Photoepilation with variable pulsed light in non‐facial body areas: evaluation of efficacy and safety

Background Variable Pulsed Light (VPL?) is a new intensity pulse light (IPL) system. We evaluated VPL for safety and long‐term efficacy in non‐facial hair removal. Study design/material and methods The Variable Pulsed Light VPL? System (Energist Limited, UK), 610–950 nm] system was used for the removal of unwanted non‐facial dark pigmented body hair in 42 volunteers (40 females, two males, age: 18–43 years, mean: 30.4 ± 7.4 years) with Fitzpatrick skin phototype (SPT) II (33.3%), III (38.1%) and IV (28.6%), and brown (43.8%) or black (56.2%) fine (19.0%), medium (47.6%) or coarse (9.4%) body hair. Minimum follow‐up period was 12 months (mean: 13.14 ± 2.38). Treatment parameters were as follows: number × duration of micropulses: 15 × 5–15 × 7 ms, pulse delay: 1–8 ms, fluence: 30–45 J/cm². Results Very good (≥76% hair reduction) and good treatment efficacies (hair reduction: 51–75%) were observed in the majority of treated patients (n = 18; 42.9%; n = 14; 33.3% respectively), four patients (9.5%) had only moderate (hair reduction: 26–50%) and six (14.3%) patients had no (hair reduction ≤25%) treatment response. Side‐effects (reversible erythema, leukotrichia) were sparse. More favourable long‐term therapy outcomes were observed for higher SPT (III and IV), medium or coarse black hair and younger patients. Conclusion The VPL? System is a relatively efficient and safe treatment for long‐term hair removal. Higher SPT (III and IV) with black and medium to coarse hair, and younger age of the patients appear to be factors of significant importance predicting long‐term efficacy.