Many tattoos cannot be completely removed and it’s quite common to have some ink left in the skin but our tattoo removal is different from the others. One the biggest concerns for men and women wanting to undergo laser hair removal is the pain involved. Although the procedure is pretty low in terms of pain levels, it does have a bad reputation for being a little more painful than other noninvasive procedures that involve laser energy, like VelaShape™ inch loss and cellulite reduction. Most patients who have had laser hair removal done describe every exposure to the device used to feel like a snap from a rubber band.
This can be a little painful depending on how sensitive you are. Some patients can get treated without anything to help with pain, while others absolutely insist on having a topical numbing cream, usually containing lidocaine, spread over the area before the procedure. A good amount should be used. After a few minutes, the numbing cream kicks in and this area becomes numb so that the patient doesn’t feel anything during treatment. It normally takes about 30-40 minutes for this to happen.
Numbing cream is the most common way to reduce pain, and generally the lidocaine content is at the maximum allowable in such products sold over the counter: 4 – 6%. Other anesthetic ingredients may be included as well, such as tetracaine, prilocaine, benzocaine and phenylephrine. To help the skin absorb the numbing cream faster and more effectively, a latex garment may be worn over the area, or even plastic wrap. Because anesthetics of any kind can be harmful to a fetus, pregnant women should not use them.
Another way to ease pain is to take ibuprofen (Advil) prior to treatment. This medicine can also really help. Take it alone or combine it with the application of numbing cream.
The level of pain associated with laser hair removal really varies depends on the patient, hair colour, skin colour, skin type and area treated. In general, the darker the skin or the lighter the hair, the stronger the laser energy required to effectively achieve results. Areas such as the bikini line and upper lip can be more uncomfortable to treat than smaller areas on the arms or legs. For women, sensitivity generally increases when experiencing PMS so it’s best not to undergo any laser treatment or other cosmetic medical procedure during this time if the pain factor is an issue.