Next up, do state-of-the-art machines and at-home systems have the same amount of power? No. State-of-the-art machines are capable of doing serious damage if the power were cranked to the max, and its intensity can be so strong that people would be able to see the flash for more than several miles away. People are already using lasers as weapons against enemy planes to blind the pilots in hopes of bringing them down. The at-home systems only use enough power to treat areas and not cause accidental or intentional harm to oneself or others. So the question is, why would one need so much power to treat hair with a monstrous device? Many systems are already becoming more portable, especially those that weigh more than six hundred kilos on wheels. Some professional technicians can bring their equipment home and treat the client instead. http://www.innerbody.com/careers-in-health/how-to-become-a-laser-hair-removal-technician.html
Like electrology, a person has to undergo training to become a certified electrologist and or laser operator. If you are a self-motivated individual who is capable of administering your own treatment, go for it. I heard a lot about people doing self-surgeries and self-administrations in the medical industries, and many of them have been successful despite professionals frowning upon them. No one should tell a person what they can and can’t do, since they are not that person to begin with. Only that person knows what their abilities and limitations are. Some may require another person to do it for them simply because it just takes too much work. Doctors should generally never diagnose themselves and or their families, as there are ethical codes covering this. The same thing applies for any high-end profession, such as judges and lawyers. They usually need a fellow doctor to diagnose illnesses and other things for them. One reason people don’t do a good job of self-care is because people spend time looking rather than using their other senses and really thinking it through. As blind people, we learn to use those other senses. One of the things I learnt was that feeling outrules seeing. Tests and studies showed that our reaction time is delayed from a visual perspective more than it is from an auditory or tactile one.
I digressed big time in that last section, so I’ll get back on topic. People say that using both electrolysis and laser systems have side effects. There are many reasons why there are possible side effects, but I am convinced that many of these are preventable. Some of these are due in part to the person’s lack of response to treatment. Some are caused by mutations of both skin and hair problems that make up the cells of skin and hair, which can lead to serious problems if not treated. Another good example of how light can damage skin is through a disease called xeroderma pigmentosum. The side effects are endless, and there are so many risks factors that can lead to each one that it will take forever for me to write down each one and explain its’ possible origin here. Suffice it to say that people should normally be fine after a treatment, as long as they are in good health, and that the operator does the job well. Long-time operators will have a lot more experience than newer ones, obviously, so be wary of their credentials. Take a look at this article From The New York Times: Laser Hair Removal’s Risks
The treatments can cause severe burns and disfiguring injuries, and a rising percentage of lawsuits involve operators who are not physicians.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/laser-hair-removals-risks/
A quick question that popped into my mind was, why does it take eight weeks before you can get another treatment done, when you only have to wait a week or two at a time when using an at-home device? I suspect that this difference has to do with the fact that the professional machines have a lot more power than the little ones, as stated above.
Can laser surgery be used to remove ingrown eyelashes? Normally, I would not recommend that laser surgery be used on the eyes because you would have to be put under, otherwise it would be extremely painful. Some people are opting to have their eye colours changed from brown to blue. Electrolysis was invented when the doctor found out that it had a great effect for removing visible ingrown eyelashes. For invisible ingrown eyelashes, however, surgeons would have to use a small beam that would hopefully destroy the damaged area using CO2, Argon, Xenon, or such laser gasses. The latter can be used to treat other skin anomalies, such as spider veins, fighting effects of ageing, etc.
So, how do we know what is best for us? I believe in the KISS principle, so I intend on making this post as simple as possible for the average reader to understand. There are a few things that I will explain, which will hopefully make sense when you picture it in your mind. Laser works in terms of wavelength and heat intensity. What does it mean when someone says, this is set to seven hundred fifty-five NM with three pulses that covers a large area. I should point out that the larger the light guide, the more effective and the lower the energy you will need to perform a successful treatment. This is because if you used a smaller light guide, there is a chance that scattered light would escape the target area, and you would have to repeat the process on the same spot more frequently with a higher setting. If you used one big pulse of energy, this could damage the skin than if smaller, more rapid pulses were administered, which would gradually build up heat underneath the skin for the hair to burn. Lasering is not painful, but it is uncomfortable because of the very close heat. If the heat became too intense or if the hairs were very thick, then yes, it could be painful. This is because dark hairs will be absorbing the heat more than anything else. Light guides have a filter that only permit the red light to be administered through the glass, but the resulting flash becomes white in our eyes. If you ever used a magnifying glass to burn leaves or to kill bugs, the glass provides a similar principle. The sun’s energy gets compressed in the glass, and it would project the result on the other side. Imagine large mirrored solar panels, with sunlight pouring down on large boilers. The concentrated energy from the sun heats up the water, which causes turbines to spin, which results in generating electricity.
to know how wavelengths work, imagine one straight line with two points. Think about geometry, when you studied lines, and how you learnt if they were finite or infinite. To the left is point A, and to the right is point B. If you don’t already know, a nanometre is smaller than a micrometre, which is smaller than a millimetre, a centimetre, a decimetre, and a metre. There is usually a scale, or increment that is used as a way to demonstrate how many nanometres you have passed before you get to the next point. Below that line, you will see wavy lines that repeat over and over as it makes its way to the end of its journey. The number of waves determines the frequency. Since most laser systems use red light, this would be around 4.3*10^14 cycles per second, or 4.3 THz, wel over forty-two octaves higher than sound waves. Not to mention that light is electromagnetic and sound is mechanical, although we do have electromagnetic frequencies going way down into the very low frequency to extremely low frequency range. These waves are called whistlers. The length of this wave is able to start and stop at the desired target without going too deep into the skin to where it could do more damage.
In conclusion, I would not say that all systems are suited for everybody, and that obviously encompasses do-it-yourself -at-home systems. Laser hair removal is definitely becoming more popular, a lot more than electrolysis because of how easy it is to zap hairs with light and or heat. As I said before, I believe it is up to the person who is self-motivated to learn how to operate and complete the necessary guidelines to become a beautician and being able to administer treatment on themselves and others. Many people aren’t willing or patient to help others these days, as I said before, according to John Locke’s philosophy, so it is important that we balance out how selfish or how unselfish we should be. One useful link that can be helpful can be found at http://www.oprah.com/style/The-Facts-About-Laser-Hair-Removal
I hope that you have found these links useful, and I hope you are able to make decisions that work best for you in the future. Remember, everyone is different, but there will always be commonality between people who share the same passion.