lasers: a cautionary post

OBV if we are to be fashionably clad next season (see left) excess hair is a no-no. And for those who find a razor doesn't cut it, I have some sage advice on professional laser depilation from the Laser Active clinic. Founder Gill Leeden, a qualified nurse who did an intensive laser hair removal course before opening her clinics, has warned about unqualified hair removal practices that disregard health and safety rules and use cheap devices bought on the internet. Leeden maintains that the service is often an add-on to beauty salons cashing in on the demand for excess hair by women who are falsely reassured that they are in safe hands. Horror stories include burns to limbs, and eye damage because safety glasses have not been worn by patients. Other injuries are caused by inferior equipment generating intense pulsed light (IPLs). Laser Active say that the Government has abolished regulatory controls and opened the floodgates for anyone with a cheap pen light or laser to set up business. “Since controls went we’ve seen an explosion of amateurs setting up as hair removal experts,” says Gill. “One slip with a laser and permanent damage can be done to eyes if no safety glasses are worn, yet many of these amateurs totally disregard the dangers,” said Gill. “It costs a lot of money to buy the specialist medical equipment needed to operate professionally and put the patient at the forefront of safety.”  Laser Active says most beauty salons use an IPL device because only doctors and nurses are allowed to buy medical grade lasers. “Often the only training these users have had is from the manual,” said Gill. “IPLs are dangerous in the hands of people with no training.” Gill, who is aiming to franchise her business across the country to stamp out the cowboys, believes that as the Government appears to have abandoned any official regulatory control over these dangerous practices, there is a duty to offer a safe and ethical alternative. Laser Active franchises will only be available to qualified nurses who agree to undertake proper training, but the benefits to patients will be enormous, and safe.