If you have seen a video or demo of laser hair removal procedure, it involves shaving the target area and placing the handpiece of laser machine over the area to fire a shot. Gel may be applied before the shot and cleaned up afterwards. This works by sending a light beam of particular wavelength inside the skin which can heat up the melanin pigment in the hair follicle. The heated pigment damages the growing area of the follicle and prevents hair growth.

Thus the actual procedure is simple. Numbing is usually not required unless the hair is very thick or the person is unusually sensitive to heat.

Laser hair removal, if done with the correct parameters and technique on a good machine, should be a painless procedure. You can feel an occasional pinch in areas with thick hair as the roots are heated up. However, skin needs to be well moisturised and free from any disease, which can cause discomfort, irritation or even burns. The area should be shaved thoroughly and stray hairs should be cleaned up as they can also cause burns. While firing the shot, the gel and the cold tip of the machine cools and soothes the skin of the target area so as to direct the heat towards the hair follicle under the skin and cause no discomfort or damage to the skin above (since skin also contains melanin, there is a chance of it absorbing the laser heat instead). The resultant feeling is often described as receiving a "hot stone massage.