How Much Hair Should Fall Out After Session of Laser Hair Removal (Bikini)?

The amount of hair that falls out at each session of laser hair removal can vary. Hairs grow in 3 different phases, and laser hair removal is effective against hairs in the growing phase. If the hairs are in the correct phase, they should be permanently reduced. Some hairs can be ejected from the follicle immediately, while some can continue to grow and fall out over the next few weeks. We usually recommend neck and face treatments to be done every 4 weeks and any body area below the neck every 6 weeks so that the hairs will hopefully be in the correct phase for laser hair reduction. Some treatments will yield a lot of hair removal while others will result in very little hair removal. It just depends on the phase of growth.

The amount of improvement will vary. I typically have patients do every 4 weeks for the first 3 times and then every 4-6 weeks for 3 times after. It will take a series of treatments and some people need treatments to maintain. See an expert in laser hair removal for best results. Best, Dr. Emer

The industry standard recommends 6 treatments performed over 1 1/2 to 2 years. However with each treatment the hairs will fall out within 2 to 4 weeks and you will be hair free until the inactive hair growth comes in. Eventually most of the hair will develope into Anagen hair cycle for a permanent hair reduction.

Ideally, every hair in the growth phase will fall out or shed after a laser hair treatment.  Since not all hair is in the growth phase, only a portion of the hair can be removed during each session.  Each treatment should either have less hair or finer hair from previous treatments.  

You should see at least 20% of the hair fall out after each session. If you only had a few hairs and your session was short I’m assuming that your treatment wasn’t done properly or the laser wasn’t set at the right parameters. The hair on the bikini area is usually dark and thick so it should work faster and better. You still need to do at least six sessions for the best results, but you should notice a big improvement after each treatment. We use Lightsheer Duet which I think is the best tool on the market right now

appropriate laser hair removal involves shaving of the hair so that there is no hair shaft sticking high above the surface, otherwise too much energy may be absorbed by the epidermis and the skin could get burned.  Therefore, within two weeks you shouldn't see hair fall out because it was already shaved off.  The hair that grows out will take some time to do so and will shed probably without your seeing it.
 

Hi Sylver,
Thank you for your question. I like to call laser hair removal, laser hair reduction, because there is only about 20% of your hair follicles in the growth cycle that will reduce during a single treatment. It is also very helpful to exfoliate in between treatments 2-3 times a week, and shave only in between treatments. As you know there are 3 different hair growth cycles, anagen, catagen and telogen. Any unwanted hair being targeted by the laser will need to be in the anagen phase in order to see successful results. Since each individual hair is at a different point of the cycle, it’s important to have several laser sessions to ensure all of the hair in that area has been treated. Most people need somewhere between six to twelve laser sessions to completely and permanently remove all hair from an area.Different areas of the body have different growth cycles, and it does take multiple sessions to reduce the amount of hair growth so make sure you complete your series of treatments and don't wait too long in between sessions.

Hello, Thank you for your question. Laser hair reduction is a series of treatments because there is only about 20% of your total hair follicles in the "growth cycle" at any one time. That means that the 20% that is currently in the growth cycle will be affected during 1 single treatment. The four phases of hair growth include anagen, catagen, telogen, and exogen. Each phase lasts for a different length of time. Different areas of the body have a more rapid "growth cycle" like the face, bikini and underarms. The trunk of the body, arms and legs have a slower growth cycle, therefore treatment in those areas are done further apart. It does take multiple sessions to reduce the amount of hair growth so be sure to complete the series of treatments for best results.

Good Luck!

Laser hair removal targets the hair present in the anagen phase (the growing phase) and makes the hair follicle redundant, however, hair follicles present in the other phases (catagen & telogen) may also fall out at the same time. The hair that fell out during the anagen phase would be permanently redundant and the hair follicles from the other phases will sprout new hairs.
This is why it takes 4 - 6 sessions on an average to target all the hair follicles in the anagen phase and make them redundant.

Your hair grows in different phases, the total growing phase takes around three weeks, but not all the hair follicles will be at the same stage of growing, this is why the laser sessions need to be repeated in order to deactivade the hair follicule at the same time, you will need around 6 to 8 sessions to make sure all hair is removed. On average, you should lose around 20% of the hair and area; characteristics of the hair, the device used, and intensity needs to be considered to know how much hair you should lose in each session.