Underarm laser hair removal
the shortest session and the shortest treatment course

The area has clear anatomical boundaries, so there is no room for misunderstanding about what is included:

Underarm skin is thin, moist, and is exposed to daily shaving and deodorant. That combination causes irritation, post-shave stinging, and a darkened look that many people take for hyperpigmentation — when in large part it is simply the shadow of cut hairs sitting just beneath the skin surface.

Underarm hair is thick and dark, which means it contains plenty of melanin — exactly what laser light is absorbed by. That makes this one of the areas where hair reduction progresses fastest.

It is also the only area with a randomized trial directly comparing an 810 nm diode laser with IPL: four monthly sessions, with hair counts measured over 4 cm² (Barros et al., 2026, PMID 42249955).

Position and coverage. You lie on your back with your arms raised behind your head. Nothing else needs to be uncovered.

Sensation. Distinct but brief — the area is small, so the whole session takes a few minutes. People who compare it with waxing usually say the laser is gentler.

At Velvet Skin Clinic we plan a series of 5–6 sessions in this area, every 4–6 weeks.

It is the shortest treatment course on our price list. The hair is thick and absorbs energy well, so reduction progresses faster than on the legs or in the bikini area. This is our clinic's protocol, based on practice.

There is one reason a single session is never enough: the laser only affects follicles in their growth phase (anagen). At any given moment only part of the follicles in an area are in that phase — the rest are in catagen or telogen and do not respond to light. That is why sessions are repeated at intervals, to catch successive groups of follicles as they enter anagen (Natarelli et al., 2023, PMID 36769541).

We do not use one laser for everything. The device for this area is chosen at your consultation, after assessing your skin phototype and the thickness and colour of the hair. For phototypes IV–VI, the choice of wavelength is a matter of safety, not convenience (Lee et al., 2026, PMID 41884758).

The price is the same on all three lasers. Thunder Quanta works at our Śródmieście clinic, Soprano Ice Platinum at Mokotów, LightSheer Duet at both. The longer the series, the lower the price per session. When treating several areas at once, package prices from the full price list apply.

Laser hair removal works over a series, not from one session to the next — below is what you can realistically see at each stage in this particular area. Results are individual and depend on hair colour and thickness, skin phototype, and hormonal factors.

How to assess your results

The most useful changes to look for are how much hair grows back between sessions and how often you need to shave. Photos taken immediately before and after a session may look similar, because the treatment area has already been shaved.

On this page we explain how results develop over a course of treatment and share reviews from our patients. Your practitioner will discuss what you can realistically expect for this area during your consultation.

Below are situations specific to this area. Contraindications common to all laser treatments — photosensitising medication, photosensitive epilepsy, cancer under active treatment, recent procedures in the area — are discussed during your consultation. Complications after laser treatments and how to manage them are described in a 2026 review (Nguyen et al., PMID 41797616).