One of the biggest worries that people have when they get laser hair removal done is the burns on the skin. Since your skin is being hit with high-intensity light, there is a risk that your skin will be burned. It will generally be a burn like you get from the sun and it will only last for a few days before disappearing. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t worry about it. Thankfully, there are ways that burning is preventing.

First, talk to your technician and make sure they know exactly what kind of skin you have, because if they use a laser that is too high in intensity on your skin, they could end up burning the skin. This means you cannot tan before you go for treatment or it could change the laser being used on you because your skin is darker.

Next, find out what kind of cooling measures are done to ensure your skin is not burned. The four main cooling measures are:

• Clear gel: This is a gel that is chilled before use. When applied to the skin it helps to cool down the skin and it also helps to cool down the laser beam before it hits the skin. This is one of the most common methods of safeguarding the skin during laser hair removal.
• Contact cooling: This is when there is a window of cryogen or cooled water between your skin and the laser. The laser passes through this water or cryogen and it is automatically cooled so that it does not damage your skin.
• Cryogen spray: This is put on your skin immediately before and immediately after each laser pulse. It cools the skin and prevents burning and is also a very popular method of laser hair removal safeguarding but it also lengthens the time in each session.
• Air cooling: This is when the laser is passed through air that is cooled to -34 degrees F. The beam immediately cools and that helps to keep your skin safe and clear from being burned.

If you are thinking of having laser hair removal done and you worry about burning, make sure you follow the instructions of the laser hair removal technician. They will know what to do to keep your skin safe and they will give you instructions on what not to do before your treatment. This includes shaving 24 hours before the treatment, tanning six weeks before the treatment, waxing, tweezing or applying tanning gels. By following the instructions of the laser hair removal technician, you ensure that you will not suffer any burns and if you do, then the burns will disappear very quickly. All in all though, burns are very rare from laser hair removal and you should not worry too much about it. If you are worrying about burns, then talk to your laser hair removal technician to put your mind at ease.

Make sure to read our FAQs and laser hair removal articles before going for a laser hair removal session.