Laser treatments are becoming a bigger and more widespread practice in the beauty community and with this new technology there are obviously a lot of safety procedures and equipment that come with the different types. As more research is done on the technology more safety procedures have come into effect. While some as simple as some heavy duty glasses or some black out glasses are needed other times other types of protection are needed to make sure that the laser procedure all goes smoothly. As much as laser treatments can help our skin look better or help us get rid of unwanted hair, they can still do some damage. So it’s important to know all the safety tips and equipment that you might need being a customer or a technician.
First off is eyewear. It’s the best place to start for everyone, as most types of laser lights can be harmful to your eyesight, even looking at your phone in the dark for too long can cause long term effects to your eyes. Blue light filter glasses can help prevent that but laser lights are a lot more powerful and require a little bit more than some reading glasses. For procedures such as LED laser light therapy, some simple black out coverings are enough to protect them from the light. While bright, they don’t have enough wavelengths to penetrate through plastic. Most LED masks have little cutouts for your mouth and eyes as well, if you are worried about how close your eyes are to the light, you are more than welcome to basic eye shields to further shield your eyes. The goggles that used to be worn in tanning beds aren’t small enough for the mask but some disposable ones are fine. For the ones that look like cubby holes, those goggles are fine, your technician should be able to provide them before the procedure. If not, pack your own, they’re pretty accessible online. But in good practice your laser tech should have some. With just LED lights, your tech should be fine without some snazzy shades. People have them in their bedrooms for a bit of decoration and LED procedures don’t require them to be up close and personal with you. So technicians are fine without a pair.
Unlike LED light therapy, laser procedures that deal with IPL lasers do require a little more protection from the lasers. Once again, clients don’t need to stress too much, eye coverings that are used in LED light therapy are enough, as long as you can’t see any of the lasers you’re fine. Just some simple plastic goggles once again. However, on the technician side, the glasses start to get a little more complicated. In laser treatments, there are different wavelengths of light which cause different types of effects. Without the proper eyewear, they can get through to the eyes and cause all types of damage. Plus, the technician actually needs to be able to see so blackout goggles won't be their first choice. Or even be a choice if you want to do all of this safely. So your technician or yourself if you are on the way to becoming one, should be either wearing IPL green safety lenses or IPL brown safety lenses. Green safety lenses have a visible light transmission of 15% while brown have a transmission of 11%, however brown lenses utilised the contrast between the colours of the lasers and lens to allow for better vision during the procedure. These glasses have to be the right size as well, if they don’t fit right you may be at risk for some of the light coming through and damaging your eyesight. The same goes with client eyewear. Make sure if you can see any light coming through your blackout goggles, speak up! You’re not going to be an inconvenience, your technician wants to keep you safe as much as you want to be.
Now there are a few other things you should be aware of in terms of staying safe when it comes to laser treatments. Of course there’s the basic stuff of are you on any medication including prescription, non-prescription or any natural supplements or remedies. While most things are fine, it’s good to do a double check with your technician. And the classic of if you are allergic or sensitive to latex. However, in addition it’s important to keep up to date on any other procedures and conditions you might have gotten done or have. Things such as fake tans or melanin injections can actually increase your chance of getting laser burn so it’s recommended that you wait at least 6 months before you get laser or IPL treatment. Skin conditions can also affect the outcome of the treatment. Things such as: skin cancer, eczema, psoriasis and bacterial infections must be treated or under control before you can even consider getting your treatment. In some cases it’s best not to get any type of laser in case it makes the condition worse. Even a new real tan or some sunburn can cause issues for the treatment. That suntan might begin as a suntan but it could turn into sunburn from the heat of the laser, .There's a lot to take into account before you get laser treatment. Before booking your appointments, it’s best to go and have a chat with someone working there. They’ll be able to tell you about the risks and what some of these ailments might mean for you if you get the procedure done.
While you are wearing blackout goggles and won’t get to see the actual lasers at any point, it is very vital that if you do have any light sensitive condition to clue them in. There may be points in the process that you may come in contact with the lights from the lasers that might trigger things such as epilepsy.
At the end of the day it all just falls back onto good communication like in all beauty procedures. Talking about what is going on and being honest about what is going on is the way to go about everything. If you lie about certain things or keep them to yourself it can have the opposite effect of something you are trying to achieve. So best to be honest and open and ask questions if you have any worries about the safety of anything.
- Eliza Catford
