Can I wax my back between laser hair removal treatments?

Thank you for your question in regards to laser hair removal. Waxing is not recommended between laser hair removal treatments due to the disruption of the hair cycle. It is suggested to only shave between treatments. If you plan on discontinuing treatments and resume months later, be sure to not wax at least 4 weeks prior to your first laser treatment. To be sure what is best for you, see two or more board-certified providers in your area for a complete evaluation to make sure you are a good candidate and that it is safe for you to have treatment. I hope this helps.

Hello,Science tells us that it is not in your best interest to wax between laser hair removal treatments.  The reason being, you disrupt the hair growth cycle each time you use a method to pull the hair out from the root (ex:  waxing, tweezing) which makes it more difficult to reach your laser goals in a predictable fashion.  We are not sure why your doctor will not continue with another treatment just because of summer months.  If you are wearing sunscreen and not having treatments performed when the skin is tanned, you should be able to stay on track with your treatment plan.  Ideally, you would want to have your treatments on a regular schedule (we choose every 8 weeks) to obtain the best results by having treatments during the growth phase of the hair growth cycle.Regards.

Thank you for your question. It would be far better to have your back shaved than waxed between treatments for a couple of reasons. First, following waxing the hair will initially grow back finer. This results in less of a target for the laser to work on. Lasers target the pigment in the follicle. For this reason, fine or light pigmented follicles do not respond well to laser hair removal. Second, if all the follicles have not grown back following the waxing, there will be fewer hairs to target. When they subsequently grow back, it will only further your disappointment in the results you obtain. During our initial consultation, we tell our clients that laser hair removal (reduction is a more appropriate term) will generally destroy 60-90% of the follicles. What is left behind is finer, less pigmented hair. A few percentage of people will not respond to laser hair removal and an even smaller number (

If you have had 5 laser hair treatments to your back properly spaced by 2-3 months apart, you should be seeing a decrease in thickness of individual hairs and decrease in overall density.  If you wax now, you may miss a percentage of "stunned" follicle if you keep on schedule. Keep in mind that a goal of 90% reduction of dark hairs still leaves 10% behind and while that result is phenomenal when you start with 10 hairs, you may not be satisfied if you started with 1,000,000 hairs (leaving 100,000). Stay the course for the best possible results with the least amount of treatments. Keep shaving to keep things clean over the summer!