How Often Can You Do IPL/At-Home Laser Hair Removal? Ask an Esthetician

Ask the Expert: How often can you do IPL/at home laser hair removal?

BY SAMANTHA WELCH, ESTHETICIAN

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Treatment Plan & Frequency for At-Home Laser Hair Removal

There are always two phases to any laser hair removal treatment:

1. Start-up Phase: Most IPL devices recommend once or twice a week for the initial 4-12 weeks, depending on the brand. In contrast, devices using diode laser technology require just monthly treatments.
   
   The goal is to disrupt the hair cycle by targeting your roots repeatedly during their anagen or growth phase. Once done, your hair will be thinner and sparser, and its growth indefinitely delayed.^[1]
   
   It’s best to use the highest intensity you can for better results.
2. Maintenance Phase: Once your normal hair growth has been stunted, your treatments can be monthly or as-needed. If hairs start to grow back, treating them will once again make them dormant.

Different Devices with Different Instructions

IPL devices can differ in various aspects, such as the intensity of light they emit, the recommended treatment schedules, and the safety features they offer.

We've reviewed over 35 at-home laser hair removal devices over the years. The average recommendation for the start-up phase is on a weekly basis.

Doing treatments more than recommended won't expedite results, even with the best-rated IPL hair removal devices.

Your hair will still go through the hair cycle (see below) after your treatments and this takes 1-2 weeks minimum.

Weekly is about as fast as you can go on most devices with minimal risk and without wasting your flashes on already dead hair.

However, you should still defer to your device’s user manual and always use a post-IPL cooling gel to protect your skin.

Every manufacturer conducts extensive testing and research to develop guidelines specific to their device.

It's crucial to adhere to the instructions provided with your IPL device to achieve the best possible results while minimizing the risk of any adverse effects.

Exceptions to the Rule

There are one or two devices that deviate from the norm.

One is the JOVS Venus Pro which recommends 3x a week treatments in the start-up phase.

On the opposite end, diode laser devices like the ViQure EpiPro recommends just one monthly session.

Whichever device you decide to get, it’s much more important to keep a consistent, strict schedule to be able to see results.

You want to gradually damage your roots until it’s no longer able to grow hair at a normal pace.

Maintenance Phase

You can delay re-growth anywhere from weeks to months and years.^[2]

But you have to remember that hair is very resilient.

Front-loading your treatments and then falling behind schedule can allow your follicle to recover and revert back to growing healthy hair.

You need to consistent treatments until you see your hairs get finer and sparser, before moving on to monthly or as-needed maintenance.