Laser Hair Removal

At The Harley Medical Group a significant number of our Laser Hair Removal patient are men – including Olympians gymnast Louis Smith and diver Pete Waterfield. The most popular treatment areas are the neck, chest and back.

We are able to treat both darker skin types and suntanned skin (natural tan and fake tan) at any time of the year.

Previously our practitioners practitioners would only treat tanned skin once it had faded which was limiting for our clients. We have undertaken extensive research and consequently developed a new treatment technique. By changing the wavelength of our laser we can avoid the top layers of your skin which means we can safely continue with your treatments without having to wait for your suntan to fade.

Please be aware that there may be rare circumstances when your practitioner feels that your skin is unsuitable for treating, for example if they identify evidence of sunburn. We take the safety of our patients very seriously so please don’t be upset if you are rejected, but understand that this is to ensure you are not hurt by the laser.

Absolutely, often our patients will report that most of their ingrown hairs are gone after their first treatment, though we recommend a course to ensure they are completely gone.

We advise patients that they may feel some discomfort during their treatment. The sensation is often likened to snapping an elastic band against the skin. However many patients report the treatment to be much more comfortable than they had expected and those who have waxed previously often say the pain level is more tolerable.

If you are concerned about the discomfort involved then the new Soprano Laser may be a preferable option. One of the biggest benefits of this innovative laser is that it has a cooled tip, making the treatment virtually painless.

At The Harley Medical Group the advanced Lasers we use mean we can safely treat every skin tone on the Fitzpatrick Scale.

When Laser Hair Removal technology was first being developed it was the case that only dark hairs and light skin tones could be treated. This is because the early lasers could not differentiate between the pigment in the hair and pigment in the skin, and so treating darker skin tones could lead to burns and changes in pigmentation.

However, as the technology has advanced, lasers with adjustable wavelengths have been developed, making it safe to use Laser Hair Removal on darker skin tones, tanned skin as well as being able to target lighter hair colours.

For the best results we recommend a course of 4 - 8 Laser Hair Removal Treatments with a gap of between 4 and 8 weeks between each appointment.

This is because the hair growth cycle occurs in three stages: growing, resting and transitional and a hair can only be targeted by the laser if it is in the growing stage, so not all hairs can be targeted in a single treatment.

Your practitioner will advise you at your consultation the best course for you to achieve optimum results.

There is very little if any recovery time, though you may have some redness following a treatment, this may last between one and eight hours. To help cool skin some patients require ice packs and we also recommend applying a soothing aloe vera lotion or aftersun to the skin following a treatment session.

For 24 hours after your treatment you should avoid heat treatments, saunas and direct sun exposure, we recommend using sun block on exposed areas. You should allow around 14-20 days for the hairs to fall out following your treatments, you can aid this process by exfoliating.

In between Laser Hair Removal treatments you are free to shave the area, in fact we request you shave the treatment area the day before your appointment. We do advise against waxing as this can disrupt the hair growth cycle and make subsequent treatments less effective. Gradually you will notice the hair start to shed in the treated area, it will continue to grow as you progress through your course though this will noticeably reduce the more treatments you have.

A small number of people may experience side effects such as pink skin, redness, swelling around the treatment are or the follicles, if you have any concerns please contact your local clinic.

While some patients do tell us they see a noticeable difference after their first treatment we would suggest that you’ll see real results around your third treatment. We start on a lower setting and increase this as you progress through your course to ensure your skin doesn’t react to the laser and that the experience is comfortable for you while still being effective, this may mean you results are slower to start with but with improve dramatically until you have noticeable permanent hair reduction. It is also worth remembering that some hair is thicker and has deeper roots so will take longer for noticeable results, this is perfectly normal and at The Harley Medical Group we have the highest quality lasers that will treat all areas.

It’s natural that hair will continue to grow on your body, though significantly reduced following a treatment course, The Harley Medical Group has maintenance packages available for any top-ups you require. However in some cases the continuation of hair growth may be due to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), as a nurse led practice we understand the impact of PCOS on a lady’s confidence so we have introduced a 10% discount for any patient with a doctors note

Laser Treatments in the UK are no longer regulated by law, meaning with many clinics there is no one checking the quality and performance of the lasers being used or the training and ability of the individual using the laser. This is not the case at The Harley Medical Group and we are proud to be regulated by the Care Quality Commission or the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

Our commitment to patient safety and satisfaction means you'll only ever be seen by a Medically Trained Professional and we implement additional safety measures such as the pre-treatment melanin level check.

In addition, while there are many providers of Laser Hair Removal all offering similar services, we have developed several stages to our laser hair removal treatments to ensure we deliver the best results every time:

• Melanin check before every treatment

To ensure your skin isn’t too tanned we melanin check your skin before each treatment, using specifically designed technology, this ensures you’re treated on the correct setting to maximise safety and results.

• Use of our unique Laser Targeting grid system

This ensures we treat every millimetre of the area enabling us to use our advanced laser on the hairs you can’t see as well as the ones you can. It may mean we take a little longer to perform the treatment but we provide the most thorough results.

• Ability to treat all skin colours

At the Harley Medical group we do treat Asian / Afro Caribbean and dark skin types. Naturally darker skin has a different distribution of the melanin granules which is why they tolerate treatment more easily than an equally dark tanned skin.

Finally our Cosmetic Nurses are experts in Laser Hair Removal, having performed over 250,000 treatments to date. To maximise the results of your treatment we use a specialist grid system to ensure every millimetre of skin is targeted by the laser, so we treat the tiny hairs you may not even realise are there.