| Laser Name |
Technology Used |
Comments |
Candela GentleLASE (air
cooling or spray cooling) |
Alexandrite |
Great for hair removal. Best wavelength and settings for people with light to moderate skin color. |
Candela GentleYAG (air
cooling or spray cooling) |
Nd:YAG |
Great for hair removal. Best wavelength and settings for people with moderate (tanned) to dark skin color. |
| Cynosure Apogee (air cooling only) |
Alexandrite |
Very good for hair removal.
Best wavelength for people with light to moderate skin color. |
| Cynosure Acclaim (air cooling only) |
Nd:YAG |
Good for hair removal.
Best wavelength for people with moderate (tanned) to dark skin color. |
Cutera Coolglide
(contact cooling) |
Nd:YAG |
Acceptable for hair removal. Increased probability of skin reaction due to poor skin cooling |
Laserscope Lyra
(contact cooling)
|
Nd:YAG |
Not acceptable for hair removal. Reduced effectiveness due to small spot size of hand piece. |
Lumenis LightSheer
(contact cooling) |
Diode |
Good for hair removal.
Low powered laser compared to Alexandrite but most powerful diode. Effective for treating coarse hair, but not fine hair. (OK to use for first few treatments only) |
Medsurge MeDioStart
(contact cooling) |
Diode |
Acceptable for hair removal. Same issues as Lightsheer diode except with less power. |
Palomar StarLux (contact
cooling) |
IPL (Intense Pulse Light) |
Minimally acceptable for hair removal. IPL can remove hair, but is not as effective as single wavelength laser. |
| Syneron Polaris (various names) |
Diode combined with Radiofrequency (RF) |
Acceptable for hair removal. Diode is not as powerful as Lightsheer.
Radio frequency has not been shown in actual studies to have any impact on hair. |
| Syneron Aurora (various names) |
IPL combined with Radiofrequency (RF) |
Minimally acceptable for hair removal. IPL is same as StarLux, Radio frequency has not been shown in actual studies to have any impact on hair. |
| Cooling: Not lasers but integral to the process |
| Air Cooling |
Forced air cooling from portable a/c units. Cool to approx 2°—4° F. |
Best cooling method. Cools and protects for extended period, 2-5 seconds |
| Contact Cooling |
Water based cooling through contact with handpiece. Cool to approx 34°— 36° F. |
Acceptable cooling method. Not very low temperature and provides least protection to skin. |
| Spray Cooling |
Cryogen spray which cools through rapid evaporation. Cool to approx minus 30°
—35° F. |
Good cooling. Though very cold does not last very long. Less than a second. Too much can actually damage skin. |
