Written by the Elite Med Spa Team  |  Berwyn, IL

Cicero is the most Hispanic municipality in Illinois. As of the 2020 census the town had 85,268 residents and more than 89 percent identified as Hispanic or Latino. The median age is about 34. Morton College sits in the middle of it. It is a young town, a working town, and demographically it means something specific for a med spa two miles east on Cermak Road: a large share of the people who walk through our door have medium to deep skin tones.

And a large share of them have been told, at some point, by somebody, that laser hair removal is not for them.

That advice is about fifteen years out of date, and it deserves a proper correction rather than a reassuring one liner.

Why the old advice existed in the first place

Laser hair removal works on a principle called selective photothermolysis. The laser emits a wavelength that is absorbed by melanin. The melanin in the hair shaft absorbs that energy, converts it to heat, and that heat damages the follicle structures responsible for regrowth.

The problem is that melanin is also in your skin. When the contrast between hair pigment and skin pigment is high, which is the classic case of dark hair on very fair skin, nearly all the energy goes where you want it. When skin melanin is high, some of that energy is absorbed by the epidermis instead of the follicle. Too much and you get burns, blistering, hypopigmentation or post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which is the stubborn dark patch that can linger for months.

The devices that gave laser hair removal its reputation for being unsafe on deeper skin were largely alexandrite lasers at 755 nm, a wavelength with very high melanin absorption. On Fitzpatrick I through III it is superb. On IV through VI it has historically been a much riskier proposition.

What changed: wavelength, fluence and cooling

Three things moved.

The wavelength. The 810 nm diode penetrates deeper than 755 nm and has lower relative absorption by epidermal melanin. That shifts the energy where it belongs. Diolaze XL, which is the system we use, is an 810 nm diode platform.

The technique. Rather than delivering one high energy pulse, low fluence high repetition protocols deliver many lower energy pulses while the handpiece moves across the skin, accumulating heat in the follicle without spiking the temperature at the surface. Published work on this in motion approach in Fitzpatrick IV through VI patients has reported good safety and efficacy, which is the clinical basis for treating deeper skin tones at all.

The cooling. Diolaze XL has a built in sapphire contact cooling surface. Cooling the epidermis while the follicle heats is not a comfort feature. It is a safety feature, because it widens the margin between an effective treatment and an epidermal injury.

None of this makes deeper skin a non issue. It makes it a settings issue.

What a conservative protocol actually looks like

If you have Fitzpatrick IV, V or VI skin, here is what a responsible plan looks like at our clinic, and what you should expect anywhere else.

A test spot first. We treat a small area, then wait and assess the response before treating a full region. Anyone who skips this on deep skin is guessing.

Lower fluence. We run more conservative energy settings than we would on fair skin. The direct consequence is that you will likely need more sessions, not fewer, to get the same reduction. That is the trade and we will tell you about it before you pay for a package, not after.

Longer intervals when needed. If there is any residual pigment change from the previous session, we wait rather than stacking treatments.

Strict sun rules. This is the part patients underestimate. Any recent tanning raises epidermal melanin, which changes the calculation entirely. That means no meaningful sun exposure on the treatment area for two to four weeks beforehand, and no self tanner or spray tan either. Self tanner is the one people forget, and it deposits pigment in exactly the layer we are trying to protect.

Aggressive post treatment sun protection. SPF 30 or higher on any exposed treated area, every day, for the full course. Skipping this is the single most common reason deeper skin ends up with lingering pigment changes.

The rules that apply to everyone, and that people break constantly

No waxing, threading, tweezing, sugaring or depilatory creams for about four weeks before a session and throughout the course of treatment. This one is worth spelling out because threading and waxing are so common. The laser needs the hair root in place to work. If you remove the root, you have removed the target and the session is wasted. Shaving is not just allowed, it is required.

Shave the treatment area roughly 12 to 24 hours before you come in. Hair above the skin absorbs laser energy at the surface, which causes discomfort and raises burn risk with no benefit.

No isotretinoin, sold as Accutane, within the previous six months. This is standard guidance from the drug labeling and it is not negotiable in our clinic.

Tell us about photosensitizing medications. Doxycycline, tetracycline and several others increase skin sensitivity to light and can turn a routine session into a burn.

No treatment if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Tell us about a history of cold sores in the treatment area if we are treating the face, so we can arrange prophylactic antiviral coverage.

What to actually expect, honestly

Optimal results generally take somewhere in the range of six to twelve treatments spaced four to six weeks apart, and on conservative settings for deeper skin tones you should plan toward the higher end of that. Hair grows in cycles and only follicles in the active growth phase respond, which is the entire reason a single session cannot work.

The correct term is permanent hair reduction, not removal. The FDA definition is a long term stable reduction in the number of hairs regrowing after a complete treatment course. Most patients see a large reduction in density and thickness, plus regrowth that is finer and slower, and then come back for occasional maintenance.

Laser will not work on gray, white, red or very fine vellus hair, because there is not enough pigment to absorb the energy. This has nothing to do with skin tone and everything to do with hair color.

One more thing worth knowing: Lumecca IPL is a different technology with a different risk profile. Broad spectrum light is generally most appropriate for Fitzpatrick I through III, and it is not the right tool for pigment concerns on deeper skin. If someone offers you IPL for hair removal on type V skin, ask more questions.

If you already have hyperpigmentation from a previous treatment

This happens, and it is usually fixable, but not with more of the thing that caused it.

The first step is sun protection and time. Post inflammatory hyperpigmentation fades, but it fades slowly and it will not fade at all under continued UV exposure.

Carefully chosen chemical peels can help, though on deeper skin we stay superficial and build a series rather than reaching for depth. Medium and deep peels carry their own PIH risk in Fitzpatrick IV through VI and are usually the wrong answer.

Regular HydraFacial treatments plus a proper home routine with a good sunscreen do more for tone over six months than any single dramatic treatment.

We would rather have that conversation at a consult than sell you a package. You can see the full range on our aesthetics services page.

Getting here from Cicero

We are at 6203 Cermak Road in Berwyn, which is a straight shot west on Cermak from anywhere in Cicero. For most of the town it is a five to ten minute drive, and the Pink Line and Cermak bus routes make it reachable without a car.

Our Med Spa Cicero page has more detail on what we offer patients in town, and the Elite Med Spa home page has the full service list.

 

Get a Real Skin Assessment Before You Buy a Package

Elite Med Spa is at 6203 Cermak Road in Berwyn, IL 60402. New clients get a free consultation, and we will tell you honestly if the treatment you asked about is not the right one for what you want to change.

Call 855-293-1033, book online, or send us a message through our contact page. Our hours are Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM.

If you have deeper skin and you have been told laser is not for you, come in for the consultation and let us actually look at your skin and hair. The answer may be yes with a longer plan, and it may be that a different treatment fits better. Either way you will leave knowing which one it is.