Dr. Duncan Turner has expanded his services for women by bringing Vectus® into his practice last fall, offering laser hair removal to Santa Barbara-area patients seeking an alternative to shaving.

For as long as women have sought smooth, bare skin, there have been options for eliminating hair, but essentially all have involved a never-ending cycle of removal and regrowth. To break the shaving cycle, Turner Medical Arts is offering laser hair removal using a device known as Vectus®.

Shaving cuts a hair, but leaves the bulb within the follicle to continue growing. Waxing and other methods of pulling a hair out by its root get rid of the whole hair, but the follicle grows a new one after a short time. Laser hair removal prompts hairs to fall out and impacts the follicles to prevent them from growing a new hair in the same way again.

Specifically, pigmented cells in the follicles absorb the energy delivered in a Vectus® laser hair removal session as heat, which selectively damages them. Hair may eventually grow again, but it will be lighter, finer and less frequent.

According to Turner Medical Arts, multiple hair removal treatments can successfully clear an area of hair for good; repeat sessions are standard, since the laser energy only works on hairs in an active growth phase at the time of the treatment.

That means about 85 percent of the healthy hairs in a targeted area will respond to a single treatment, since that is how many, on average, are in what is known as “anagen” at any given time. Due to the high volume of hair impacted every time, patients will notice increasingly improved results.

The Vectus® system can be used on all skin types, and is suitable for most hair colors, according to Turner Medical Arts. Patients can talk to Dr. Turner and his team during their consultation to determine whether this laser removal method is best for them.

As a laser treatment, Vectus® is not for use near the eyes, but it can be safely and effectively applied to the rest of the face, as well as the chest and back, arms and legs, underarms and bikini line.

To learn more about Vectus® and laser hair removal at Turner Medical Arts, call 962-1957 or visit turnermedicalarts.com.

— Karen Spaulding for Turner Medical Arts.