conclusion
There are a lot of reasons to choose laser hair removal, but even though it will save you money over the course of your life, it can be expensive at first. The cost for your treatment will depend on what area you want treated, your hair and skin type, and where the clinic is located. If that seems too extravagant for you, then at-home laser hair removal devices may be a good, cost-effective compromise between conventional methods and professional laser hair removal.
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