It is often said that you get what you paid for. For most of the cases it is sad but true. However, most of laser treatment clientele, at least in NYC, believe that there is some sort of a scheming going on and if you look hard enough you can find same service for a lot less. Well, the good news is – you just might. If you stumble on a particularly good laser hair technician who is not driven nuts far enough by a greedy boss. So in other words you have to be at the right time, in the right place AND that laser hair removal technician has to have access to a laser treatment machine that would allow you to get the result you want. If your skin is dark and there is no YAG machine (we’ll get to specifics later) – chances are you are just wasting your money no matter what the girl on the reception desk is telling you.

Actually, by spending quite some time on both sides of laser machine one could easily come up with things to ask. Think of it as of an interview. You are giving this specific technician your skin. Depending on how professional and knowledgeable they are your skin may look flawlessly great or desperately burning for next couple of weeks. Some procedures actually require the technician to give you a controlled burn, so you have to have trust in that technican. Go for a few smaller-scale procedures first, see how that works out.

Particular to Manhattan there are a few places where you really would pay almost nothing, but if you get just nothing in return – consider yourself lucky. This usually happens because of the business model these NYC laser spas are following. They hire one or two knowledgeable people, promising them everything and a kitchen sink. Then they hire a dozen off-the-street girls who undergo some vendor-based training (which would be a few hours at best) and around a week of sporadic hands-on training by those knowledgeable people. Whom they soon replace – in a matter of two-three months. In the next four to six months they keep treating clients, burning quite a few so that the spa is forced to either provide a money back or free sessions. Once the number of disgruntled clients gets high enough pretty much everyone is fired and the cycle starts again.

Most of these so-called “professionals” have little – if any – understanding of the actual physics of the procedure, therefore lacking the basic knowledge needed to determine the proper treatment. In oh so many cases in Manhattan the sale is made by receptionist who have no idea what exactly is that she’s selling. A lot of NYC laser spas and salons don’t let laser technician speak to prospective clients – because owners are afraid to loose clients to technicians’ side gigs. This rises mistrust between technicians and business owners to such a degree that technicians, in fact, do opt out for doing side gigs on owner’s machine. In these cases tips easily outweight salary while leaving owner totally unaware of the situation.

While not making any recommendations, the general advice here is if you find a laser technician that gives you a result you want – stick with her (or him). There’s plenty of laser skin treatment places in NYC so as long as that person is employed somewhere – you should be fine.

Laser har removal is not the only treatment you can get with laser at laser hair removal spa or treatment center. Such places tend to offer variety of treatments that are performed with laser. This is mostly to our drive for instant gratification and the similarity in technique. Once laser hair removal technician achieves certain level of experience – it gets very simple to learn how to perform other treatments.

Almost on par with regular hair removal or reduction, comes acne, scar and pimple treatment and tattoo removal. These treatments are based on laser’s ability to penetrate the skin’s surface to get to the root of the problem. And while the actual effect differs in each treatment, the principle remains the same – laser either damages or destroys unwanted part of the skin and lets the body regenerate a healthy replacement. Similarly, laser beam damages the tattoo’s paint bubble contained in the depth of the skin and allows it to be washed away. Laser tattoo removal is fast, painless and yields great results. Similarly, laser pimple and acne treatment burns the root of the pimples’ out thus preventing them from reappearing. After just a few sessions, depending on how heavy the skin’s condition is, the skin may look almost flawless.

Another popular treatment is called smart lipo (derived from smart liposuction). This treatment, instead of actual painful sucking out of body fat, melts it out through the pores while stimulating the skin to rejuvenate. The result of the process is reduced fat while tighter skin and almost no need for recovery period. The procedure is minimally invasive (the small tube-like device is inserted under the skin) and is performed under local anestesia. Most doctors recommend smart lipo for people close to their ideal weight but still have some problematic areas that respond poorly to excersice, dieting and other methods of reducing body fat.

Not exactly the skin treatment, but still involves the use of cosmetic laser – laser teeth whitening. Using the argon laser to speed up the process of bleaching has become a more widespread technique, surpassing the use of arch lamp and chemical bleaching mostly due to reduced risk of heat or chemical burns and as generally more safe and accurate procedure. Since laser can target smaller areas the use of laser in teeth whitening process also preferred when certain areas are not responding to ordinary bleaching techniques.

Obviously, all of these treatments require different equipment, as different laser procedures have to be performed with lasers of various types, wavelengths and powers. Always consult with experienced laser technician or supervising doctor, since performing a laser procedure on a wrong equipment may result an injury to your skin.

The primary principle behind laser hair removal is selective photothermolysis (SPTL). Lasers cause localized damage by selectively heating the area that causes hair growth (the follicle), while not significantly heating the surrounding skin. Each laser pulse affects comparatively small area and damages or destroys follicles thus preventing further growth of hair. Usually, a number of sessions performed on an area to destroy all follicles thoroughly and completely; sometimes as many as 10 sessions are required in densely hairy areas. There are certain pre-operational and post-operational rules a patient must follow in order to be successfully treated for laser hair removal or reduction.

Permanent hair reduction is defined by FDA as the long-term, stable reduction in the number of hairs re-growing after a treatment regime, which may include several sessions. The number of hairs regrowing must be stable over time greater than the duration of the complete growth cycle of hair follicles, which varies from four to twelve months according to body location. Permanent hair reduction does not necessarily imply the elimination of all hairs in the treatment area. Several manufacturers received FDA permission to claim, “permanent reduction“, NOT “permanent removal” for their lasers. This means that although laser treatments with these devices will permanently reduce the total number of body hairs, they will not result in a permanent removal of all hair. The market is growing so quickly that FDA cannot maintain an up-to-date list of all laser manufacturers whose devices have been cleared for hair removal, as this list continues to change. To find out if a specific device has an FDA approval you will need to contact FDA. However, most of the respectable medical spas and laser hair removal centers are using only well-established and well-known brands.

Hair removal lasers have first been introduced in 1990s and been in use stateside since 1997 and the FDA’s approval of it for “permanent hair reduction.” According to FDA, “lasers cleared for body hair removal are also cleared for facial hair removal“, so it is safe to be treated by the same machine for both body and facial hair removal procedures.

Laser hair removal has become extremely popular because of its speed and efficacy, although some of the efficacy is dependent upon the skill and experience of the laser operator, and the choice and availability of different laser technology at the clinic which is performing the procedure. Some will need touch-up treatments, especially on large areas, after the initial set of 6-8 treatments. Various types of skin and hair respond differently to treatments and it is a combination of such plus the expertise of laser hair removal technician and available laser hair removal equipment that the end result is depend upon. Both men and women seek laser hair removal services to have superfluous or unwanted hair removed. Laser hair removal is commonly done on lip, chin, ear lobe, shoulders, back, underarm, abdomen, buttocks, pubic area, bikini lines, thighs, face, neck, cleavage, chest, arms, legs, hands, and toes.