How to Minimize Pain During Laser Hair Removal?

We apply a specially-made topical anesthetic half an hour before Fraxel treatment. Occasionally, we will give a patient a pre-op "cocktail" to cause sedation. Also, ice to the treated area just after a burst will help a lot.

There are many techniques to lessen pain : 1) topical anesthesia- we utilize several with great patient satisfaction. 2) ice 3) other variants of cold- cold roller, Zimmer cool air blower 4) oral sedatives. 5) oral analgesics. 6) other distraction techniques. 7) although I have never used for hair removal- local anesthesia or nerve blocks - are effective in lessening pain . When we lessen the pain , the patient is happy- and will desire to have the procedure again.

Everyone will have a different threshold for pain when getting treated. Cold air or numbing cream are options to consider.

While everyone's pain tolerance is different, the majority of clients in my Raleigh, NC plastic surgery medical spa and laser center do not think it is painful. Our patients report that treatment with our lasers is much more comfortable than other lasers and far more comfortable than waxing. Our lasers, yag lasers for hair removal, and an alexandrite laser are equipped with a DCD (Dynamic Cooling Device) that makes the treatment both comfortable and safer to the skin than other... more

Topical anesthetic creams, such as EMLA or LMX, are quite effective in decreasing the pain of laser hair removal. A couple of other factors that may play a role.  If the hairs extend far above the surface of the skin, part of the laser energy will go to the superficial portion and may cause burns.  So shaving one to three days before the procedure will minimize that.  If a woman is having the procedure close to or during her menstrual cycle, the procedure may also be... more

Tips to improve comfort during laser hair removal: Shave two days before treatment Use a commercially available prescription numbing cream. Avoid 'homemade' topical numbing creams sold in medi-spas. Have a doctor perform the laser hair removal treatment.

Laser hair removal should be pain free or at least close to it. We use the Luminis LightSheer Duet. Our patients seem to experience no pain at all. The use of this laser eliminates the need for a topical anesthetic. However, a good topical cream is an excellent option if this particular laser is not available to you. Each physician has their own topical which they find effective. Most of these creams begin to work after ten minutes and peak about 30-45 minutes later. Cooling the... more

We recommend two ways to minimize the pain of the laser during laser hair removal. The first is to apply a topic anesthetic cream and leave it on at least 45 minutes prior to the treatment. The other thing that we do is use a high powered cooling machine like an air conditioner to blow cold air on the area as treatment is taking place. You might want to ask your provider if they have a chiller available for the treatments. That is the best way to do it. I hope this information helps.... more

There are several options we offer. We can apply a topical numbing agent about 30 minutes before your treatment, use some ice before and after and we use a cooling blowing device during the treatment.