It is important to understand the basic terminology used in laser hair removal techniques. This gives you a better understanding of what the procedure entails. It also helps to put many people at ease to completely understand the words used in the treatment.
- Absorption is the uptake of one substance into another.
- Active medium is the part of the laser that absorbs and stores energy.
- American bikini wax, is a standard bikini wax in which hair is removed from either side of the panty line at the top of the thigh.
- Anagen is the growth phase in the hair cycle in which a new hair is synthesized.
- Brazilian bikini wax, is a bikini wax in which all of the hair is removed in the pubic region, including the hair on the buttocks and labia.
- Catagen is a transitional stage of a hair’s growth cycle, occurring between the growth and resting stages.
- Chromophore is a group of atoms in a molecule that produces color through selective light absorption.
- Coherent light are light waves that travel in parallel, and in the same direction.
- Dermal scattering is the change that occurs between the laser’s spot size at the surface of the skin and the spot size deeper in the tissue.
- Dermis is the underlying or inner layer of the skin.
- Electrons are stable, negatively charged elementary particles that orbit the nucleus of an atom.
- Energy source is the device in the laser that supplies energy to the active medium.
- Epidermis is the thin outermost layer of the skin.
- Excited states is the conditions of a physical system in which the energy level is higher than the lowest possible level.
- Fissure is a crack or cut in the skin.
- French bikini wax, is a bikini wax in which all of the hair is removed from the pubic region except for a stripe of hair on the pubis.
- Hair follicle bulb is the bulbous base of the hair follicle that houses the dermal papilla.
- Keloids scars are raised areas of fibrous tissue.
- Melanin are grains of pigment that give hair and skin its color.
- Monochromatic light is of one wavelength, and therefore appears as one color.
- Nanometers are each one billionth of a meter.
- Optical cavity is a part of the laser that contains the active medium.
- Polychromatic light consists of light of multiple wavelengths, appearing as different colors.
- Pulse duration is the duration of an individual pulse of laser light, which is usually measured in milli-seconds.
- Selective photothermolysis is the selective targeting of an area using a specific wavelength to absorb light into that target area sufficient to damage the tissue of the target while allowing the surrounding area to remain relatively untouched.
- Spontaneous emission is the process or an excited atom, after holding extra energy for a fraction of a second, releases its energy as another photon then falls back to its grounded state.
- Spot size is the width of a laser beam.
- Terminal hair is hair found on the scalp arms legs Alexa lay in pubic areas.
- Vellus hair is generally fine, non-pigmented hair found on the face that is often called peach fuzz.
- Wavelength is the distance between two consecutive peaks or troughs in a wave.
