Laser Hair Removal for Legs in Toronto & Markham

To treat your legs together with other areas, see our page on full body laser hair removal. For every area and laser we use, see our main laser hair removal page.

Full leg and half leg laser hair removal: what each one covers

You can treat your full legs or only half.

• Full leg laser hair removal covers both legs from the top of the thigh to the ankle, front and back. The knees are usually included.
• Half leg laser hair removal covers either the lower legs, from knee to ankle, or the upper legs (the thighs).
• Feet and toes are usually counted as a small extra area.
• The bikini line is a separate area that many people add at the same visit. See bikini laser hair removal.

Dr. Xu confirms the exact areas in your plan at your consultation.

The lasers we use

We match the laser to your skin tone and hair at your consultation. For large areas like the legs, we often use InMode Diolaze, a diode laser with a large spot size that covers big areas quickly. On deeper skin tones, we use Fotona Nd-YAG. Some plans combine two lasers: the lower-leg case above used Fotona Nd-YAG and Soprano Titanium.

Laser suits most adults with dark leg hair who want to shave or wax less. The laser needs pigment to target, so black and dark brown hair respond most clearly. It is not effective on blonde, white or grey hair, and Dr. Xu gives you honest advice about this at your consultation.

You may be a good candidate if:

• You have dark, visible hair on your legs.
• You are tired of shaving or waxing your legs.
• You often get ingrown hairs, razor bumps or irritation.
• You can come to all your sessions on schedule.

It may not be suitable right now if:

• You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Your legs are tanned or sunburned, or you used self-tanner recently.
• You have open wounds, an infection or active eczema on your legs.
• You take medicines that make your skin sensitive to light (photosensitizing medications).
• You took oral Accutane (isotretinoin, an acne medicine) in the past 6 months.
• You have a history of keloids (thick, raised scars).

Because Dr. Xu is a medical doctor, your consultation also checks your medicines, skin and health history before any treatment.

Men have their legs treated too, and their coarser hair gets its own settings. See our page on men’s laser hair removal.

Often, yes. Laser hair removal can help strawberry legs and ingrown hairs when shaving and hair regrowth cause them. It will not fix every cause.

“Strawberry legs” is a common name for small dark dots on the legs that look like strawberry seeds. In many people, the dots are short hairs, oil or dead skin sitting in open pores after shaving. When laser reduces the hair, there is less to fill the pores, and you shave far less. Many people then see fewer dark dots as their course goes on. The lower-leg case above shows dense hair with dark dots at the roots before treatment.

Ingrown hairs are hairs that curl back and grow under the skin, where they form red bumps. Laser hair removal reduces ingrown hairs and razor-related folliculitis (red, inflamed hair roots). With less hair growing back, fewer hairs get trapped.

Some dots and bumps have another cause. One example is keratosis pilaris, small rough bumps caused by a build-up of keratin, a skin protein. Laser hair removal does not treat these, so Dr. Xu checks what is causing your dots at your consultation.

For more about the causes of unwanted hair, see our page on unwanted hair.

Yes for darker skin, when the right laser and settings are used. Tanned skin is different: we wait until the tan has faded before we treat.

Darker skin has more melanin in its top layer, so the wrong wavelength can heat the skin instead of the hair. For deeper skin tones, we use Fotona Nd-YAG, a 1064 nm laser that reaches deeper into the skin and is the preferred choice for darker skin.

Legs tan easily in summer, and a tan adds pigment to the skin surface. That raises the risk of burns and dark marks. Keep your legs out of the sun, and skip self-tanner, for at least 2 weeks before each session.

The best time to start is often autumn or winter, when your legs are covered and not tanned. Summer sessions are still possible with careful sun protection, as our blog on laser hair removal in summer explains.

For most people who shave or wax their legs often, yes. Laser reduces the hair itself, while shaving and waxing only remove it for a short time. Over the years, laser can also save you the ongoing time and cost of razors and waxing visits.

Laser is not right for everyone. Dr. Xu can tell you at your consultation if it suits your skin and hair.

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