ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the clinical, histological and immunohistological effects of flashlamp photoepilation.

Design: Nonrandomized control trial with blinded histological study and follow-up of 1 to 20 months.

Setting: Private academic practice.

Subjects: Sixty-seven subjects (10 males and 57 females) with areas of excess body hair.

Interventions: Single (9 subjects) or multiple (58 subjects) treatments (noncoherent, 590-1200 nm, 2.9-3.0 milliseconds, 40-42 J/cm2) to hairy skin. From subjects given a single treatment, biopsy samples were taken immediately after treatment and at different intervals for up to 20 months.

Mean Outcome Measures: Clinical measures include hair counts and morphologic features before and after treatment. Histological measures include terminal-vellus and anagen-other ratios, hair shaft diameter, and morphologic features (routine and immunohistochemical detection of bcl-2, bax, p53, Ki67, cyclin D1, and hsp70) before and after treatment.

Results: Mean hair loss after photoepilation was 49%, 57%, and 54% for a single treatment and 47%, 56%, and 64% for multiple treatments at follow-up of less than 3 months, 3 to less than 6 months, and 6 months or longer, respectively (P<.05 for all comparisons). Transient erythema was seen in all subjects; no scarring occurred. Histologically, treatment caused morphologic damage confined to hair follicles and shafts. Terminal vellus and anagen-telogen ratios, mean hair shaft diameter, and immunohistochemical profiles were not significantly modified by treatment. Treatment did not alter other skin adnexa, epidermis, or vessels.

Conclusions: Flashlamp treatment leads to significant, long-lasting epilation. The predominant mechanism seems to be via selective photothermal damage to large, pigmented hair follicles rather than induction of a programmed state of follicular cycle arrest or follicular miniaturization.



Weiss RA, et al. Laser Hair removal with a non-coherent filtered flashlamp intense pulsed light source. Lasers Surg Med 1999; 24(2): 128-32.

Background And Objective: To evaluate the effects on disruption of hair growth of the non-coherent filtered flashlamp intense pulsed light (IPL) source.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight sites on 23 patients with Fitzpatrick type I-III were enrolled using a single treatment IPL followed for three months post-treatment. Another 56 on 48 patients with Fitzpatrick skin types I-V randomly enrolled for two treatments one month apart and followed for six months.

Study Design: Prior to beginning treatment and at each follow-up visit hair counts were obtained by averaging three 1-cm2 areas on a clear acetate template placed over the skin. Repeat hair counts and photographs were obtained at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks for the single treatment protocol and at additional 4, 5, and 6 months for the double treatment protocol. Parameters utilized were a 2.8-3.2 millisecond pulse duration typically for three pulses with thermal relaxation intervals of 20-30 milliseconds with a total fluence of 40-42 J/cm2.

Results: For the double treatment protocol hair clearance of 64% was achieved immediately following the second treatment. By week 8 reduction of hair counts was 42%. At 6 months, hair counts were reduced by 33%.

Conclusions: Non-coherent IPL is an effective modality for long-term hair removal. IPL is safe with minimal side effects of epidermal injury or pigmentation change.