[PalmMP3]

Is a Med-Op laser safe for hair removal (for women)? Or are there risks, e.g. cancer or whatever? Any specific information regarding specific areas of the body?

[smoothy]

Its safe... assuming the operator knows what they are doing.

There isn't any risk of cancer, but there is a risk of burning if its not properly calibrated to your skin type and tone. Not every skin type or hail color can be treated this way. It works best with lighter skin and darker hair color. Contrast is a good thing here. Olive skin tones and light blond hair is a problem as is dark skin and dark hair as the darker pigmentation conducts the heat generated by the laser and it's that heat the kills the hair follicles.

And yes... obviously skin on certain parts of ones body can be and is more sensitive than others.

You generally can't do anything in the general area of the eyes as the light can diffuse through the skin and still damage your eyes. They would inform you of this at your consultation depending on your area of treatment.

[Okuzo]

Laser hair removal can't cause cancer because it uses non-ionizing radiation. That means it doesn't have enough energy to damage your DNA.

However, it does have enough energy to burn your skin if the operator isn't careful. Ideally, the heat from the laser is supposed to be absorbed by the dark pigment of hair growing beneath the skin, but there have been cases reported of skin burning/scarring/discoloration. Those are the real dangers of laser hair removal, not cancer.

For more information, see Does Laser Hair Removal Cause Cancer?