The removal of unwanted hair using a ruby laser.
3 Small study in people
- Type of study
- clinical trial
- Studied in
- people
- Participants
- 116
- Published
- 1999 in British journal of plastic surgery
- Cited
- 3 times by other research
- Who paid
- Not declared. PubMed carries no conflict-of-interest statement for most articles; that is not the same as independent.
- Source
- PubMed 10474466 · doi 10.1054/bjps.1999.3083
A ruby laser has been developed to remove unwanted hair. Melanin within the hair is used as a natural chromophore. It is postulated that photothermal damage destroys the hair itself and also key cells surrounding the hair follicle to prevent regrowth. A prospective study of laser depilation in 116 patients or 175 sites was performed over a period of 18 months. All the patients had tried other methods of hair removal and found them to be unsatisfactory. Hair counts (follicles/cm2) were used to judge the outcome. The mean follow-up time was 23.25 weeks (range 12-76 weeks). After a mean number of treatments of 1.92 (range 1-20) there was a 56.4% reduction in hair density. Comparing pre- and post-treatment hair density, there was a highly significant reduction (paired t-test: P < 0.00001). Laser removal of hair is now a realistic treatment option.