What Does Shedding Look Like After Laser Hair Removal?

Posted January 27, 2025 in Laser Hair Removal

After years of shaving, plucking, and waxing hair on your body and face, you’ve finally decided to take the leap and undergo laser hair removal. However, before committing to the treatment, you may have questions about how laser hair removal works, particularly when it comes to shedding after the procedure. In this blog, we delve into what you need to know about the hair growth cycle, how shedding after treatment works, and the number of treatments you need to achieve your desired results.

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The Hair Growth Cycle, Explained

When understanding how laser hair removal and shedding work, you first have to understand your hair’s growth cycle.

Anagen Phase

The anagen phase is when hair is actively growing. It is also when laser hair removal treatments are most effective, because the hair is visible on the surface of your skin. The visible hair acts as a conductor, sending heat downward through the strand and under the skin’s surface to the hair follicle. This phase can last several years.

Catagen Phase

The catagen phase is actually not a growth phase per se, but a transitional phase between active growth and resting or shedding in the hair growth cycle. During this period, the hair follicle shrinks, and the shaft detaches from the blood supply, but doesn’t yet fall out. Laser hair removal is not as effective during this phase, as the hair, while still visible on the surface, is no longer actively growing. This phase lasts two to three weeks.

Telogen Phase

The telogen phase is the final, or resting phase of the hair growth cycle that occurs right before hair naturally falls out. During this time, the hair is essentially dead, as the strands are detached from the root and, therefore, the blood supply required for growth. This phase can last up to a few months.

The primary reason that you have to undergo more than one laser hair removal treatment to achieve optimal results is that not every hair you’re targeting is in the same stage in its growth cycle. Laser hair removal is most effective on hair in the anagen phase of growth.

Why Does Hair Shed After Laser Hair Removal?

Before you start worrying that you’ll be leaving hair everywhere like your favorite furry friend, rest assured that that’s not how shedding after laser hair removal works. Shedding after your laser hair removal treatment is an expected part of the process, and it means that your procedure was successful.

During laser hair removal, the light energy targets the hair follicle, which also damages the root of the hair underneath your skin. The damaged root signals your body that the hair is no longer needed and should be shed.

Shedding after a laser hair removal treatment typically occurs around one to three weeks after your treatment, and may look like stubble or blackheads.

How to Speed up Shedding After Laser Hair Removal

The best way to help speed up shedding after your laser hair removal treatment is by gentle exfoliation once or twice a week once you start to see signs of your hair starting to shed. Exfoliating can help accelerate the shedding process in two ways:

• Eliminating dead cells on the surface of your skin that may be clogging your pores, keeping hairs that have been shed stuck to your skin.
• By applying gentle pressure to hair that is barely holding onto the follicle, you can encourage the hairs to let go and slough off.

Again, be gentle with your skin, and don’t over-exfoliate. Laser hair removal takes patience as you wait for your results, but you’ll be thrilled with the final outcome. In the meantime, you can continue to shave, but do not wax or pluck any hairs in the treatment area.

How Many Laser Hair Removal Treatments Will I Need?

Most patients need between three and six laser hair removal sessions to achieve maximum results; however, this number can vary according to the location and size of the treatment area.

The reason it takes several sessions is that all of the targeted hair is not in the same growth phase at one time. For maximum effectiveness, the hair must be in the anagen phase of growth at the time of your laser hair removal procedure. Multiple sessions spaced six to eight weeks apart help ensure that the majority of the hair in the treatment area is targeted during the anagen phase, offering the best possible results.

Discover Laser Hair Removal in Fresno

If you’re tired of dealing with costly and time-consuming “hobbies” like waxing, shaving, and plucking and are looking for a better way to get smooth, beautiful skin, laser hair removal may be the solution. To learn more and schedule your laser hair removal consultation, contact Aspire Medispa today at (559) 435-8477 or complete the online contact form.