IPL Versus Laser Hair Removal

laser hair removal
Hair removal using lasers is less painful and lasts longer than other methods of hair removal such as waxing, shaving, hair removal creams, tweezing, threading, and so on. Lasers give permanent results with a few sessions and leave your skin feeling soft and smooth.

There are different types of lasers used in hair removal. Diode lasers using different variations and wavelengths (in nanometers) are used depending on the skin’s sensitivity and amount of hair to be removed and the area of the body. The laser produces high concentrations of light that penetrate the skin, and a pigment called melanin in the follicles absorbs this light and helps to destroy the hair follicles in that area.

What is IPL?
IPL stands for Intense Pulse Light treatment. In this technique of laser hair removal, a small lamp similar to a light bulb is used to produce a variation of light waves whose energy helps destroy hair follicles deep within the skin and reduce hair growth. Because IPL uses a bulb, the light is more diffused and hence less effective and not as powerful as using a direct laser. A direct laser is more accurate and penetrates the skin harder and is much more effective. IPL is better suited for people with fairer skin.

What is laser hair removal?
A laser is emitted from a machine that gives a more intense and concentrated beam of light. The energy produced by the light is very high and accurately focused on the particular area of the body making it more effective, precise and powerful. The results are more accurate and effective than IPL. Lasers must be selected according to the person’s skin type, colour, sensitivity, and hair growth.

IPL versus laser hair removal
Although a lot of skin clinics out there use IPL instead of lasers as it is much cheaper, it is not advisable. If you’re deciding to have your hair removed this way it is advisable to go in for lasers rather than IPL. IPL is just a cheaper substitute but has a lot more side-effects than lasers.

Laser hair removal has several advantages over IPL. Some of them are as follows:

Lasers use wavelengths of different nanometers tuned to match different types of skin. They use exact wavelengths that are required to effectively penetrate the hair follicles and remove the hair.
Whereas IPL uses many different wavelengths in one pulse that will unnecessarily heat the skin sometimes even burning it and doesn’t have a very strong effect in reducing further hair growth.

Lasers use pulses that are of very short durations and they come with a cooling effect to reduce heat build up on the skin.

IPL does not come with any such cooling effects along with the heating pulses.

Laser treatments can remove hair from larger areas of the body like the chest, back and legs. IPL cannot be used on very large areas of the body and is effective for smaller areas like the underarms and bikini area.

Laser hair removal is less painful and less invasive than IPL. It is also less painful than other methods of hair removal such as waxing, threading or electrolysis.

Lasers can be customised and fine-tuned to meet the requirements of different patients skin types/ tones and hair colour, unlike IPL.