# Other Discussions > Off Topic Discussions >  Does IPL destroy/decrease follicles forever?

## AGAssi

Hello guys,
I'm new here and facing the following dilemma:

Aged 36 now (status NW6, vertex completely blank, front has some hair left), I've always struggled with my immense and heavy chest and abdominal hair, ever since I was a teenager. I never liked it. I'm of Italian origin, so each single chest/abdomen hair used to grow as thick as beard hair or pubic hair, loads of multiple grafts. Tried to shave or wax them, the roots were so mega-thick and restistant that there was only loads of bleeding and infections. Actually strong hair like this might be a perfect donor candidate for a body hair transplant, especially as my donor on the head is way too thin for a transplant.

Exactly one year ago then, spring of 2016, I discovered an IPL unit for home use. It is used to kinda "destroy" the root of the hair "lastingly", which in my case meant: It was WAY better then any form of epilation/waxing I knew before: From session to session the body hair became thinner, fell out and after 3 months of use my chest and abdomen was silk and blank for another 4 to 5 months (rest of summer/fall) without any further treatment neccessary.

Although it looked fine on my body, I worried again about my scalp, thinking that these formerly strong and thick body hair might be a precious donor, the only possible donor for a BHT one day. So, about Christmas of 2016, when I noticed, thin hair started growing back, I did NOT use the IPL unit any loner to see if they recover completely.

Now, 4 months have passed and I'd say there are back to 50% density and 50% strength compared to what it was originally. On the other hand, beach season is coming again, and I wonder about erasing them again by IPL... until I finally sign in for a BHT.

The question is: Will the IPL session do permanent damage to the formerly strong follicles, or do they just fall asleep for some month and will be recover to 100% when I leave them alone long enough?

----------


## online

Hair bumps are really inflammation of the hair follicles themselves and has been treated with lasers and IPLs forever. So when this kind of question is asked and someone says this machine works and this one does not, I sometimes wonder what planet someone may be on – doc wise. The lasers for hair removal and the IPL for hair removal all work via the same mechanism of action, so if they are done correctly, they can all be used to make “hair bumps” go away. Is it permanent? If the hair removal is permanent, then this will be, but remember laser hair removal is permanent hair reduction, which means reduction over time.

The first IPL hair removal studies were over 20 years ago – which led to the FDA approval for these devices.

Go somewhere where the providers know what they are doing --- a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeons office.

----------

