Can I Sue For Laser Hair Removal Burns On My Arms?
By Daniel Archer. Last Updated 1st March 2023. Removing hair on your arms with lasers has become a popular form of beauty treatment in the past few years. However, it carries with it the risk of suffering laser hair removal burns, particularly on your arms.
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, beauty salons and other businesses have a legal obligation to safely care for the safety of their customers and other persons visiting their premises.
If a client receives substandard care from a beautician whilst undergoing treatment that results in them becoming injured or ill, they could be held liable for their client’s injuries. Laser hair removal, like many other beauty treatments, carries inherent risks. If a client receives burns on their arms or legs as a result of negligence, they could be owed compensation.
If you have experienced burns on your arms, underarms, legs, bikini line, face or elsewhere, due to negligent laser treatment, Legal Expert can help. We’re a specialist firm of solicitors with experience in handling cases of this nature. We know the processes, we know the law, and we can offer you the support you need.
Contact us today at 0800 073 8804. Alternatively, you can also speak to our team using the live chat box in the bottom corner. It’s also possible to see if you have a claim online by filling out the form on our website.
Jump To A Section
- Claiming Compensation For Laser Hair Removal Burns On Your Arms
- How Does Laser Hair Removal Work?
- Top Tips on Proving Laser Hair Removal Burn Claims
- What Are The Most Common Effects Of Negligent Laser Hair Removal
- Liability For Injuries Caused By Laser Hair Removal
- How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?
- Laser Hair Removal Burns – Calculating Compensation
- Laser Hair Removal Compensation – Claim With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
- Useful Links
A Guide To Claiming Laser Hair Removal Burn On Arms Compensation
Laser hair removal burns on arms
Laser hair removal has become a popular semi-permanent beauty treatment for removing body hair from undesired areas, such as facial hair.
It works by targeting the hair follicle with laser light. It is popular because unlike other methods of hair removal such as waxing, it is less painful and more long-lasting.
Unfortunately, laser-based treatments carry inherent risks. If a beauty salon or individual beautician acts negligently and it results in burns on your arms or elsewhere on your body, you could be entitled to claim damages for your injuries.
Similarly, if you are injured in an unavoidable accident while undergoing treatment, but the beauty salon failed to warn you of the inherent risks associated with your treatment you could also be entitled to make a personal injury claim.
Some people aren’t aware that you can make a claim for a cosmetic procedure. However, beauticians still have a duty of care to their customers. If they breach this, people can suffer harm.
How Does Laser Hair Removal Work?
Laser hair removal is a beauty treatment for the semi-permanent removal of undesired body and facial hair. It first became available to the public in the mid-1990s and today is available on many high streets across Great Britain and elsewhere.
This treatment is sometimes referred to as IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). This treatment works by exposing unwanted hair to pulses of laser lights in order to damage the follicle.
The machine used produces a specific type of light wavelength. This is pulsed for a certain amount of time, targeting the hair follicle only. Laser hair removal has become popular for its speed and can lead to the permanent loss of hair in the treated area. This is after repeated treatments.
There are common side effects of laser removal treatment. You may experience symptoms such as redness or pink discolouration, as well as some skin irritation such as itchiness or swelling in the area which has been treated. These symptoms usually pass within a matter of days.
Some minor burns can occur too. It’s possible to treat or soothe them by applying certain products containing aloe vera or something similar to the affected area. However, there are other types of burns that can be more severe.
Top Tips on Proving Laser Hair Removal Burn Claims
If you’ve suffered an injury due to third-party negligence, evidence is vital to making a successful claim. Evidence is needed to illustrate how the injury occurred and what negligent behaviour led to the accident. Laser hair removal burns, in some cases, can lead to permanent scars or marks that can greatly impact your quality of life.
It can be difficult to know what kind of evidence you need if you’re claiming for an injury. However, our top tips on proving laser hair removal burn claims include:
- Taking photographs of your injury.
- Gathering all the correspondence you had with the clinic before and after the procedure, e.g. information you were given about the procedure. There are some risks that you should have been made aware of before having the treatment. If your doctor was aware of these risks and did not make you aware of them causing you harm, it could be considered negligence.
- Obtaining a medical report. An independent medical professional can assess your injuries to determine the extent of them. They will also confirm other aspects of your injury, including your treatment plan and whether any permanent side effects have been caused. This can help your solicitor determine how much compensation you could receive for the impact of the burn injury.
- Ensuring you have evidence of the financial losses suffered due to the injury in order to claim them back. Depending on the nature of the laser hair removal accident, you may be unable to attend work after the incident or you may require medication or counselling. Other potential financial losses include travelling costs to doctor’s appointments, loss of future earnings or care costs.
This list is not extensive. Should you have more queries about what evidence you need to claim, please contact our team for free legal advice. They can inform you if you’re able to claim and may connect you with a specialised solicitor who will be able to help you build a case.
What Are The Most Common Effects Of Negligent Laser Hair Removal
Our clients who have experienced laser hair removal burns on their arms while having treatment have experienced the following injuries:
- Scarring from burns
- Blistering from burns
- Infections
- Laser burns on arms, laser burns on the legs and laser burn marks on the face
- Hyper-pigmentation, which means the darkening of the skin. An uneven skin tone is another effect
- Corneal ulcers which are open sores that can develop on the surface of the eye.
Reduction of muscle tone
Clients often ask us “are laser burns permanent?”. Unfortunately, while some laser burns are treatable, other more serious burns can result in permanent scarring. Before you undergo laser hair removal treatment, your practitioner should ask about any existing conditions or injuries you suffer from to determine whether or not this treatment is right for you.
Liability For Injuries Caused By Laser Hair Removal
If you are making a personal injury claim for burns on your arms or elsewhere on your body your claim will either be against the practitioner or the beauty salon or clinic where you received your treatment.
Your personal injury solicitor will look at the evidence to see which party was negligent in your case and will be able to advise you on how to proceed with your claim.
You will be able to sue for compensation for your pain and suffering and claim back expenses related to your injuries such as the direct cost of your laser hair removal treatment.
Hair And Beauty Venue Statistics
There are thousands of hair and beauty venues across England and Wales alone. The Office of National Statistics shows that whilst the concentration is highest in London, there is no one region that has less than 1,000.
Whilst all of these venues may not offer laser hair removal as a service, the figures serve to illustrate how big the industry is at present. There are a number of variables to take into consideration when considering what could go wrong during a treatment such as this that could lead to a laser burn.
The graph below shows figures as of March 2020.
How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?
In order to successfully claim compensation against the clinic or beautician that negligently caused you burns during your treatment, you must ensure that you start your claim within the personal injury claims time limit.
This is generally 3 years. This can be three years from the date you suffered the burn during the laser treatment or 3 years from the date you became aware of your injuries. However, there are some exceptions to the time limit.
If the claimant was under 18 at the time of the injury, the time limit would be suspended until their 18th birthday. A claim can be made during this time, but a litigation friend must act as a representative. Once the claimant turns 18, if a claim is not already underway, they will have 3 years to start one themselves.
Someone with mental capacity will also have their time limit suspended. If they gain the mental ability to represent themselves, their 3-year time limit will begin on that date. A litigation friend can begin their claim at any time during the suspended period.
Please reach out for any further questions you may have about claiming for injuries sustained in a laser hair removal gone wrong.
Laser Hair Removal Burns – Calculating Compensation
If a salon or clinic has been negligent in their laser hair removal treatment and you have suffered injuries as a result, such as burns on your arms, you could be eligible to claim compensation for your injuries.
Your claim will look at the extent of your injuries, alongside the effects they have had on your life and a compensation amount will be assessed, that can both:
- Compensate you for the financial losses caused by your injury (special damages)
- Compensate you for the pain and distress your injury may have caused you (general damages)
To show you potential awards for this for laser burns we have created a table featuring some scarring, skin damage and psychological injuries that could be caused by an erroneous procedure. The injuries and examples for compensation come from the 2022 edition of the Judicial College Guidelines, a publication that uses previous court compensation to create brackets for injuries.
| Injury type | Severity | Settlement band | Further notes: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arm scarring | Minor | £2,370 to £7,830 | Just one scar, but it is noticeable. There is no deficit other than cosmetic. |
| Arm scarring | Moderate | £7,830 to £22,730 | Numerous scars that are noticeable. |
| Facial disfigurement | Very severe | £29,780 to £97,330 | Both physical and psychological scarring will be significant. |
| Facial disfigurement | Less severe | £17,960 to £48,420 | Injuries are still severe but the mental anguish is far less. |
| Facial disfigurement | Significant Scarring | £9,110 to £30,090 | Scars are noticeable but mental side affects are minimal. |
| Facial disfigurement | Less Significant Scarring | £3,950 to £13,740 | One or more scars that can be disguised and do not affect the injured person’s overall appearance. |
| Facial disfigurement | Trivial Scarring | £1,710 to £3,530 | Very minor cases. |
To make a successful claim for special damages you should collect and maintain any relevant records of the financial impact of your injury. This can be:
- Loss of earnings
- Prescription costs
- Private cosmetic procedures to repair the harm
If you are looking to make a claim for the laser burns you suffered, please speak to one of our advisers. They can value your claim and give you an estimate for compensation and inform of materials you can start collecting now that will be relevant to your claim.
Laser Hair Removal Compensation – Claim With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
If a breach of duty of care has caused you to suffer from a laser hair removal burn, compensation could be owed to you. If so, then you may find it helpful to ask a solicitor to assist you. If you’re concerned about paying an upfront cost, hiring a solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis could be useful for you. All our lawyers can offer this type of agreement.
If your claim succeeds, then a legally capped percentage of your settlement is deducted by your No Win No Fee lawyer. If your claim fails, you are not obliged to pay them. To find out if you could make a claim for laser hair removal compensation or the process of claiming for hair laser removal burns, get in touch with our advisors today.
- Call on 0800 073 8804
- Talk to us about your claim online
- Use the pop-up chat window in the corner
Why Work With Legal Expert For Your Personal Injury Claim?
Legal Expert is a well-respected personal injury solicitor’s firm known for our integrity. We offer our clients a less stressful, more affordable way to claim and will always fight to win our clients the compensation they deserve.
We have an excellent track record of winning cosmetic negligence claims cases, for claimants just like you, so trust us to win you the laser hair removal burns on arms compensation you are entitled to.
Call our team today on the number at the top of this page for your free consultation, and we will assess how much compensation you can claim and with your permission, refer you to the right personal injury solicitor to handle your claim.
Useful Links
In this final section of our guide on claiming compensation for laser burns caused by hair removal on the arms, we’ve included some links you may find useful.
- Burn Injury Compensation – a guide to burn injury claims lays out how much compensation you could claim.
- Professional negligence claim – A guide to claiming for professional negligence
- Cosmetic surgery compensation – Have you been injured after undergoing cosmetic surgery? Read our guide to see how much you could claim.
- An NHS Guide to Laser Hair Removal – A guide by the NHS to how this treatment works.
