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| Discomfort and Treatment | Because the laser energy is absorbed in the hair follicle producing heat, there is some feeling when using laser hair removal. These feelings depend on certain areas of the body. Some of them are hurt more than others during laser hair removal. In addition, patients with very thick, dark hair may experience more discomfort than those with thin hair. It can be explained by the feature of thicker, darker hair to absorb more of the laser light during any given treatment. Generally, the hair is reduced in thickness and dense after each subsequent treatment. Therefore, the most uncomfortable feeling is usually experienced during the first treatment. The discomfort associated with laser hair removal varies considerably between individuals, and depend on the patient’s skin type, the laser being used, the thickness and density of the hair, the area of the body where the hair is being performed, and ones ability to suffer pain. To relieve the pain, numbing creams can be used. However, numbing creams partially eliminate the ability of the patient to report on the discomfort associated with a treatment, which may be an indication of how this treatment compares with previous  treatments.
Discomfort Rarely Limits Treatment
Discomfort is one of the many factors the person administering the laser treatment will use to choose the appropriate setting for the laser. Patients should not apply numbing cream themselves to large areas of the body prior to laser treatment. In spite of the fact that prescription numbing creams are generally safe, it is dangerous to put them on large areas of the body as it can result in the numbing medications being absorbed into the bloodstream in significant amounts. Usually the staff of clinic applies numbing creams, so that it is possible to control the amount of cream applied and the surface area over which it is applied. Generally, discomfort is a considerable barrier for performing laser treatment. However, in a small number of patients it does limit ones ability to receive laser hair removal treatments.
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