Is it necessary to wait between IPL and laser hair removal?

Hello, it is best to wait five weeks in between treatments. On average, a hair growth cycle occurs every five weeks.

Hello lolaraschke, and thank you for your question regarding transitioning from IPL hair removal to professional diode laser treatments.

If you’ve been using an IPL device at home, it’s a good idea to wait at least 2-4 weeks before starting professional laser hair removal. This waiting period allows your skin and hair follicles to recover from the effects of IPL and ensures that your skin is in the best condition for the diode laser treatment.

Here’s why waiting is important:

IPL and lasers target the same hair follicles. If IPL has recently been used, the hair follicles may already be damaged, making it harder for the diode laser to effectively target and treat them.
Skin sensitivity: IPL can temporarily irritate the skin. Starting laser treatments too soon can increase the risk of side effects such as redness, irritation, or burns.
Hair growth cycle alignment: Both IPL and diode laser treatments are most effective during the active (anagen) phase of the hair growth cycle. Waiting ensures that more hairs are in the optimal growth phase for laser targeting.
If you’ve noticed any skin irritation or redness from the IPL treatments, it’s important to wait until your skin is fully healed before starting professional laser treatments. Always inform your laser technician about your IPL usage so they can tailor the treatment to your skin’s condition and hair growth patterns.

I hope this answers your question and helps you plan your transition to diode laser hair removal. Good luck!

Sincerely,
Dr. Katzen

We suggest that you wait 4-6 weeks until you get laser hair removal from the last time you used IPL. Our Cutera Coolglide is a 1064 wavelength Nd:YAG laser with which a beam of concentrated light targets the melanin in the hair follicles and vaporizes them. Only certain hair follicles are in active growth phase at a given time. The active growth phase of hair follicles are 4-6 weeks. You would want to wait 4-6 weeks between treatments to target new hair growth.

Laser Hair removal for non pigmented hair will unfortunately help and or work. Anytime you are combining any sort of hair removal it is always best to proceed with caution and give yourself at least 2 weeks in between treatments. Hope this is helpful

To avoid complications, please, wait at lease 6 weeks between treatments. It is fine to get the diode laser treatment after IPL home device, but the time in between is very important.

You are correct. There is a wait time between IPL and laser hair treatments. The IPL that you are using at home is not as strong as an in office treatment, however, it does stunt the growth of the hair. Depending on the body area you would want to wait at least 8 weeks after your IPL use to start with laser hair. Continue to just shave the area until you can get started. Hope that helps!

Hello,
Thank you for your question. My suggestion would be to stop the at home IPL device once you start your Laser hair removal sessions. I would stop the IPL device 4-6 weeks to starting the laser hair removal sessions.

Hello! thank you for your question. You should wait a minimum of 2 weeks between using your at home device and getting laser hair removal professionally. However, once you begin laser hair removal treatments, I would recommend discontinuing your at home device.

Hello,
The hair cycle is 6x weeks so that is the recommended time in between treatments.
Make sure you don’t have any fake tan on & be sure to shave the morning of.
Enjoy!

It is a tricky and not so straight forward answer.It will depend on the experience and comfort level of the provider who will be doing the LHR treatment for you.Lasers are tools which use energy and can cause burns or skin changes, so it is better to be on a safe side.I would definitely discuss this with your clinic and likely advise to wait at least 2 weeks in between your laser treatments just to be safe.
Hope this helpsHave a beautiful day. Best, Dr.Anna Avaliani, NYC