DoctorOz: Is Laser Hair Removal Safe? The Truth Revealed

Today I'm tackling an issue that no woman wants to admit they have. Unwanted hair. So if you're tired of shaving, waxing, and plucking, you may be tempted to try a more cutting-edge approach. There are now new devices in laser hair removal that allow every skin tone to potentially get it. But is laser hair removal safe? Lauren's here to have that conversation with us. So what have you tried in the past to get rid of unwanted hair? Everything from shaving, from waxing, from threading, tweezing, anything. So why are you here today to think about getting it done with a laser? Just tired of spending time trying everything. I just want to make it easier and pain-free and just be on my way every day. No concerns about that big machine over there blasting lasers at you? No, not at all. We'll see if you're right. Dr. Doris Day is a leading dermatologist. She's been performing laser hair removal on patients for the last 10 years. So how's it different from waxing, shaving, and threading and all the other crazy things that women often do? Well here's the deal, Dr. Oz. Women, there are parts of the body we just don't want hair to grow. And we spend so much time, it's really a project between shaving and waxing and all the things that we do. And every day in my office, I see the consequences of that. I see ingrown hairs from waxing, razor bumps from shaving. And with the old lasers, they were small spot sizes. We had to put gel on. It took like an hour, an hour and a half to do a leg. And it was really painful. The newer technology has come a very long way. We can really control the energy. They're much bigger spot sizes that pulls the hair in, knocks it out, and it's virtually painless. So it's really come a very long way. We'll see if it's painless in a moment. But let me explain to everybody exactly how this works when you're trying to get rid of unwanted hair. So I made you a model of what the skin looks like. So let's go in and look, for example, at lower leg hair that so many women want to get rid of. If you look at the skin, you'll notice that beneath the hair, there are the follicles. When you laser, the laser goes through the skin and heats up the shaft and actually irritates it and sometimes damages irreversibly. At the right energy level, the bulb is down there. So with the shaft now absorbing the laser energy and the skin not irritated, you'll begin to slough off the hair. And after several cycles of treatment, the hair may no longer be able to grow, making shaving a thing of the past. So Lauren, after you shave, how long does it take typically for you to be able to feel the stubble? Sometimes a day, sometimes two days, some days it's just hours and it's back. Let me show you that little model here, what we think is going on with the laser. But Dr. Day, if someone were to have laser therapy rather than shaving, does it ever grow back the hair? Well, the FDA says permanence is two years. But in my experience, having done this for 10 years, I can tell you it's a lot longer than two years. And even when some of the hair does grow back, it's much finer and much easier to deal with, with just a touch-up or even just shaving at that point. All right, so you ready? Sure, go for it. And we're going to also address the concern about burning. So when you put the laser on, it doesn't touch the skin. It touches literally just where the pigment is, but only the areas that are, in this case, dark because that's the kind of laser we picked, will absorb it and the sort of knocked out and that damaged hair will fall out or disappears. And you just do this, again, you don't have to do a hair-by-hair, obviously, as Dr. Day mentioned, you can do large areas at once, but you slowly take out these hairs and we can have them slough off because now they're damaged irreversibly. So Dr. Day, is this a pretty accurate reflection? Well, this is a great reflection, but there's a couple of points. One, it shows how when you shave and even when you wax, you're really dealing with the very superficial surface of the skin or really just superficial into the skin. You're going all the way through the skin. You're not targeting the surface or even the surface hair. It goes right down to the root of the follicle, where the pigment is. And that's what we're knocking out. By killing that, you're killing the hair. The hair will not grow back. And every time you do it, you get more permanence. Plus, you're doing one hair at a time. With the laser, I'll do this whole section in one shot and that'll get rid of it. But also, you need to shave before you do the laser treatment because you showed so perfectly how when you heat up the hair, it lands on the skin. That will burn the skin. You need to shave so the hair is present but short and then you'll have great results. And the skin tone issue has been a big one for a lot of women. Did the new lasers really make it possible for most skin tones to have this done? Absolutely. With the new lasers, we can control the energy level. And with this one I'm going to show you, it pulls the hair up so it's closer to the source. And with less energy, I can target more hair of more different skin tones safely with great results. What parts of the body does it work best for? So my favorite place is most rewarding are the underarms, bikini, lower legs. The coarser the hair and the darker the hair, the better it works in fewer treatments. So it's great in all areas but those are the best areas. What about the face? The face, you have to be a little bit more careful. That's hormonally driven. And if you have coarse hair growing on your face, you might have a hormonal imbalance. You need to see your doctor to make sure you don't have polycystic ovarian syndrome or some other hormonal issue because you don't want to treat and mask it and get rid of the hair not knowing what you're dealing with when that could be serious. And oftentimes, that's an area that the doctor should treat themselves because there are some greater risks in that area. But it can be done very well in that area too. Lauren, moment of truth. What part of your body would you like to treat? I'd love to get rid of the hair on my underarms. May I see it? Sure. Oh, so you shaved? Yes. Oh my, show it to the camera. I prepped, right? And Lauren, don't want to burn any hair. Hop over here. There we go. Everyone in the crew, if you can put on your goggles. There you go, Lauren. Are we all ready? The audience does not have to put goggles on, I'm told. This laser is going to be very quickly applied. All right, arm up. You can lean back if you like. Okay. Comfortable? Sure. Well, don't close your eyes because you'll miss it. You can close your eyes if you like, but everyone else, don't close it because you'll miss it. It's just pulling the hair up and that's it. That's it? Didn't hurt at all. Are you serious? Yep. I don't want any burning. There's nothing. Nope, nothing. I put the charge skin here. Why are we not even spilling? When you hear the click of it, you can see minimal redness, but three shots, her whole underarm is done. That's the end of it. You've got to be joking. It didn't hurt at all. I know. It's that good, that easy, and that fast. But not all the hair fell out, so. It won't. It'll come out over the next few days. So as she shaves, she can go forward, just get on with her life, and the hair will just be gone and it just won't come back. And how many times does she have to the therapy administered? Anywhere from four to eight times, ideally at one month intervals. We go with the hair growth cycle, so underarms probably at a month. If the hair grows back slower, you can go at six or eight weeks, but you do have to be regular about the treatments to get the best result. And give me an idea on cost. It can be anywhere from $75 and up. The great thing is, it's really the time that costs money besides the laser, and because it's so fast, we can bring the cost down because we can see more patients, and so that makes it almost less expensive than waxing. I don't know if you've seen these, but there are lots of products being sold over the web. Spas do this now. So why should someone come to you versus having it done there? You need to have someone who knows the skin, knows technology, can help determine what the best settings are for you, and then you can enjoy the results and have lasting results with minimal to no risk. I love the fact that it works so well. Congratulations. Thank you very much. We'll be right back. Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss anything, and remember to check back often to see what's new.