Laser hair removal is the use of laser to produce long-term hair reduction. This is accomplished by producing heat in the hair, which is transferred to the hair follicle, which in-turn produces inflammation which sends a signal to the hair follicle to go into the resting phase.

The tricky part of laser hair removal is targeting the hair shaft without damaging the melanin pigment in the surface of the skin. Thus the laser light has to be on long enough to heat the hair follicle, but not too much to allow that heat to spread to the surrounding skin causing damage.