Combating hair loss and baldness is big business. New treatment options are continually being developed and refined to help people halt their hair loss and to hopefully grow the beginnings of a full head of hair once more. While topical creams and oral medications, such as finasteride and various derivatives, do exist, a new treatment option for hair loss, a hair growth laser, has made headlines over the past several years and involves bombarding the scalp with high energy photons, otherwise known as a laser beam, in order to promote the growth of hair.

Nevertheless, the benefits of this products are often suspect as the results promised usually sound too good to be true. Hucksterism is still alive and strong in the medical community as makers of these products sometimes fall into the camp of favoring profit over actual results. Still, before addressing the concern of if a hair growth laser works, it is best to understand how this technology supposedly works.

A hair growth laser, regardless of the brand manufacturing it, works on the principle that exposing the skin of the scalp to concentrated doses of high energy light promotes hair growth. While sunlight is beneficial to the human body, ensuring proper health through the release of vitamin D throughout the body, high doses of sunlight can do as much harm as good. Skin cancer is just one condition that results from an over exposure to sunlight.

However, the difference between normal sunlight and hair growth laser light is that the two light sources operate on different ends of the visible light spectrum. Sunlight encases the entire visible light spectrum while laser light, the sort of light utilized by hair growth lasers, is comprised only of a small section of the spectrum, infrared light to be exact. Sunlight can be damaging to the skin because it contains ultra violet light. This part of the light spectrum is largely responsible for many of the adverse skin conditions that plague people who spend too much time outdoors without proper protection such as sun screen or clothing. Infrared light is far less damaging to the skin.

A hair growth laser uses infrared light to bombard the scalp, washing it in heat which is purported to open up the pores of the scalp and increase blood flow to the scalp. Both of these effects do promote hair retention and growth but shouldn’t be confused as being some sort of miracle ray. In fact, many manufacturers of hair growth lasers recommend users to combine a hair growth laser with other hair growth products, such as over the counter scalp creams, in order to maximize results.

Therefore, a hair growth laser should not be seen as a miracle tool for re-growing hair. Consider these devices as auxiliary solutions that should be used in tandem with more proven methods of hair retention and hair growth. Be sure to research brands of hair growth lasers before purchasing one as some manufacturers are more reputable sources than others.