Can I Shave Before I Have my IPL Hair Removal?

We disagree with both answers given so far. While it is true that you do not want to wax or pluck while undergoing IPL hair removal treatments, you absolutely want to shave the day of or the day before the treatment.

The reason you should shave the same day of treatment or the day before is that any hair above the surface of the skin can absorb energy from the IPL and thus increases the potential for a surface blister or burn. DEFINITELY SHAVE THE SAME DAY OR THE DAY BEFORE IPL HAIR REMOVAL TREATMENTS.

As an aside, if you want better results, you should consider lasers instead of IPL for permanent hair removal. Diode lasers (Lumenis Lightsheer) and long pulsed Nd:Yg lasers (Sciton, Laserscope, Palomar) are excellent choices depending on your skin type.

It is best to shave the day of an IPL or hair reduction treatment or else it will burn the hair (or may burn you) and also be more painful.  If you stopped waxing 6 months before the treatment that is good because it gives time for all your hair to grow back in, but you do want to be cleanly shaven the day of the treatment.

Here at Stillwater Plastic Surgery we ask that you stop shaving 2-3 days prior to your laser hair removal procedure.  The light that the laser uses to target the follicle needs to see that follicle for a successful treatment.  Therefore, slight growth is necessary.

It is usually recommended that you shave the day of or the day before your treatment. As mentioned previously, if the hairs are too long, they may absorb the energy from the IPL and increase chances of complications and possibly make the treatment more uncomfortable. In between treatments, you may shave, trim, or leave the hairs alone. It is not recommended to wax, pluck, or thread hairs in between treatments.

Thank you for your message! IPL can be performed for hair removal and typically multiple treatments are required. If the hair is too long in the area of treatment the IPL may burn the skin and may be more uncomfortable. We generally recommend shaving the day of the procedure. We want the hair just under the skin so that the light can target that rather than hair on the skin surface. We recommend you avoid waxing or plucking prior to the procedure however! 

You are allowed to shave in between laser hair removal appointments, never waxing. Do allow a few days like you said before the appointment so the person treating you can get an idea of what settings are best to use depending on how the hair is growing in.

Thanks for your question! Yes,it is actually okay to shave prior your IPL treatment. I would even advise youto shave a day prior your IPL treatment. While some my colleagues here do notadvise shaving a day prior the treatment day itself, I would recommend the oppositesince you want to have a clean skin surface that the IPL device could work onwithout risking possible after effects. Should there be hair on the skinsurface, energy could be absorbed by the hair. This would then heighten yourchances of experiencing burns or surface blisters. So, if you are to undergoIPL treatment for hair removal purposes, do shave on the night prior thetreatment day or even in the morning of the treatment day itself.
Waxing or plucking is anotherstory though. You may want to steer clear from these two, as the procedure willstill need small amounts of visible hair on the skin so that the IPL device candestroy it successfully. Waxing and plucking may not leave any hair on yourskin so these two are definite a “no”!
Should you still have doubts, you cangive your doctor a call a few days prior your procedure so you can get his orher own opinion on the matter. Hope this is helpful!

We recommend shaving the night before Laser Hair Removal or the morning of the procedure. The device is targeting the pigment in the hair to zap it. You need a small amount of hair visible at the surface of the skin for the laser to effectively destroy the follicle. (That's why you should not wax or pluck beforehand). But any excess hair sticking out from the skin only increases pain and gives you more burning hair smell. That may be satisfying to make you think it is working, but it is uncomfortable at best. This is also why laser hair removal does not work on white or gray hair-- the hair needs to be pigmented to be a target for the laser.

We advise all of our patients to shave or trim the surface hair on the skin before treatment.  Do not wax or pluck or anything that removes the hair under the skin.   This will increase the successfulness of your treatment.  Stay skintastic. 

It is ok to shave before IPL treatment for hair removal. In fact, having the dark hair roots in place makes them better targets for successful IPL or laser. The hairs sticking above the surface don't add any benefit. They only distract the IPL or laser light, and take away from the treatment success. Shave two days before, not the day of, so there is no irritation in the area.

Waxing is a no-no before these treatments because if there is no hair root in place, the laser or IPL doesn't have a clear pigmented target to attack, and little effect will be achieved.