Laser Helmets vs. Laser Combs (for Hair Growth)

laser helmet vs. laser comb

If you are here, you probably know that Low-Level Laser hair growth devices are highly effective in regrowing hair and treating male and female hair loss – without any side effects.

(We’ve covered the science in our red light therapy for hair growth post)

But:

What’s the difference between laser caps and laser combs? Which one is best for your hair (and your budget)?

If you want to save a lot of money (and time) on a dermatologist or hair clinic treatments – laser helmets, laser caps, and laser combs are your three best options.

We’ve compared all aspects of laser combs and helmets with their pros and cons, specifically the iRestore Helmet and HairMax Laser Comb.

The technology, the treatment time (the effort factor), the ease of use, the price, and of course – the results.

This post may contain affiliate links, at no extra cost to you.

Laser Helmets vs. Laser Combs – What’s the Difference?

hairmax laser comb vs irestore

Using a laser comb and a laser cap for hair growth offers different experiences in terms of how you use them, the time it takes for treatment, and the effort involved. Let’s break it down:

When it comes to user experience, the laser comb needs you to do some work. You have to comb it through your hair because it has lasers in it that stimulate hair growth. It’s like giving your scalp a little massage.

If you have thick, coarse, or long hair in some places you need to work through it with a comb.

On the other hand, the laser cap is like wearing a regular baseball cap, but with special lasers inside. You just put it on your head, and it does its thing without you having to do much.

As for treatment time, the laser cap is usually faster because it covers your whole scalp at once. The laser comb treats smaller sections at a time, so it might take a bit longer.

When it comes to effort, the laser comb requires you to comb it through your hair, making sure you cover all areas.

It takes a bit of effort and attention. The laser cap, on the other hand, is super easy. You just wear it like any other cap and let it work its magic.

Laser Combs vs. Laser Caps Similarities

  • Both types of LLLT hair devices are based on the same proven technology.
  • Science has shown that Low-Level Laser (LLLT) is safe and effective for stimulating hair follicles and regrowing new, full and healthy hair – for both men and women (with Androgenetic Alopecia and other conditions).
  • The laser light therapy wavelength used in both laser caps and laser combs is around 650 nanometers (visible red light).
  • Improvement (reduced hair fall and noticeable hair growth) was reported after 12 to 26 weeks of continuous use – of both laser caps and laser combs.

iRestore Laser Helmet vs. HairMax Laser Comb

Here’s a summary in a comparison table, but we strongly suggest that you read the full details below:

1. Design & Effort 

Laser combs are designed to part your hair when you use them. This allows the laser light to have direct contact with the scalp.hairmax laser comb partying teeth

You start with the front of the hairline and wait a few seconds until the light is absorbed before you continue further down the back of your head.

Doubling back over the same area will not be effective, and may encourage hair loss instead of stimulating growth.

Laser helmets are designed to “sit” on your head, covering most of your scalp.

No effort or action is required.irestore laser hair growth helmet

A Professional Lasercomb (such as the popular HairMax) includes 7-12 medical-grade lasers (not LEDs).

Hair growth helmets combine both tiny laser diodes and red LED bulbs.

LED vs. Laser – what’s better?

Low-Level Laser can be emitted via both laser diodes and LEDs.

Studies have found that LEDs and laser diodes are both effective for hair restoration.

So, what’s better for your hair?

Well, if you suffer from generally thinning hair in different areas on your scalp, and your scalp is not “blocked” by a lot of thick hair – the effortless helmet or laser cap is a better choice for you.

On the other hand, if you want to treat bald spots and specific areas of thinning hair – use the comb to better expose those areas to the hair growth light.

2. Treatment Time

Laser brushes require 8-15 minutes of active (slow combing) treatment time (depending on the device) – repeated 3 times a week.

For example, The HairMax Ultima 9 ($199) should be used for 11 minutes, while the more expensive HairMax Ultima 12 ($249) requires only 8 minutes of treatment.

Laser caps/helmets usually require 25 minutes of passive treatment, every other day, on non-consecutive days.

So, the question you need to ask yourself is:

What’s more important for you: less treatment time or less effort?

If you do not have the patience to slowly comb your hair for 8-15 minutes 3 times a week, a helmet or cap is a better choice for you.

The hands-free design prevents hand and arm fatigue from having to slowly work a comb through your scalp.

If you’re really busy and not sure you’ll be consistent with treatment (which is critical), consider the new HairMax Laser Band.

hairmax laser comb vs. laserband
HairMax Laser Band – view at HairMax

Why?

Because this device (with 82 medical-grade lasers and no LEDs) requires only a 90-second treatment, however, it will not cover all your hair in one treatment and is very expensive.

3. Treatment Area Coverage

As seen in the images, laser helmets are hands-free and cover almost your entire scalp (less coverage on the bottom).

Laser combs cover the area you choose to comb.

4. Time to Visible Results

Both the HairMax brushes and the helmets were clinically tested and were proven to work after 3 months to 6 months of treatment.

irestore laser cap studies

5. Money-Back Guarantee & Warranty

Since we’re talking about relatively expensive devices, you’d want to know if you can get your money back in case this technology doesn’t work for you, right?

Here’s how it works:

  1. The HairMax laser combs come with a 90-day money-back guarantee, and a 2-year warranty (for the battery as well).
  2. The iRestore hair growth helmet and the iGrow come with a one-year warranty and a full 6-month money-back guarantee. Our top pick, the Kiierr laser cap, has no less than 7 months of free trial!
kiierr laser cap
Kiierr laser cap – 7 months free trial!

6. Price

Laser hair caps are generally more expensive than laser combs. However, sometimes we find great deals for both devices on Amazon.

Laser Cap vs. Laser Band

laser cap vs. laser band

 The major difference between a laser cap and a laser band (HairMax is the only brand that makes it) is in the size of the device, which affects the coverage area.

Laser Cap is a hat-shaped device with dozens of medical-grade lasers (80-282 lasers) and is worn like a regular baseball cap – which means you can move around with it and no one will guess that you are treating your scalp with red light therapy.

It covers the entire scalp at once, treating all areas simultaneously.

A laser band is a narrow band that is placed over a specific target area on your scalp and has two lines of combs (to part the hair and help the light reach the scalp) with laser lights on either side.

Since it is smaller and has fewer lasers inside, it is cheaper than a laser cap.

You’ll need to reposition it 3 times to cover the entire scalp, however, you’ll only need 1.5 minutes of treatment per area. The total time for full coverage is less than 5 minutes (3 times a week).

Treatment time for laser caps ranges between 7-30 minutes – 3 times a week.

[table id=125 /]

In conclusion, a laser cap has full scalp coverage but requires more treatment time than a laser band. On the other hand, it is completely discrete and you can move around with it without anyone knowing what you are doing.

Plus, you won’t need to reposition it 3 times to cover the whole scalp.

Bottom Line

In this post, we’ve compared laser hair caps with laser combs. The devices compared were both clinically proven to work within 3-6 months, and both types use the same red light wavelength – 650 nm.

We’ve determined that no one answer fits all.

The chance of reducing hair loss and regrowing new, healthy hair depends mostly on how consistent you are with the treatment.

The conclusion is:

If you think you won’t have the patience to comb your hair slowly for 8-15 minutes three times a week – go for the laser helmet, or the laser cap, which are passive, effortless, and allows you to read, watch TV or just rest while you use it.

Our top pick for laser caps in 2024 is the Kiierr 272 laser cap, which includes 272 lasers, covers the entire scalp, and is designed as a regular baseball cap, that is 100% portable and rechargeable, so you can move around freely while doing your 15-30 minute hair growth treatment.

laser cap vs laser comb for hair growth
Kiierr Laser Cap – view at Kiierr

If your hair is generally thick and you mostly suffer from bald spots – we recommend the laser comb to part your hair to allow the light to reach the spots effectively.

Without hair parting teeth, thick hair can block a majority of the laser light energy from reaching the follicle.

👉 See the top 4 laser combs reviewed for 2024

However, this is only if you stick with the treatment. With the red light brushes,  arms can get tired, people begin to slack and skip sessions

If you have generally thinning hair – go for the laser helmet, which offers better coverage and will stimulate blood flow in most of your scalp.

If your main concern is the price – laser combs are less costly. They also make a great first try to see if LLLT for hair loss works for you.

If it does – it may be worth it to invest in a laser cap.

And now over to you:

Have you ever tried using LLLT home devices to restore hair growth? What’s your experience? Do you have any questions? Use the comment section below – we answer everyone.

To your health and happiness,

Meital

Meital James
Founder and CEO of 4 healthy living blogs, has a background in Naturopathic medicine, research, journalism, and nutrition. Her blogs are the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and experience and all the posts are verified by scientific findings.

14 thoughts on “Laser Helmets vs. Laser Combs (for Hair Growth)”

  1. Hi,

    I read your posts and have found it very informative. I would like to ask an advice on which device will work best for me.

    I have generally thinning hair with no bald spots with a slight receding hairline. My goal is to hope to regrow more hair, make my hair healthy and thick.

    I have read about your reviews on the best LLLT options and so far have considered 3 devices – HairMax PowerFlex 272, iRestore Pro 80, and HairMax LaserBand 82. The 1st 2 are basically similar except for the price and the number of laser diodes.

    I would have wanted to go with the best which is HairMax PowerFlex but is quite skeptical because it doesn’t have the same comb technology of the LaserBand82 where it parts the hair apart for the laser to hit the scalp directly, which might be more beneficial than the cap. Or will the 272 diodes lights generate well even with the presence of my hair considering the longer treatment time of 15-30 minutes?

    I hope you can enlighten me of my concern. I am also willing to send in some photos of my hair for you to better assist me.

    Thank you and God bless

    Reply
    • Jerome, if your hair is thinning that means that the light can penetrate through your hair and you won’t need the laser comb technology. The PowerFlex is much more powerful but people are doing great with the other models as well. In any case, all HairMax products can be returned or refunded for up to 6 months, so you’ll be able to return each of them if they don’t work for you.

      Reply
  2. I just started using the Hairmax Classic comb about a month ago. I have rapidly thinning hair at my middle part just behind my hairline.
    I read your statement “Doubling back over the same area will not be effective, and may encourage hair loss instead of stimulating hair growth.” However, I have been doubling back and staying longer at the thinning, balding areas.. I’m now terrified that I can be making my balding worse. Is my best option to discontinue use or use the comb once only over the whole head?

    Reply
    • Michelle please don’t be terrified. This is just a warning but it doesn’t mean that you have worsened your hair loss. It’s alright! This is just the manufacturer observation, I never heard of anyone experiencing this. You don’t have to discontinue, just be gentle with it as you comb your hair.

      Reply
  3. I had bought the Hair max laser band and i used it for 4 months and i had no change my hair is still falling, and i followed the instructions never missing a day, it is real thin now. I was wondering if I should buy the Hair pro laser cap.

    Reply
    • Diana, if it hasn’t worked for you (it doesn’t work for everyone) – I wouldn’t go for the same treatment again. I would instead try a near infrared lamp and shine it at your scalp every day for 15 minutes, at a safe distance of 24 inches.

      Reply
      • My Capillus cap did not work for me. One dr told me that the infrared light does not get through hair — and the hair needs to be parted — is this true? Should I move on to a comb? Band? I have thin areas. On top where the center part is primarily.

        Reply
        • Lise, a laser cap does not include infrared light wavelengths as your doctor said, it is actually red light therapy. But yes, the light should be able to reach your scalp for the best results. So a comb is more recommended for people with thicker hair. So yes, I would try the laser comb.

          Reply
  4. Can you do both a laser cap and the laser comb together? Are there any side effects or protocol that would preclude the use of both since I have some fairly thick hair on top and it seems like the laser comb will get in the areas that the laser cap might not get to. I appreciate your advice on this.

    Reply
    • I haven’t found any possible side effects from using both a laser comb and a laser cap. I would recommend using both one after the other on the same day and same treatment. Try not to overdose by doing treatments every day. Overdoing laser hair therapy can lead to further hair loss.

      Reply
  5. My hair loss is close to my ears. It looks like the laserband doesn’t reach that area. Can anyone tell me if it does? I have arthritis and Fibromyalgia and am worried about not being able to hold the lasercomb for the 15 or 8 minutes. But I need to use whichever will help the area around my ears more.

    Reply
  6. Could you tell me more about your thought about the HairMax Laser Band. Am I correct in thinking it is more effect because it is a laser and not LED? I have tried to come up with a solution which is better for me and the areas of my hair loss. I have hair loss on the side around the ears, temple, crown, and the back of the nap of my neck. Of course I want the fastest result as well. Who doesn’t

    Thank you,

    Reply
    • Actually, laser and LED were proven to be both efficient in emitting light. The laser band can be better because it has 82 lights, which is more powerful than 12, or 50, etc. That’s why treatment time is only 90 seconds per area.
      If you use a laser helmet – it will cover most of the areas you need in one treatment (25 minutes). If you use the laser band you’ll need to move it from area to area to cover the entire scalp, but treatment time for each area is only 90 seconds – so it’ll take less time.
      As for fastest results, according to studies, all devices were found to produce results in 3-6 months. Patience is required.

      Reply

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