How Long Does It Take for Hair to Fall off After IPL Treatment.

Question

I have done my IPL treatment on face a week ago but i find the growth to be more course than usual. Also i cant see any hair falling off from my face. I am not sure if the treatment really worked on me. I am of skin type 3 and have very dark hair.

Sam Naficy, MD, FACS · Answer

Its common for it to take up to 3 weeks to see full shedding of the hair treated with IPL.  However, as a skin type 3 - even with dark hair, IPL might not be the most effective hair removal method available to you.  There are numerous alternatives that are more effective on darker skin types, as well as less risky.  A good and experienced practitioner should also treat you conservatively with IPL to avoid burns, so if you choose to continue with IPL treatments for hair removal, I suggest you be patient and expect your progress to be slower.  This is a much better scenario than receiving more aggressive treatment and ending up with irreversible scars or pigmentation.

Hugh McLean, MD · Answer

IPL, like laser hair removal, works best on lighter skin with darker hair. I suggest being a little more patient. You will need several sessions and if this was your first, your treating physician may have begun cautiously to be certain that you are not harmed.

Emily Altman, MD · Answer

It may take 1-3 weeks for the remaining hair shafts to work themselves out of the hair follicles after IPL.  Give it a few more days.  The hair shafts being shed from the follicle may appear as thicker hair growing in.

	There is such a thing as paradoxical increase in hair growth after IPL or laser treatment.  That can happen if the settings were too low on the machine.  It happens rarely and it would take longer than one week to see the increase in the hair growth.  So it sounds like you are on the right track.

How Long Does It Take for Hair to Fall off After IPL Treatment.

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How Long Does It Take for Hair to Fall off After IPL Treatment.

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