July 15, 2021

Who is Low-Level Laser Hair Therapy For and Does it Work?

Millions of people live with hair loss, and it’s a different experience for everyone. For some, hair replacement treatments that stimulate the scalp helps encourage healthy hair growth, and one of those treatments is low-level laser hair therapy or LLLT. Here are some questions to help you understand how it works and why it might be right for you. What is low-level laser hair therapy? Your hair grows from follicles, which nourish the hair root and produce cells that push outward to form strands of hair. When hair follicles are healthy, they go through different stages of hair growth and rest in a cycle. When that cycle is disrupted by conditions caused by genetics or the environment, follicles begin to shrink and can go into the resting stage for too long. That makes hair appear thinner, because not every follicle is producing hair. Stimulating those resting follicles and delivering more nourishment can help to open up those follicles so they can return to the growth stage again. LLLT is a hair replacement treatment that uses low-level laser light to stimulate the follicles in your scalp, helping to encourage growth. Don’t lasers remove hair? This is a common question because many people are familiar with laser hair removal for unwanted hair on the legs or other areas. But this process uses a much different laser therapy than LLLT. Hair removal lasers use a different laser spectrum to damage hair follicles so that they don’t grow hair where it’s not wanted. LLLT does the opposite. It uses low-level lasers, which don’t produce heat or damage tissue. These low-level lasers are therapeutic, stimulating blood circulation to deliver more nourishment to your follicles. This improves cell replacement metabolism as well as protein synthesis for a healthier scalp, follicle, and ultimately more effective hair growth. Who can get low-level laser hair therapy? Since everyone’s hair loss experience is different, LLLT may or may not be a part of your personalized hair replacement plan. But generally, LLLT works best for people in the beginning stages of hair loss. That’s because LLLT can stimulate hair growth to fill in thinning areas before they become very noticeable. LLLT can also work for men and women who have overall hair loss instead of a clear pattern, since a hair transplantation treatment may not work if they don’t have enough healthy follicles to transplant. Your expert medical technician at the Hair Replacement Institute will assess your needs and determine whether LLLT is an appropriate treatment for your personalized hair replacement plan. How many LLLT treatments will I need? The number of treatment sessions needed always varies according to individual needs, but it generally takes at least five or six treatments, and sometimes more, to notice thicker, fuller hair. Hair growth takes time, so results are seen gradually over time and with repeated treatments. Your personalized hair replacement treatment plan will be unique, and so will your results. Most people experience thicker, healthier-looking hair after their series of LLLT treatments. Are LLLT treatments safe? Yes, low-level laser hair therapy is safe for most people. Low-level lasers don’t emit heat, so there’s no risk of burns or skin damage like you might have with a different type of laser. At the Hair Replacement Institute in Minnesota, we use the Laser Hair Therapy™ device, which is a Class IIIA cosmetic laser. There have been multiple scientific studies about the effectiveness and safety of low-level laser hair therapy for hair growth. In fact, over 2500 papers have been published about low-level laser treatment, and none have reported any side effects from the therapy. Laser hair therapy can be an effective treatment for many people experiencing hair loss. To see if it’s right for you, make an appointment for a free, confidential consultation at Hair Restoration Institute. We’ll assess your hair loss and discuss your hair replacement goals and we’ll develop a personalized plan to help restore your hair and your confidence again. You can find us at 8030 Old Cedar Ave S Ste 202 in Bloomington, MN, or call 612-588-HAIR (4247) for a private, complimentary consultation.