Laser Hair Removal

Laser hair removal
Photo: Andrey Popov/Shutterstock
Q: Hi, I'm an 18-year-old boy. I recently shaved the hair on my arms and legs using an electric shaver. Later, I found that the hair growth was more and I'm very worried now.
 
Can I get laser hair removal done in the future or is there any other alternative? How much does laser hair removal cost and how many months does it take for a complete result in a man?

 
A: First, while it may seem like your hair has grown back heavier in the areas you previously shaved, it is not likely to be the case. You must keep in mind that the hair you saw previously had likely been exposed to prolonged friction with clothing and other environmental elements. This can have the effect of gently wearing away the hair and making it seem lighter and finer in texture.
 
When you shave off all visible hair (above the skin's surface) and it re-grows, you often see the hair seem thicker, stiffer and darker. This is because the hair fiber emerging from the skin has been exposed less to the previously mentioned environmental elements.
 
Given your age, there is also the potential that your hair has grown back darker and seeming more dense because of hormonal development in the body. It's possible that your hair was becoming darker and thicker, but that you removed all the hair representative of the stage prior to the darkening. Normally, these transitions are gradual and only noticed after the fact, but when you remove all the hair, you get new growth according to the current level of development of the body.
 
I presume that you could get laser hair removal in the future, if your goal is to remove the hair from your body on a longer-term/permanent basis. Your fit as a candidate for laser hair removal will depend on factors you haven't explained here: skin tone and hair color, texture of the hair involved, and condition of the skin. Laser hair removal generally works best on persons whose hair is in high contrast to the skin tone. Variation from this can mean that you need more treatments to achieve "permanent" results.
 
Cost is also dependent on your location in the world. But to give you something by which you can make a comparison, here is average pricing information for the U.S. The prices given are in U.S. Dollars:
 
The typical cost of laser hair removal is $150 to $500, depending on the area of the body that is being treated. In most cases, the smaller the surface area to be treated, the lower the treatment cost. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the average price of laser treatments in the United States is $429.
 
On average, the cost of laser hair removal in the smaller, bikini area is between $350 and $500. By contrast, the cost of treating a larger area, such as the back, averages between $600 and $900 per treatment session. However, treatment of the chest will only cost between $350 and $600. For the upper and lower legs, patients can expect to pay from $600 to $850 while the arms, on average, will cost only $350 to $500. The underarms are the cheapest area to treat, with a cost range of $250 to $350. But removing hair on the face and neck is comparable to the cost of laser hair removal on the back, with prices averaging $600 to $900 per treatment.
 
It should be noted that in many cases, permanent results require multiple treatments to be achieved.
 
If your goal is hair removal without such coarse new growth, you could look into depilatory creams and gels that dissolve the hair and last longer than shaving. These also by the nature of their operation have softer new growth.
 
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See also:
 
Unwanted hair growth
 
Laser hair removal
 
Laser hair removal for home use