Axillary hair removal with simultaneous emission of LP alexandrite 755 nm and LP Nd:YAG 1064 nm: a prospective comparative evaluation of both lasers used individually and in dual mode.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Alexandrite laser is more adapted for lighter hair but not for darker skin, while the NdYAG laser is more suitable for darker skin but not for lighter hair. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate both laser used as single treatment and in simultaneous emission for axillary hair removal. METHOD: Ten patients (18-40 years old) were selected for this study. The spot size and pulse time were kept constant for all patients, 14 mm and 5 ms, respectively. The fluences were 20 to 28 J/cm2, 16 to 25 J/cm2, and 14-8 J/cm2 to 25-13 J/cm2 for NdYAG, alexandrite and the combined alex/YAG, respectively. Three treatment sessions were performed at 6-week interval, and patients were reviewed 4 months after the last session. RESULTS: The median number of hairs reduced from 46.00 to 33.00 (p = .022) for alexandrite, from 44.50 to 30.00 (p = .02) for NdYAG and from 56.00 to 19.50 (p = .005) for alexandrite-NdYAG, equivalent to 46.70%, 27.74% and 70.12% median hair reduction, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The simultaneous emission of both 755 nm and 1064 nm NdYAG laser is significantly more effective than a single laser treatment. Future studies are needed to confirm the good results of this innovative technique.