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A breakthrough occurred with the creation of the CoolGlide laser system. Unwanted facial or body hair can become a thing of the past with this revolutionary system. With a technology far beyond that of other laser equipment, the CoolGlide can disable hundreds of hair follicles in less than one second. And, the parameters of the CoolGlide are designed to inhibit re-growth of hair. This brings long-lasting results.
The ChillGlide Handpiece
The cooling ChillGlide handpiece is superior to other laser systems on the
market. It was designed to decrease the surface temperature thereby protecting
the outer layers of the skin during treatment. This prevents damage or thermal
injury from the laser beam. The ChillGlide minimizes discomfort because
it has a mild anesthetic effect. The CoolGlide laser system is simply the
best laser currently available.
- How does Altus CoolGlide™ laser hair removal work?
The Altus CoolGlide™ laser is a non-invasive light therapy device
specifically designed to eliminate undesired hair from all parts of
the body. The laser generates a pulse of intense, concentrated light
that is directed through a small, cooled hand piece that is gently applied
to the treatment site.
This laser energy passes through the skin to the hair follicle, where
the energy is absorbed by pigment in the hair and hair follicle, causing
selective damage to the hair root without damaging delicate pores and
structures of the skin.
The surface of the skin is protected by a copper plated cooling head
which glides over the skin half a second before the laser beam. This
protects the skin, while effectively treating the unwanted hair.
The system's unique design allows us to customize the treatment, according
to your hair and skin color, hair texture, and location on the body.
- How does the Altus CoolGlide™ differ from older laser
systems?
Older laser systems use relatively short wavelength light to destroy
the hair follicle causing the laser energy to scatter and be mostly
absorbed in the top few millimeters of the skin, well above many of
the hair roots. As a result, not enough energy reaches the hair roots,
where it is needed. These short wavelength, lower power systems can
be effective in some cases, but may only stun rather than destroy many
of the hair roots in other situations. Therefore, only temporary rather
than permanent hair reduction will be realized. Short wavelength lasers
can be difficult or impossible to safely use on people with dark, tanned
or black skin.
The Fourth Generation Altus CoolGlide™ laser uses the longest
available, deeper penetrating 1064 nanometer wavelength which reaches
hair roots as deep as 4-6 mm below the skin surface. This makes it possible
to safely and effectively treat all people -- even those who are extremely
tanned or have very dark or black skin.
CoolGlide™ allows the operator to adjust the duration of the pulse
of laser energy to best suit the thickness of the hair shafts on different
parts of your body. Some older laser systems lack this degree of fine
control.
The copper plated cooling head on the laser provides an extra margin
of safety and comfort. The operator has a clear and unobstructed view
of the area to be treated while not applying additional pressure on
your skin.
- What areas of the body can be treated?
ALL parts of the body except eyelashes and lower eyebrows can be treated.
- What are the benefits of laser hair removal compared to alternative
treatments?
Larger areas may be treated with less discomfort when compared
to electrolysis, waxing or tweezing. The CoolGlide™ combines speed,
comfort and long lasting results and is safe for use on pregnant women
-- who respond well because their hair is often thicker and darker during
pregnancy.
Shaving, waxing and depilatory creams remove the hair but leave the
hair follicles intact, so the hair re-grows within one to four weeks
in most cases. CoolGlide™ laser hair removal offers you a long-term
reduction in both the amount of hair, and, in many cases, a reduction
in thickness and color of hair shafts that do grow back.
Hair removal methods like plucking, waxing or sugaring that cause irritation
may actually stimulate hair growth. This happens because one way the
body defends itself against having hair pulled out is to produce thicker,
stronger hair that are harder to pull out next time.
- What are the advantages over electrolysis?
The Altus hair removal system, with its 10mm spot size, disables a large
number of hairs every second. Thus making the process less time consuming.
The Altus CoolGlide™ laser treats all "active" follicles, even if the
hair has not yet reached the surface of the skin, is "ingrown", or if
the hair shaft is not straight.
Electrolysis, even to a small area like the face, for example, could
require electrolysis for 2 –3 hours per week for 2 years.
- What are the risks of laser hair removal?
Short-term side effects may include a slight reddening of the skin or
local swelling which typically lasts less than an hour and may, on occasion,
a bit longer. Fourth generation, long wavelength 1064 lasers like CoolGlide™
are less likely to cause prolonged irritation, pigment changes or blistering.
Rarely (perhaps 3 cases out of a hundred) there can be increased or
decreased pigment in the treated area. The light from the Altus CoolGlide™
Laser does not cause skin cancer.
- Is laser hair removal "permanent"?
There is NO hair removal method (including laser) that can guarantee
permanent hair removal where the hair is gone forever.
The most realistic description of the results after laser treatment
is long-term hair REDUCTION. After four to six treatments, the total
amount of hair is greatly reduced -- generally by 80% to 90% -- and
the hair re-growth is often much finer and lighter in color.
- How much hair will grow back, and how fast will it grow back?
The Altus CoolGlide™ laser works by destroying hair roots which are
active at the time of treatment and have enough pigment to absorb sufficient
laser energy. The hair shafts in the treated hair follicles will fall
out, or be "shed" 1-3 weeks after treatment.
After the first treatment, hair re-growth will be approximately 50–60
% usually within a month. Subsequent treatment results are between 25–50%
in reduction of the remaining hair.
Hair fibers that re-grow after laser treatment generally are finer and
lighter in color, and are much less of a cosmetic problem. Reductions
in coarseness and color can occur independently of each other.
- Why are at least 4 treatment sessions usually needed?
All lasers work by disabling hairs that are in their active growth cycle
at the time of treatment. At any one time, 50 to 85% of your hair follicles
are in the active (anagen) phase but only 1/4 to 1/3 of your hairs have
enough of the pigment in their ROOTS to absorb the laser beam which
destroys the hair root. About 1/4 to 1/3 of your hair roots are good
targets for the laser beam, and can be damaged or destroyed in a single
laser session.
Because 1/4 to 1/3 of the actively growing pigmented hair roots are
damaged or destroyed in any one session, most people will want a minimum
of four CoolGlide™ treatments to reach a satisfactory degree of hair
reduction
- Am I a good candidate for laser hair removal? The
unique design of the CoolGlide™ laser, and the long wavelength, allows
treatment of people with all skin colors, and treatment of even light
brown hair. The best results occur with patients that have light skin
and dark hair. Patients with excessive hair because of normal growth
or medications (for example, organ transplant patients who are taking
cyclosporine) can benefit from CoolGlide™ laser hair removal as can
patients who have problems with ingrown hair and folliculitis under
prosthetic devices. Children can also be treated.
- Which hair colors respond best to treatment?
Because lasers target the PIGMENT in hair roots, lasers work best on
black or brown hair. Naturally red hair may require 4-6 treatment sessions.
Very light colored natural red or blonde hair may require 5 or 6 treatment
sessions, and may respond only partially.
White hair does not respond to treatment -- so get your hair lasered
before you get old and your hair turns white!
- Is laser hair reduction covered by insurance?
Most private insurance companies do not offer reimbursement for "cosmetic"
procedures like laser hair removal, however consulting your insurance
carrier for more information is advisable.
The removal of unwanted terminal hair for the management of hirsutism,
congenital or drug-relate hypertrichosis, pseudofolliculitis, trans-sexual
states, and some skin grafts may be covered by some private insurance
plans.
- What are Hirsutism and Hypertrichosis?
Hirsutism is excessive growth of hair in androgen (testosterone)-dependent
areas of a woman’s body where terminal hair is not normally found, including
the face, neck, chest or medial thighs.
Hypertrichosis is excessive growth of hair in non-androgen dependent
parts of the body (i.e. Areas other than the face, neck, chest and medial
thighs).
- How can I get the best results from each treatment?
- Because the laser beam seeks out and destroys ACTIVELY GROWING
hair roots, it is important (if you want to get the best value from
your treatment) NOT to wax / pluck / sugar / use EpiLady-type pluckers
or have electrolysis for at least SIX WEEKS before laser treatment.
These treatments temporarily remove the pigmented part of the hair
follicle, which the laser needs to use as a target when it destroys
the hair follicle.
- Tanning should be avoided!
CoolGlide™ is the safest and most effective laser for ALL types
of skin, even black people who cannot be safely treated with other
hair removing lasers. However, the lighter your skin color at the
time of treatment, the better the laser results.
- Shaving or clipping the area to be treated is not a problem. In
fact, we prefer the areas to be shaved the day of treatment or the
day before. Some people find that the skin is less sensitive if
it is shaved at least a few hours before treatment. Another advantage
of shaving the area to be treated BEFORE you come in is that YOU
can shape the area to be treated exactly the way YOU want it to
be. This is of particular importance in areas like the sideburns,
temples, and bikini line / bikini area.
Excess hair should be removed from the treatment area before CoolGlide™
treatment, because hair ABOVE the surface of the skin will simply
absorb and waste laser energy and keep it from getting to the hair
roots, where it is needed.
- Hair Dye and Bleaching?
No problem! Because the laser beam only acts on the hair ROOTS,
it is OK to dye and/or perm hair in the areas to be treated. Likewise,
it is OK to bleach hair in the areas to be treated because bleaching
will not affect the color of the roots.
- Timing:
It takes 4 to 6 weeks for the next crop of hair roots to become
active and develop pigment that is the target for the laser. To
get the best value from your treatments, you should wait 4 - 6 weeks
between treatments.
There is no harm in having treatments MORE FREQUENTLY than every
6 weeks, or having treatments less than 6 weeks after waxing, plucking,
etc. -- but this is less efficient, and could increase the total
number of treatments needed to get a good result.
- Medications?
Accutane should be stopped 6 months before any laser treatment is
performed.
Anabolic steroids should certainly NOT be taken unless medically
necessary, because these can increase male-pattern hair growth in
some cases. Women taking injections of Climacteron (testosterone
& estradiol) as part of therapy for menopause and to increase libido
often experience unwanted hair growth, which can be treated with
Altus CoolGlide™ laser hair removal.
Medicines that inhibit hair growth (for example, spironolactone,
Diane-35 birth control pills, Euflex, Androcur and Vaniqa cream)
might slightly reduce the pigment in hair roots and make laser treatment
less efficient, but this seldom interferes with the effectiveness
of laser treatment. Altus CoolGlide™ laser hair removal can certainly
be done WHILE you are on those medicines.
Pre-treatment with medicines like Zovirax, Valtrex or Famvir is
NOT necessary, unless you tend to get a lot of cold sores in the
area to be treated.
- Moles, freckles and tattoos in the area to be treated?
Small moles and freckles do not require any special precautions. Large,
dark moles and freckles which are to be treated may require a reduction
in the intensity of the laser light, the same way that the intensity
would be reduced when treating a dark-skinned or tanned person.
Tattoos might require a "test area" to make sure that they will not
absorb an excessive amount of laser energy, which could cause fading
of the tattoo, discomfort, or even a burn. We generally prefer not to
treat tattoos, but this is seldom a problem because quite often there
is not much hair growth in tattoos.
- What will happen on the treatment day?
The areas you wish to have treated will be cleansed and pre-treatment
photos may be taken. Everyone in the treatment room must wear protective
goggles when the laser is turned on. The Altus CoolGlide™ is a high-powered
laser system, and can cause eye injury if proper eyewear is not worn
while the laser is used.
The length of the procedure itself can range from a few minutes for
the upper lip to an hour or more (for example, a man’s chest and back).
- Does it hurt?
You may feel a tingling or light snapping sensation like from a rubber
band. There is no bleeding and no open wound is created. EMLA™, a topical
anesthetic cream is occasionally used to ease this sensation especially
in very sensitive areas or by those who think they have a very low pain
threshold. EMLA should be applied one hour before the procedure for
maximum numbing results. People who have had waxing, sugaring, and/or
electrolysis (or treatment with other lasers) usually report that CoolGlide™
causes less discomfort, and sometimes there is almost no discomfort.
Most people find subsequent treatments less uncomfortable than the first.
The reduced discomfort with the Altus CoolGlide™ compared with other
lasers is the result of the long wavelength. The CoolGlide™ delivers
more energy into the deeper part of the skin where the hair roots are
-- and wastes less energy in the top 2 millimeters of the skin where
many of the nerve endings are.
- Post-treatment instructions:
- `Redness often has faded greatly by the time you get home. A topical
anti-inflammatory can be used if the redness persists. The skin
is usually slightly drier sometimes with minor crusting or peeling.
Over the counter Hydrocortisone cream and Aloe Vera Gel may help
with these skin reactions.
- Avoid sun exposure for a week or two after treatment. If you do
go in the sun, protect the treated area with sunscreen of SPF 30
or higher.
- Hair shafts will be released from hair follicles in the treated
area for a week or two after treatment. You do not need to do anything,
but you may gently exfoliate or shave the areas if you wish.
- Shaving, depilatory creams like Nair or Neet, or bleaching are
OK between laser treatments. Plucking, waxing and sugaring should
be avoided because these things could reduce the effectiveness of
your next laser treatment.
- Blistering or scaling after laser hair removal is very uncommon,
but usually resolves over a few days or a week with a bit of Polysporin
cream several times a day.
- Avoid any irritating medications or chemicals, particularly on
the face, such as Retin-A, Benzoyl peroxide, glycolic acid or astringents.
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