What is melanin?
The body produces a substance called melanin which is the pigment that gives you the brown look and provides you with natural protection against sunburn. Melanin is stored below the surface of your skin and when your skin is exposed to sunlight or a sun lamp, melanin is stimulated and drifts to the surface of your skin where it oxidizes to give you the golden brown tone we call a suntan.
Melanin is the substance in hairs and skin that gives it its natural colour – often called pigment. There are 2 main types of melanin found in humans: pheomelanin and the more common eumelanin. Blonde or red hair contains mainly pheomelanin pigment, which is less able to absorb the laser’s energy than the eumelanin pigment which is present in black or brown hair. Melanin is the substance that protects humans from ultra-violet rays. Thus, the more melanin in the skin the more protection it provides. It works by absorbing the short wave length light, which coincidently is also the same type of light used in most lasers for hair removal treatments. This is why laser treatment is less effective in dark skinned patients and why they require a long wavelength laser for effective treatment.
Melanin exists in the plant, animal and protista kingdoms, where, among other functions, it serves as a dark pigment. This pigment is visible in human hair and is the primary determinant of human skin color. The process of laser hair removal works by directing the laser onto the skin, where the laser high-energy light becomes absorbed by melanin located in the hair follicles. Once absorbed, the light transforms into heat, destroying the entire part of the follicle responsible for the growth of new hair.
