Photoepilation with variable pulsed light in non-facial body areas: evaluation of efficacy and safety.
BACKGROUND
Variable Pulsed Light (VPL) is a new intensity pulse light (IPL) system. We evaluated VPL for safety and long-term efficacy in non-facial hair removal.


METHODS
The Variable Pulsed Light [VPL System (Energist Limited, UK), 610-950 nm] system was used for the removal of unwanted non-facial dark pigmented body hair in 42 volunteers (40 females, two males, age: 18-43 years, mean: 30.4 +/- 7.4 years) with Fitzpatrick skin phototype (SPT) II (33.3%), III (38.1%) and IV (28.6%), and brown (43.8%) or black (56.2%) fine (19.0%), medium (47.6%) or coarse (9.4%) body hair. Minimum follow-up period was 12 months (mean: 13.14 +/- 2.38). Treatment parameters were as follows: number x duration of micropulses: 15 x 5-15 x 7 ms, pulse delay: 1-8 ms, fluence: 30-45 J/cm(2).


RESULTS
Very good (> or =76% hair reduction) and good treatment efficacies (hair reduction: 51-75%) were observed in the majority of treated patients (n = 18; 42.9%; n = 14; 33.3% respectively), four patients (9.5%) had only moderate (hair reduction: 26-50%) and six (14.3%) patients had no (hair reduction < or =25%) treatment response. Side-effects (reversible erythema, leukotrichia) were sparse. More favourable long-term therapy outcomes were observed for higher SPT (III and IV), medium or coarse black hair and younger patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The VPL System is a relatively efficient and safe treatment for long-term hair removal. Higher SPT (III and IV) with black and medium to coarse hair, and younger age of the patients appear to be factors of significant importance predicting long-term efficacy.
Holzer
G
G
Department of Dermatology, Division of Special and Environmental Dermatology, Mxedical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria. gregor.holzer@meduniwien.ac.at
Nahavandi
H
H
Neumann
R
R
Knobler
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006204:Hair Removal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult