Laser Hair Removal (GentleLase & GentleYAG)

Laser hair removal using Candela GentleLase (755 nm alexandrite) for fair to medium skin tones and Candela GentleYAG (1064 nm Nd:YAG) for darker skin tones. Both devices include Candela's Dynamic Cooling Device to protect the skin surface. Areas treated include face, underarms, legs, arms, abdomen, bikini/Brazilian, back, chest, shoulders, and upper lip. Six sessions are typically required for significant reduction, spaced four to eight weeks apart.

Dr. Michele Green's laser hair removal programme uses two complementary Candela laser platforms to achieve safe, effective hair reduction across all skin tones. The Candela GentleLase operates at 755 nm — the alexandrite wavelength — which is specifically absorbed by melanin in the hair follicle's pigment granules, delivering a pulse of selective photothermal energy that heats and damages the follicle matrix while leaving surrounding tissue unaffected. The 755 nm wavelength is most effective on lighter to medium skin tones (Fitzpatrick I–IV) with dark hair, where there is a clear contrast between follicle melanin and surrounding dermis. Candela's proprietary Dynamic Cooling Device (DCD) delivers a cryogen spray to the skin surface a millisecond before each laser pulse, cooling the epidermis to protect it from thermal injury while the deeper follicle target absorbs the full pulse energy. The Candela GentleYAG operates at 1064 nm — the Nd:YAG wavelength — which has lower melanin absorption and penetrates more deeply than alexandrite, making it the preferred choice for darker skin tones (Fitzpatrick IV–VI) where a high-fluence alexandrite laser would risk collateral epidermal melanin heating and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. The 1064 nm wavelength's deeper penetration also makes it suitable for coarser, deeply rooted hair on the back and legs, as well as for follicles in the active anagen phase that have migrated deeper into the dermis with follicle maturity. Treatment areas at the clinic include the upper lip, chin, and face (including sideburns), underarms, bikini line and Brazilian, full legs, arms, abdomen, back, chest, shoulders, and neck. Each session targets follicles in the active anagen growth phase; because hair follicles cycle asynchronously across any given treatment area, a series of approximately six sessions spaced four to eight weeks apart is needed to intercept the full follicle population across multiple growth cycles. Small areas (upper lip, chin) take ten to twenty minutes; large areas (full legs, full back) may take up to one to two hours.