Contraindications for Laser Hair Removal?

You would want to make sure your physician knows of your entire medical history and all current medications you are taking. Some antibiotics can make you sun sensitive and being that laser contains light, your physician may want you to stop medication a few days or a week prior to your treatment.

Laser hair removal works by a process known as selective photothermolysis, wherein laser light is used to heat up and destroy follicles selectively on the skin. Laser light is essentially one wavelength of the light spectrum and can thus be absorbed by the hair follicles but also the skin. Thus, your treating physician must assess your skin type to determine the settings for laser hair removal and should also be made aware of medications, including certain antibiotics and drugs, that can... more

Any changes in the medical history can affect the procedure. You should inform the technician performing the treatment of any new medication, or conditions before each treatment. Antibiotics can make your skin photo sensitive, and you may not be able to tolerate the pain and discomfort during the treatment. Tetracycline and Retin-A should be stopped for several weeks before any laser hair removal procedure and Accutane should be stopped for 12 month.

Light-colored hair typically doesn’t respond well to laser hair removal. It should not be done if you have a suntan as that may increase the risk of blistering and pigment change. Very dark-skinned individuals need to have a laser with a longer wavelength than the one more commonly used. The longer wavelength is needed so as not to have the laser energy preferentially absorbed by the top layer of skin as would occur with the shorter wavelength laser. The longer wavelength penetrates... more