Summer Laser Hair Removal – Risk Of Cancer

Summer Laser Hair RemovalPlastic surgeons websites and aesthetic centers ads are calling women to do summer laser hair removal treatments. The ads are saying the winter is over.. the cloth are off, the bikini is used, and summer hair removal can show results within 3-4 treatments. They forgot to mention that having summer time laser hair removal can cause serious side effects on the skin.

The most fearful summer laser hair removal side effect  is the skin cancer. It is important to say, it is not the laser treatments which cause the skin cancer, it is the SUN rays that cause skin cancer and Melanoma tumors. The laser light ‘weakens’ the body trying to defend it self from the sun UV rays (UVA & UVB rays), when the skin defense systems are weak, the skin cancer can develop more easily.

Understanding Laser Hair Removal Facts

The way the laser hair removal works, is by projecting laser light at the skin, and turning the light to heat when it reached the darker melanin cells in the hair.

The beauty laser technician will move slowly overlapping the  laser small spot size projecting endless pulses of high energy light at the skin. The light is absorbed by the darker melanin tone at the hair cells causing it to heat and burn all the way down to the roots, thus destroying the ability of the hair to re-grow again.

The light energy is measured by joules. Home laser hair removal systems are allowed low joule energy pulses (6-24 joules), and exposure to the sun is not recommended after these sessions.

Skin centers and hair removal clinics are using much more powerful lasers, for the hair removal treatments and other laser aesthetic uses. Just for your knowledge a professional laser hair removal machine produces 130 joules/cm2/sec! This means 130 joules (500%more than home systems), per second, per cm2 of skin.

So at every session the skin is going to be  heavily ‘bombarded’ by laser light energy.

Summer Laser Hair Removal Dangers

The rule of thumb is that the best time to undergo a laser hair removal treatment is at the autumn or winter. The two main factors are:

  1. That when beginning laser sessions at the autumn, the sessions will end at mid winter, then the UVB rays (short sun rays causing sun burns) are at their weakest level, and the skin melanin levels and natural melanin production can recover and go back to normal levels.
  2. At the winter time the skin gets pale, and the skin/hair contrasts gets better so more energy is absorbed by the hair cells and less at the skin cells, so the treatment is much more effective.

The natural melanin production inside the skin cells may be interfered by the laser light treatments, when such interference occurs, skin discoloration side effects can happen. The two most common skin discoloration side effects are hyper-pigmentation (dark patches) and hypo-pigmentation (white skin patches). These two are symptoms of dis-functional melanin production at the skin cells.

Summer Sun Rays Side Effects After Treatments

Hyper-pigmentation, the dark spots occur because the skin melanin translates the excessive light energy as ‘sun exposure’ and tries to protect the skin by over production of melanin cells (these are the skin color cells). The skin will show spots that turn darker, which is not dangerous except the cosmetic agony of these appearing at the face and forehead. The hyper-pigmentation is not permanent and within a few month melanin levels might decrease and skin will return to its normal tone.

Hypo-pigmentation, this is a serious laser treatment side effect, and it is a permanent side effect too. The laser light pulses (with the sun UV rays) were so intense that the skin melanin production is destroyed, and the melanin production at the skin cells is demolished. This will show as white (albino) spots or patches on the skin. The hypo-pigmentation side effect is permanent and the only way to treat it is either by concealer makeup or laser treatments for skin rejuvenation.

Less dangerous but soring side effects are skin sun burns, blisters and redness.

Sun exposure is not recommended a few weeks after treatments with small home laser devices, when these kits are powered by 6-24 joules. You can understand for your self that after 6-8 sessions of 130 joules(!) getting your skin exposed to summer sun rays, can be harmful beyond imagination.

Protect From UVB, Hide From UVA

There are two main UV rays which you should protect from at the summer, this is important even if your skin have not been exposed to laser hair removal treatments.

UVB sun rays are the short rays which do the ‘sun-tanning’  and ‘sun-baking’. They are present at summer times only when the earth is tilting toward the sun, and the sun is at it’s closest distance from earth. At the winter the earth spins further from the sun, and the UVB rays can not reach through to earth. UVB rays can not penetrate cloth or shades.

UVA sun rays, they are longer rays that reach earth all year round, they are ‘sunlight’ rays which are at the same levels in June and December. UVA rays can cause colors to fade when left in the sun. The UVA light was found lately as a dominant factor for skin cancer. The UVA rays CAN penetrate cloth and shades and reach the skin even when you are at the shade or fully dressed.

Skin Cancer And Laser Hair Removal Treatments

The skin cancers seen today are a result of unsafe summer sun exposure 10-15 years earlier. Most sun blocks and sun protection lotions do not protect from UVA rays, only 10% of the sunscreens have UVA protection abilities.

As far as the skin and body concerns, it doesn’t matter if you do a laser hair removal on the legs and cover the area when you walk in the summer sun. The UVB rays might not reach the skin, but the UVA rays may cause an overload in the melanin production. So even a laser treatment at a concealed area like the bikini line or underarms at the summer may cause the same unwanted effects.

Laser Hair Removal During The Summer – Conclusion

So if you have planed on summer laser hair removal, you should think it over, because you are submitting your skin into unnecessary risks, which might not all be seen immediately (except skin discoloration which will occur within a few weeks). For summer hair removal there are other methods which do not involve light energy.

Waxing, electrolysis, shaving, depilatory creams or epilating are just examples of ways to pass the summer with smooth skin. If you avoid sun tanning the skin during the summer, the winter laser hair removal sessions will be less painful and more effective too. If you love your body think again before doing summer laser hair removal treatments.

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