Coaching on pre-treatment sun avoidance can impact treatment results by doing what?

• A. Increases risk of PIH.
• B. Reduces risk of PIH and improves pigment stability, enhancing outcomes.
• C. Has no effect on outcomes.
• D. Only affects comfort, not pigment.

Answer: (B)

Sun exposure changes skin pigment and how it responds to laser energy. When the skin is tanned or highly pigmented, laser energy can be absorbed more by the surrounding skin rather than just the hair follicles, increasing the risk of pigment changes after treatment, especially post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Keeping the skin out of the sun before treatment helps maintain a baseline skin tone, reduces melanin variability, and lets the laser target hair follicles more selectively. This lowers the risk of PIH and improves pigment stability, which leads to safer, more consistent results. The idea that sun exposure only affects comfort overlooks how it can alter pigment and treatment safety, which is why avoiding sun pre-treatment matters for outcomes.