Horribly scarred by laser hair removal
It’s sold as a hassle-free alternative to waxing. But these women have been...
Coming home from an early summer beach holiday in Cyprus, Alice Anastasiou decided she’d had enough of the time- consuming waxing and shaving required to keep her legs hair-free. So she booked into a small hair removal clinic near her Liverpool home for a more permanent solution.
‘i’d had laser hair removal there before on my underarms, so i knew what to expect,’ says Alice, a 43-year- old mother- of-four, who is studying for a diploma in wine education.
‘This time, from the moment the therapist put the laser near me there was a foul smell and it felt as if my skin was on fire. But i didn’t want to make a fuss so i stopped myself crying out in agony.’
At the end of the half-hour session, the therapist gave Alice aloe vera gel to ease the discomfort, but when she arrived home she was horrified to see circular red welts on her legs.
‘For three days, my skin was burning,’ she says. ‘i lay in bed with cold flannels, ice and frozen peas — anything to relieve the discomfort.
‘After a few days, i was horrified to see the burns had turned to black scabs, which then fell off, leaving white rings where the skin pigment had been damaged.’
in a society where hairlessness has become a badge of femininity, hair removal is big business. By 2019, it is set to be worth £2.19 billion.
With body hair just behind weight gain as the issue that worries women most, the promise of so-called permanent hair removal lures ever more customers into salons: 6 per cent of women in Britain — 2.2 million — have tried it.
But in the wrong hands they risk suffering serious skin damage, as well as searing pain.
This month, novelist marian Keyes revealed she was in so much agony after treatment that she over-applied anaesthetic numbing cream and sealed her legs with cling film, risking a toxic overload that could have triggered organ failure.
There are two types of high-tech hair removal treatment: intense pulsed light (IPL) and laser. They work because the dark pigment, or melanin, in brown or black hair absorbs the high intensity heat of the light rays.
These rays of light can rise to temperatures of 100c, shrivelling the hair and zapping the cells in the root, preventing them from growing. Hair grows in cycles, so women need at least six treatments over several months.
IPL is cheaper and less effective as the light rays are more scatter-gun — for this reason it’s also considered more risky — while laser hair removal, which requires more expensive machinery, produces a concentrated beam of light that can be adjusted more precisely.
However, if machines are set at the wrong frequency or directed at areas for too long, either technique can cause skin to burn, leaving patches where the pigment has been scorched.
Yet despite the risks, the laser hair removal industry is unregulated and therapists do not need a licence to practise.
no wonder almost seven out of ten skin doctors who have seen problems from nonsurgical cosmetic procedures have seen damage from laser hair removal treatments, according to the British Association of Dermatologists.
Two years on, one in five of their patients still have visible burns or discolouration.
This was how long it took before the white patches healed on Alice’s legs.
For laser expert Andrea mappouridis, who treated Alice’s burns with anti-inflammatory cream at her Wirral clinic Revitalaser, it was obvious why the £50 session had gone wrong.
ANDREA said: ‘it was clear the setting was too high for Alice’s tanned skin, especially after she had been so recently in the sun.’ Yet when Alice complained to the salon about the burns, she was given short shrift.
‘They told me i should have known not to have it done as i’d been in the sun,’ she says. ‘But i’d say it’s the therapist’s job to assess your skin.’
Bonnie Flower signed up for an eye-wateringly expensive course of six laser hair removal treatments on her legs, bikini line and underarms that cost £1,700.
Yet even these premium prices were not enough to protect her from burns.
mother-of-one Bonnie, 33, from Sleaford, near Lincoln, who is married to matthew, a construction manager, was warned by the upmarket clinic that the procedure was not pain-free.
Still, she was not prepared for what happened. ‘my legs were always tender and inflamed after the treatments, but after my fifth visit the pain was much more acute,’ she says.
‘When i got home, i noticed i had a couple of inch-wide blisters on the backs of my thighs. After a few hours, it got so bad i couldn’t sit down.’
Looking back, Bonnie believes the technician, who she saw for each of her consultations three years ago, had not realised she had gone over the same areas twice, leaving two burnt patches.
‘When i rang the salon the next morning, they said “Oh, that can happen”, as if it’s an occupational hazard you have to accept. it shouldn’t be like that.
‘ i smothered my legs with Germolene for three days to numb the pain. i know it sounds mad, but as i paid so much money, after three months i had the final session.
‘That time there were no side effects, so they must have taken more care.’
Alarmingly, anyone can buy a laser or IPL machine. Though state-ofthe-art models can cost up to £30,000, second-hand machines are available on eBay, Gumtree and Amazon for as little as £500. Further- more, anyone can ‘qualify’ to use them on online courses for as little as £135. some firms selling equipment and training claim that with a £27,000 investment, a business can earn as much as £350,000 a year. LAWYER Julie Vallance, of Lime personal injury in Leicester, has been involved in 50 laser hair cases in the past five years. none have reached court.
Julie says salons settle because they usually can’t produce the paperwork that proves their staff were trained properly. On average, her clients win £3,000 to £5,000 for injury and skin damage.
plastic surgeon David Gault, who helped develop laser hair removal technology 25 years ago, acts as an expert witness for up to three cases a month where patients seek compensation for damage.
however, Mr Gault, of the British Association of Aesthetic plastic surgeons, believes these are just the tip of the iceberg.
‘A client may get a technician who is not familiar with the laser machine,’ he says.
‘in some cases, the record keeping is also woefully inadequate, so there’s no record of how a client’s skin reacted in the last session or what the best power or wavelength is for their skin type.’
he adds there is also a dangerous misconception it is always possible to remove hair completely.
‘The public are being sold a lie that permanent hair removal is routine,’ he says. ‘Though lasers will suppress hair growth, they often don’t prevent it completely.
‘however, some salons turn up the power of their machines to try to improve results — and that’s when you get more side effects.’
For darker- skinned women, the risks are especially high as it’s not just their hair that attracts the high temperature beams or light rays. Their skin does, too. health worker sabina Ahmed, 33, from Bow, East London, needed hospital treatment after she had her bikini line, lower abdomen and lower back area treated.
she was left with permanent dark brown oblong marks all over her body, caused by the head of the IPL device. The intense heat stimulated her skin to produce more pigment.
Though the treatment was three years ago, the marks still cover her lower back.
‘During the treatment, i said i couldn’t feel any pain, so the technician said “Well, you’re meant to feel something for it to work”, and turned it up,’ said sabina, who hired porters solicitors to win £40,000 damages from the salon.
‘The burns and pain have faded. What really distressed me is the hyper pigmentation and scarring, which i have been told is never going to go away. i have been left looking like a zebra.’
Antonia Mariconda, of the safety in Beauty campaign, is concerned that cut-price deals are tempting ever more women to have laser hair removal without knowing the risks or what to look for in a good salon.
To protect themselves, cosmetic dermatologist Dr sarah Tonks, of West London’s Chelsea private Clinic, says women should ask about a therapist’s experience, check that good notes are taken and insist on a patch test to check their skin sensitivity first.
if they are in pain during the treatment, they should speak out. ‘it should feel like getting nipped with hot tweezers. Any more than this and the therapist should re-evaluate the settings,’ she says.
As Dr Gault observes, it’s time salons started acting responsibly towards their clients. unfortunately not nearly enough do.