Laser Caps vs Laser Combs: What’s The Difference

The idea that you would have to search out solutions to hair loss wasn’t something you likely ever gave much thought. However, if you are experiencing hair loss as either a man or woman, young or more advanced in years, you are far from alone. In fact, according to various stats, there are currently 35 million men and 21 million women suffering from hair loss. This number represents a lot of people who just want some answers, a way to treat a condition that has caused them to feel despair and perhaps even embarrassment. If you can relate because you yourself are dealing with having less hair on your head than you would like, you have probably looked into the most common treatment options. During your research, you might have come across the two treatment options we are going to compare today, laser caps and laser combs. Both use low-level laser therapy to safely and effectively treat hair loss, but which is the best option for you? Well, we hope the following look at “laser caps vs laser combs: what is the difference?”, will help answer just that question.

How Laser Caps and Laser Combs Use Low-Level Laser Therapy to Treat Hair Loss

Both treatment options for hair loss utilize the same basic technology to treat the common condition, low-level laser therapy, or LLLT. This use of cool lasers on the scalp has been clinically proven to promote hair growth at the cellular level. It has no known side effects and is a great alternative to more invasive surgical procedures or costly visits to a medical facility for similar treatments. Most laser caps and combs are designed to be used at home, without medical oversight.

Laser Caps vs Laser Combs

Before moving onto how these devices compare and what you might get from each type of treatment, it’s important to understand what we are evaluating by properly defining what these devices do. Read on to learn more:

  • Laser Caps: Laser caps are devices you wear, are sometimes portable and have been clinically studied to be a safe effective way of treating hair loss and promoting hair regrowth. Treatment is passive in nature, meaning you put the device on your head, wear it for the instructed amount of time, which varies among devices, usually ranging from six to 30-minute sessions, and that’s it. Laser caps use the aforementioned LLLT via the device to treat hair loss and have been FDA-cleared as both safe and effective.
  • Laser Combs: Laser hair combs were one of the first types of hair growth treatments to hit the market that utilized laser diodes to treat hair loss. The time it takes to treat your hair using a laser comb varies on the product’s design. Some require little treatment time of only three minutes, others as much as 25 minutes. However, it’s important to note that the laser comb is not a passive treatment, meaning you have to actively comb your hair using the laser comb device in order to get the desired effect.

 

The Design of Laser Caps and Laser Combs, How They Differ & What it Means

As mentioned above, both types of devices use LLLT to treat hair loss. However, because of the design of the product itself, there is a slight difference in the amount of lasers they can feature. For example, the diodes on a laser comb are more restricted simply because the comb doesn’t provide an entire cap’s worth of space. Therefore, a comb might have only 16 laser diodes, with eight in each row. To compare, a laser cap might have anywhere from 88 to 272 diodes on a device. Therefore, the space each device can cover during treatment is vastly different. The comb is only able to treat a small amount of hair at once, while the cap can treat the whole head simultaneously. Many claim this increase in diodes provided by laser caps makes them more effective at treating hair loss when compared to the comb, at least in terms of the amount of treatment surface you can access at once.

However, the design of the comb is considered superior in another aspect. Because a laser cap sits on the head, sometimes users claim it flattens their hair down, blocking some of the light from getting to the scalp as designed. Conversely, laser combs separate the hair with the teeth of the device, allowing unhindered access to the scalp.  Therefore, if you have long hair, a laser comb might actually be more effective even with fewer diodes than a laser cap since it will not flatten your hair and block access to the scalp.

What About The Cost, Which Option is More Affordable?

Another factor you likely wonder about when comparing these two popular options for hair growth is the cost, which is more affordable?  After all, even if a device is extremely effective, if you can’t afford the purchase price, it does little good. Thankfully, there are two options for you here when comparing combs and caps that provide a good range of costs. In general, laser caps are more expensive to purchase. They can cost upwards of $1,000 but the average is around $600. Laser combs, though, come in significantly cheaper. You can purchase a laser comb for around $150. Therefore, if you aren’t sure if LLLT will work for your personal hair loss situation, purchasing a laser comb first might be a smart move. That way you can tell if the technology will work for you. If it does, you can always upgrade to the laser cap, which will treat more of your hair at once. For this reason, many people consider a laser comb a good first step into the LLLT world of hair regrowth.

The Convenience Factor Which is Easier to Use, Cap or Comb?

As mentioned above, using a laser cap is pretty passive. Put it on your head and then go about your business. Many models are even portable so you can move around. By contrast, laser combs require you to brush your hair, slowly, carefully and methodically for sometimes as long as 20 minutes to ensure enough of your scalp has been treated. Therefore, when it comes to convenience, the laser cap is the clear winner. Since regular use as designed is important to ensure optimal effectiveness, going with a laser cap might be your best bet if you are too busy to devote adequate time necessary to comb your hair.

Which Takes More Time?

You also need to factor in which product takes more of your time. Wait, you might say, you just said combing takes more effort. Yes, that’s true, but in most cases, treatment time using a laser cap takes longer. In addition, while treatment with laser caps is often daily or at least every other day, you can get away with using your laser comb three times weekly. Therefore, you have to ask yourself, which is more important to you, less effort or less treatment time? The big winner in terms of treatment time is the laser comb, while the laser cap is for sure the best in terms of how much effort you have to put into the treatment itself.

Bottom Line: Which Option is Best For You?

Unfortunately, no one can answer this question for you because the answer depends on many variables that are unique to you. Therefore, you have to consider the various factors outlined above in the laser caps vs laser combs outline and make the choice for yourself. It’s safe to say each option is effective and backed by clinical studies and doctor recommendations. However, the devices differ in terms of treatment times, effort, diodes, cost and more. Therefore, choosing which is best for your individual needs is really up to you.

References

Hair Loss Statistics

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3944668/

https://www.rehairlaser.com/blogs/news/hair-loss-laser-caps-or-laser-combs

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