Can a laser stimulate hair growth?

There is a phenomenon called paradoxical hair stimulation that can occur with Laser Hair Removal.  It occurs primarily in darker skinned individuals of Fitzpatrick skin type IV or V, often from East Indian or Asian descent.  Typically the hair starts out as softer, dark, almost vellous hair  that lies against the skin similar to "peach fuzz"(as opposed to terminal hair that is like the hair on our underarms). 

There are specific protocols available to treat this sort of hair, if it is dark enough, that have been developed in South America where there is a significant population of patients that this occurs.  These protocols include packing in ice the surrounding skin and special settings and methods of using the laser.

It seems that the problem is that when not enough heat is put in the skin to kill the follicle, the hair follicle is actually stimulated. 

Patients with the above described hair type need to be aware of this possibility and see that the provider treating them is aware of these methods of avoiding it.  There is no way to fully guarantee that this phenomenon will not occur.  Patient selection and informed consent is extremely important.

A known rare side effect of the use of lasers for hair reduction is stimulation of hair growth. Depending on your hair and skin types, it may be worth trying a different laser wavelength or indeed trying IPL.

Medications and one's hormonal status greatly affects response to laser hair removal.  This is why 4-6 treatments is only a general guideline. Some people will need as many as 12 sessions to achieve results.

I have seen this at my practice as well. It is most common in East Indian and certain Hispanic populations. Of these there is a small subset of people with unwanted hair that is fine. These seem to be the most at risk for this complication.

I once worked for a large franchise medspa. The protocols we were told to use were extremely conservative, and generally resulted in poor overall satisfaction, but most upsettingly, this very complication.

My theory is that both the wavelength, pulse-width, and optical energy need to be perfectly balanced in order to insure a good outcome without complications. Under-treating retards, but does not eliminate hair, and yes, seems to occasionally result in more hair.

For those of East Indian or Hispanic descent, a problem may be that they are risky to treat on one machine, but too light to get good results on another. Some clinics simply do not have several lasers to choose from to insure the best results, but they are going to sell it anyway and hope for the best. Brown skin also tends to be very prone to post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, so a treatment setting that does not burn may still leave a mark. It is important to be sure you aren't harming someone, but then you have these few with the issue of more hair, or less than satisfactory results.

Now, not all people with brown skin have this problem. So if you have brown skin, don't worry just yet - it can be done! Especially if the hair is coarse, and you can be compliant with sun protection.

When we perform consultations at my medspa, we are careful to look for certain traits, such as brown/light brown/dark brown skin (regardless of nationality) with lots of fine, vellous hair in the treatment area. We are sure to inform clients of this rare possibility. Then they are booked with our most experienced techs, if they choose to go ahead with treatment. I am happy to say I only very, very, rarely see this at Pure.

I am not very familiar with the technology your clinic is using, but you may want to bring your fears to the attention of your tech or the head nurse. They may switch you to a different machine, or a more experienced tech.

Sadly, it probably really isn't the clinic's fault this happened. There is no way to really say who this will happen to, and safety of the client is always the number one concern over everything else.

Good luck!

Absolutely, laser treatment can stimulate hair growth. In fact, there is a very good article about this in the Journal of ASLMS.

I have noticed that the hair stimulation tends to be worse in darker skin types. I find one can easily reduce this by making absolutely sure that the patient is cooled down once the treatment is done. Make sure that you are cooled with ice for at least 15 minutes post-treatment.