Men as well as women, have unwanted hair. You could shave the area, use a hair remover cream, or even try painful procedures like electrolysis or waxing. The problem is, the hair always comes back!

To permanently reduce the amount of hair growth the best choice is either laser hair removal with IPL, Intense Pulsed Light Laser Therapy. IPL is very effective in removing unwanted hair. All IPL machines are not the same and produce varying results. We use the Palomar StarLux Laser and Light System.

IPL is a broad-spectrum light source which targets pigment. Therefore, IPL is not very effective in removing blonde or gray hairs, however, it can make these types of hair finer in texture. The area to be treated should have pigmented hair, should be shaved, and should not have had recent prolonged exposure to sunlight. Since IPL targets pigment, there is a possibility it could affect a suntan or a tattoo.

When IPL is applied to the skin, the light source targets the pigment in the shaft of hair under the skin. It follows the hair shaft into the follicle and thermally destructs the stem cells which, in turn, disrupts the follicle's ability to regenerate another hair. For this reason, IPL will not be effective on a follicle in which the hair has been recently plucked or waxed. Because we shed body hairs on a frequent basis, hairs will regrow because either when the IPL treatment was performed there wasn't a hair in the follicle, or the follicle was dormant. Areas of the body, such as the back for men, have more hair follicles than an upper lip or chin. For these reasons, multiple IPL treatments are required.

All areas of the body can be treated with IPL except for areas very close to the eyes. The following pictures depict typical results.


After IPL treatments, you should protect the area from direct sun exposure. You will begin to see hair falling out of the follicles within the next week. For this reason, you can gently rub the area with a dry towel to pull the hairs out of the follicles. Do not shave the treated area as it will prevent the hairs from falling out of the skin. Treatments should be repeated every month for optimal results.