Does IPL Remove Hair Immediately?

IPL treatment is one of the famous ways through which we can remove unwanted hair from our body. We need to do 10-12 sessions to complete the treatment and as a result, we get hairless, smooth, and soft skin. However, there is always confusion among people that does IPL removes hair permanently, or does it only offers long-lasting results?

So, in this article, we have focused on the IPL treatment time frame so you can understand for how much time you will get hairless skin and many more details related to IPL treatment.

• Part 1: What Happens To The Hair Right After An IPL Treatment?
• Part 2: How Does IPL Targets Hair Follicles?
• Part 3: How Long Does It Take for Hair to Fall out After an IPL?
• Part 4: What Can I Expect During The Shedding Stage?
• Part 5: Some Tips To Get Better Results
• Part 6: FAQs

What Happens To The Hair Right After An IPL Treatment?

Once we treat our hair through an IPL device, we should see some immediate results. IPL generates heat and we will notice a slightly burnt texture on our hair that is growing above the skin’s surface. Also, the hair can appear dull immediately after the treatment.

The hair roots will absorb IPL rays and the rays will turn into heat energy. This heat energy will cause a degraded texture to the hair for some time, maybe a few hours.

Why Does Hair Not Fall After The First Session?

The first session of the treatment is when the hair roots get introduced to the IPL beams for the first time. The IPL beams will take some time and a few sessions before it can damage the hair enough to let it fall.

The first session doesn’t provide enough heat energy to the roots to damage them and cause hair to fall. In order to make hair fall, a lot of heat will be needed to damage the follicle, which is possible through multiple sessions only.

How Does IPL Targets Hair Follicles?

The IPL device shoots IPL beams that penetrate our skin. The melanin in our hair roots is usually of a dark colour (preferably blackish), which absorbs these IPL beams. Once absorbed, the IPL beams turn into heat energy and start affecting our hair roots. The roots start damaging due to excess heat stored in them and the hair growth starts getting affected. It becomes difficult for the roots to grow healthy hair and as the treatment sessions progress, more and more heat energy start getting collected in the hair roots. The collection of this energy eventually damages the hair roots to an extent that it cannot grow hair anymore

How Is The Hair Growth Cycle During IPL Treatment?

The hair growth cycle definitely gets affected during IPL treatment due to interference from IPL beams. The hair growth speed will decline. When you shave already grown hair while continuing to use an IPL device, new hair will regrow very slowly. Also, the weaker hair might not regrow anytime soon. Furthermore, the weakest hair roots will be damaged within the second or third session onwards and you will notice no new hair there. The hair density will reduce as you progress.

How Long Does It Take for Hair to Fall Out After an IPL Hair Removal?

Assuming that we are treating our hair thrice a week, you should start noticing hair shedding from the second or third week onwards. This is the time you have completed the initial phase of the treatment and the hair roots will get so weak that they will start shedding hair either automatically or with our little pull.

• The strength of our hair roots depends on our genetics. If you have a history of weak hair in your ancestors, maybe your hair will start shedding from the second week onwards.
• If you have dark hair and light skin tone, you will get the most benefits from the IPL treatment and notice hair shedding sooner than those with lighter hair colour.
• If the hair is coarse, you will need more time to shed them. Usually, males have coarse hair, especially on most of their body parts and they will take more time than women to shed hair.

What Can I Expect During The Shedding Stage?

If you notice these signs on your hair and skin, they indicate that you are at the hair shedding stage during your IPL treatment:

1. Blackheads type of appearance around the hair on the skin. This means that the hair is pulling upwards from the roots and will eventually fall off.
2. If your hair is dense and coarse, it will start to look like stubble, which indicates that the roots are getting weaker and it will fall off your hair shortly.
3. Sometimes hair falls off during daily activities like bathing or when sleeping. If the hair has fallen during our daily activities without our notice, you will see no new hair growing in that area.

Some Tips To Get Better Results

1. We suggest shaving before an IPL treatment so that most of the IPL beams will reach the roots.
2. You may trigger IPL beams on the same area twice but not more than that and not in a row. This helps in covering any missed spots during the treatment for better results.
3. We should avoid using any lotions or oils that can boost hair growth or heal our hair roots such as coconut oil, olive oil, or various hair oils as they intend to strengthen hair roots.
4. Don’t tan your skin before the treatment session.
5. Keep your skin safe from direct sunlight for a long time.

FAQs

How Many Sessions Are Needed for Permanent Results?

While IPL treatments don’t guarantee permanent results, some advanced models like Ulike Air10 are designed to offer permanent results after 10 to 12 sessions. Rest depends on your hair thickness and density.

Can IPL Be Used on All Skin Types?

Ideally, IPL devices can be used on normal, sensitive, dry, oily, and all other types of skin. The concern is skin colour. IPL will fail on black, dark brown, and the darkest shades of brown skin types.

What Areas of the Body Are Best Suited for IPL?

While IPL is safe for use on most body parts, including sensitive and private areas, not all IPL devices are designed for all body parts. Most IPL devices are best suited for arms, legs, chest, and stomach regions.

Conclusion

So we can say that you will start noticing hair shedding from the second or third week onwards, assuming that you are taking three sessions per week.

The first few sessions do not generate enough heat energy to destroy or damage the hair roots to the extent that it starts shedding hair. Damaging our hair roots needs a lot of heat energy and so much energy in one session will also damage our skin.

After the third week onwards, we can reduce the IPL usage frequency to twice or once a week and the treatment should be completed within 4 months with a gradual decline in the treatment frequency per week.