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Home Use Laser Hair Removers
Educate yourself before you buy! Professional-Grade vs Home-Use Laser and IPL Epilators
It is no
secret that a new boom in the self-care industry is happening with
the staggering number of
home-use laser and pulsed light epilation
systems that are entering the market each month. New brands
such as Tria, Rio, No No, Phillips and more are sweeping the internet with exposure. So what is the real
story here? Are these home use machines as good as the
professional ones that cost thousands of dollars?
No....... and here's why.
Limitation Number 1: The Output Power is Insufficient. Did
you know that Federal Law requires the manufacturers of laser
equipment (medical and non-medical related) to list the
classification of the laser, the wavelength and output power in
watts (or in the 'toy home use' machines, milliwatts)? Strange
that none of the brands listed above do so. Maybe it is
because they don't want you to know the real numbers.
What limits their power? A combination of things, but it is
mostly the power supply which drives the semiconductor diode (what
creates the laser beam). Professional units have high-amperage
power supplies which are actually quite big and heavy. It
takes a full 30 amps to run a 50 watt laser, even in pulse mode.
That is more than ten times what the typical household wall
transformer can provide. Home-use machines use batteries (or meager
wall transformers) and produce only 'milliamps' (fractions of a
watt). There is no way to cheat electrical science or physics.
High powered lasers need high powered driver units.
Limitation Number 2: The Optics: A laser must be shaped,
focused and directed to be usable. These optics required to do
this are quite expensive. Tiny slivers of ultra-pure
borosilicate glass, or in some
cases three lens configurations, which cost more by themselves than
most of the home-use machines available. These 'toys' do not
use optics at all, just a cheap piece of glass to actually
'diffuse', not focus, the laser energy. Why diffuse it?
To make it safe for public use. In so doing, they make it
worthless for medical use.
Limitation Number 3: The semiconductor laser
diode in professional grade machines of 30 CW or QCW watts or more
cost on average $600. The reason for this is the construction
material of the semiconductor itself, called gallium arsenide.
This element is actually more valuable than gold or platinum per
ounce. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most expensive
substances on Earth. Home use devices use low wattage diodes
with microscopic crystals of the gallium arsenide, which results in
'microscopic' amounts of laser output.
Limitation Number 4: The Battery: Brands such as Tria
are capable of producing a reasonable amount of laser power
(although diffused as mentioned). The only problem is the tiny
battery in the device is only good for minutes of use before needing
recharged. Try using that system when you have large areas to
work on. You will be able to do about 100 hairs before a
recharge is necessary.
The simple truth? Home-use devices are designed to be safe and
cheap, like a toy for a child. Professional machines are
designed to produce results. Laser epilation procedures
require a minimum of 32jcm2/second to be effective. These new
home devices are incapable of producing more than 10jcm2 (and most
produce less that 1jcm2).
So one must ask, 'Is it really safe to do self-treatments with lasers or pulsed light equipment that is intended for professionals?' Absolutely YES, HOWEVER, instructions must be followed. There is a tendency for home use or 'quasi qualified' persons to overtreat. If 7 pulses to this treatment area is good, then 27 is even better! No. Stick to the manufacturer's usage requirements, always. Secondly, do not buy an SDL100 or SPL800 if you are not qualified to use it. Stick with the units that are in the 54jcm2 range (at least in starting out). They produce more than enough power to achieve the progressively permanent reduction of hair that you require. When the manufacturer Biotechnique Avance indicates that a system is suitable for home as well as professional use, they mean it. It is not a toy, but is still in the safe range. When they say 'for professional or physician use' they mean that as well.
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