March 17, 2000

New laser techniques to remove hair from darker skins

An MGH dermatologist announced last week that he has been able to remove excessive hair successfully and safely from people with darker ethnic skin using new laser equipment and techniques. Until now, all types of laser skin treatment have been ruled out for individuals with dark skin because of the risk of side effects.

Speaking at the meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology March 10, Eliot Battle, MD, of the MGH Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine, described how the use of a diode laser, which delivers long-wavelength laser light, has produced positive results in either delayed hair regrowth or permanent hair reduction among volunteers from a wide range of ethnic groups.

"Many people of color have medical conditions related to hair growth," said Battle. "Hirsuitism, excessive growth of hair on any area of the body, is more common in darker-skinned men and women. Shaving can cause men with tightly coiled hair to develop painful ingrown hairs or 'beard bumps.' More traditional means of hair removal — like plucking, waxing and electrolysis — can lead to hyperpigmentation [dark spots] in people with darker skin."

Working in collaboration with R. Rox Anderson, MD, of Wellman Labs, whose work is the basis of today's laser medicine, Battle developed a new approach to laser hair removal. The technique uses longer-wavelength light — which is less readily absorbed by the pigment melanin — delivered over an extended period of time to reduce the amount of energy passing through the skin at a specific moment. The approach allows the skin to be cooled more effectively and enables all patients — including those with darker skin — to tolerate a higher total energy dosage.

Battle is completing an 18-month study of the use of a very-long-pulse diode laser for hair removal in 84 patients from 20 ethnic groups, with skin tones ranging from quite fair to very dark. Preliminary data from that study will be presented next month at the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery meeting.