The Laser-IPL Guys Blog
The world’s first promo video for a Q-switched tattoo removal laser
Mike recently found an old video from 1991 which his company, DermaLase Ltd., made to promote their newly launched Q-switched ruby laser for tattoo removal. This followed their ten-year research program in Canniesburn Hospital, Glasgow where this technique was originally developed. It’s on Mike’s own blog – view here. It’s a real piece of history!Continue reading “The world’s first promo video for a Q-switched tattoo removal laser”
Mike’s laser research in the 1980s and 90s
Mike joined the Bioengineering Unit of Strathclyde University in 1986 to do an M.Sc. in Bioengineering. He was captured by the Medical Laser Research team and taken to Canniesburn Hospital to meet the world’s first Q-switched ruby laser, which was being trialled for tattoo removal, at that time. In 1988, he and a colleague setContinue reading “Mike’s laser research in the 1980s and 90s”
Why do we feel pain in laser/IPL hair removal treatments?
Pain is often associated with laser/IPL treatments, particularly with hair removal. Why? Where does this pain come from and how can we minimise it? An understanding of the nerve receptors in the skin is important to answer these questions. From the figure below, we can see that the ‘thermal’ receptors are located just below theContinue reading “Why do we feel pain in laser/IPL hair removal treatments?”
Laser vs IPL – in the skin
We often see articles and comments from all sorts of people stating that “laser is better than IPL” for various skin conditions. So, is it? When light, any light, enters the skin it encounters many atoms and molecules. In the vast majority of cases, the light is absorbed and then emitted from these atoms andContinue reading “Laser vs IPL – in the skin”
The Hair Growth Cycle & Laser/IPL Treatments. When is the ‘best’ time to treat?
Hair grows in a well-known cycle – anagen, catagen and telogen. The ‘active’ growing phase is anagen – during this phase the hair follicle will begin to grow from a single stem cell. The duration of this phase depends on the body location and can range from a few weeks to several years! However, theseContinue reading “The Hair Growth Cycle & Laser/IPL Treatments. When is the ‘best’ time to treat?”
How much energy is really coming out of your laser/IPL device?
All laser/IPL systems have a screen where you can set them up. Usually, you choose the energy or fluence, repetition rate, pulsewidth or similar, depending on what you are treating. But, how do you know if your device is actually generating the energy/fluence it claims on the screen? If you are driving a car andContinue reading “How much energy is really coming out of your laser/IPL device?”
Laser/IPL Hair Removal – Can it really be “pain-free” and still be effective?
Many laser/IPL hair removal systems claim to be “pain-free”. However, this is mainly because they output such low energies that insufficient temperatures are generated in the hair follicles, making them pretty useless… So, can laser/IPL hair removal really be ‘pain-free’ but still effective? Well, yes… Epidermis When light energy is fired into the skin itContinue reading “Laser/IPL Hair Removal – Can it really be “pain-free” and still be effective?”
Laser/IPL hair removal – why do most people go wrong?
Laser/IPL hair removal has been around since the dinosaurs…. Yet, it is still poorly understood and even more poorly delivered! We have read all sorts of nonsense about this topic on the internet. There appears to be a lot of ‘mythconceptions’ out there, which just keep doing the rounds. So, let’s drill down on this.Continue reading “Laser/IPL hair removal – why do most people go wrong?”
Laser Tattoo Removal – how does fluence vary with pulsewidth?
I was looking over some old laser parameters which we used to use with the original Q-switched ruby laser back in the 1980s. I noticed that we typically used fluences in the range 5 to 12 J/cm2 and thought that this was quite high. I then realised that they were ‘high’ by today’s standards. But, thoseContinue reading “Laser Tattoo Removal – how does fluence vary with pulsewidth?”
A ‘Brief Guide’ to some of the more important terms used in medical/aesthetic laser/IPL treatments (updated 14th Sept 2020)
Version 1.2 – updated 14th Sept 2020 There are many terms and expressions used in modern laser/IPL applications. However, some of them are not so well explained to operators. So we’ve put together a list of the more commonly used expressions with a brief explanation. We describe these in more details in our upcoming book,Continue reading “A ‘Brief Guide’ to some of the more important terms used in medical/aesthetic laser/IPL treatments (updated 14th Sept 2020)”
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