In 2006, Two visionaries took upon themselves to change the way laser hair removal is performed. Those were Alma lasers’ founder and former CEO Dr. Ziv Karni and Dr. Jospeh Lepselter, one of Alma’s clinical application directors. They named their innovation SHR technology.
Up to that point in time, laser or IPL (intense pulsed light) hair removal was performed by pulsing the skin with a very strong light beam. The plan was that the melanin-containing hair follicle would absorb the delivered energy, heat up dramatically and be destroyed. Sounds painful, doesn’t it?!
And if the pain wasn’t enough, there were many coverage issues caused by the stamping technique practitioners used. Less optimal coverage created ‘Zebra stripes’ in the treated area (stripes of skin with visible reduction followed by ones with hair growth). To make things worse, overlapping coverage (pulsing the same place more than one) could even cause burns to the patients’ skin!
Sketch from the original patent application
What is SHR hair removal technology?
SHR™ simply stands for ‘Super Hair Removal‘. Dubbing something as ‘Super’ might sound arrogant and pompous. Even so, when you realize what this innovation did for the treatment calling it ‘SHR’ is an understatement. The main concept behind is that the energy delivered to the target area is accumulative. It involves heating up the skin in the entire treated area to a point the hair follicles are destroyed. This process is done by using an “in-motion” technique, where the practitioner uses gliding motions with the laser applicator over the patients’ skin.
So rather than lasing each hair follicle individually with a high powered beam which is painful, SHR uses lower energy with high repetition to achieve maximum results with virtually no pain at all. Moreover, the “in-motion” technique ensures better and more uniform coverage and minimizes the risk of burns.
The answer for dark skinned hair removal patients
Other than the above mentioned benefits for all patients, SHR also was huge news for people with darker skin types that wanted to get laser hair removal. Prior to that the pain was almost unbearable, and the risk for burns was too high. The melanin rich skin absorbed too much of the laser energy and heated up considerably with traditional hair removal techniques. But with SHR those days were long gone. Additionally, advanced laser devices using this technology such as Alma’s Soprano lasers, offer specially cooled applicators that even lower the pain levels so basically most patients report only a feeling of slight warmth during the treatment session.
See below video from Instagram showing the happy hair removal patients of Oasis med spa in Lagos, one of Nigeria’s top aesthetic clinics.
A modern approach to aesthetic treatments
This innovation is not only technological. It also represents a shift in the approach of both medical device developers such as Alma and aesthetic practitioners. Where in the past patients’ were told to only care about results, now it is clear their well-being and comfort during and after treatments must be accounted for. That means lowering pain levels, minimizing post treatment downtime and possible side effects. This approach helped popularize many aesthetic procedures that were considered niche treatments in the past.
SHR technology on different lasers
It is important to understand that this technology can be combined with all aesthetic laser wavelengths that are utilized for hair removal. Those are mainly the 755nm, 810nm and 1064nm. Such is the case with Alma’s Soprano Titanium laser, which features a triple-clustered diode laser. This advanced diode combines all the above laser wavelengths. This combination allows treatment of all skin types and even improves the treatment. One of the reasons for that is massive bulk heating of the skin. SHR can even be used on IPL applicators on devices such as the Harmony XL Pro and Alma REJUVE.
Obviously, within a few years most manufacturers adopted this successful innovation by Alma (some even by blatantly violating the trademark). However, as with any kind of sensitive medical devices it is most recommended to seek the genuine SHR technology by Alma. That goes for both patients and practitioners interested in maximum safety and clinically proven results.
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