Different Methods of Hair Removal

Hair is this emotive subject and with human nature being human nature, what we wish we can not have and what we've we don't want! Curly hair and we wish straight, straight hair and we want curly, brunette and we want blonde, blonde and we want red. Likewise upper lip hair on a female, so valued as a sign of exquisite beauty using parts of the world, is vilified by our Western society.

Unwanted hair is a common problem affecting nearly all women to varying degrees throughout their lives and prompting the use of various temporary methods of hair reduction or hair management systems. It causes great distress, in fact it is often accompanied by feelings of poor self esteem, a sense of isolation and low self worth.

Since the occasions when bearded ladies in Victorian travelling fairs were displayed for entertainment and ridicule, Western society has nurtured a stigma about unwanted hair. A lot of women are pressured into tremendous lengths to eliminate any trace of hair from any and every part of their body as they feel it to be unattractive and unappealing. However it isn't just women which are now affected... increasingly the male gender is subject to pressure from the 'fashion' and celebrity world and unwanted hair could be in the same way vilified by the male population nowadays as the female.

Different Ways of Hair Removal

Superfluous hair growth can be caused by many factors, such as for example, hormone imbalance, (during puberty, pregnancy and menopause), genetics and ethnicity, hereditary, medication or topical stimulation e.g. waxing or tweezing. Therefore, electrolysis - the only real permanent approach to hair removal, is really a treatment that's in great demand by female and transsexual clients and more recently, because of society's attitudes, the amount of male clients is increasing.

To meet this need there as always been many hair removal measures some of which go back centuries in history. Hair removal has been around since caveman times but interestingly the parts of the body we have been removing hair from have differed on the ages. Removing hair from the top and face of men was originally not for vanity purposes but also for survival. There's evidence that cavemen did this but additionally the ancient Egyptians and it was undertaken, we imagine, for protection, as scraping off the beard and hair on the head would get rid of the benefit of an adversary having anything to seize onto in addition to having less mites!

In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Middle Eastern countries, removing body hair was important. In fact these women removed most of their body hair, aside from eyebrows. Egyptian women removed their head hair and pubic hair was considered uncivilized by both sexes! It had been also considered uncivilized for men to possess hair on their face. Undesired facial hair was the mark of a slave or servant, or of an individual of lower class. The ancient Egyptians used a kind of razors manufactured from flint or bronze because the razor had not been invented till the 1760's by French barber, Jean Jacques Perret.

They also used a way of temporary hair removal called sugaring. A sticky paste (bees wax was sometimes used) will be applied to your skin, a strip of cloth was pressed onto the wax and yanked off - the same as waxing today. Wealthy women of the Roman Empire would remove their body hair with pumice stones, razors, tweezing and pastes. There was also another technique used called threading which is recently seeing a resurgence in popularity. Thin string or yarn would be placed through the fingers of both of your hands, and quickly stroked over the area. This repetitive process captured the hair and effectively tweezed, ripped or pulled the unwanted hair out. Through the Elizabethan times the practice of hair removal, (not of leg, armpit or pubic hair), of their eyebrows and the hair from their foreheads as a way to supply the appearance of an extended brow and forehead was fashionable. It really is startling to note the obvious influence 'fashion' has played in hair removal from the very beginning.

Waxing, sugaring, depilatory creams, bleaching, shaving, sugaring, plucking, threading and even battery-powered tweezers multiple-plucking systems, are all temporary methods that many people try today. In fact new hair removal devices appear to appear like buses - every 20 minutes roughly! However, technology has moved on and with it, it would appear that there are several restricted and doubtful ways of hair removal. Have a peek here -ray and photodynamic methods come in a restricted category as the former has been banned in some countries just like the USA and the latter are only in experimental stages. Electric tweezers, transdermal electrolysis, and microwaves are some of the doubtful methods for the reason that there is no established data on their effectiveness.

Electrolysis is still the only proven permanent method of hair removal and many women and indeed a lot of men, have benefited from this tried and trusted treatment. It is the case that electrologists are privileged to witness a dramatic transformation within their clients, from a shy, introverted personality at the beginning of a course of treatments, to a confident and happy individual once treatment is underway and results become apparent.

Whatever your opinion of hair, 'removing it' in our Western society is really a multi million pound industry. This type of huge income generating machine though will have more than its fair share of misconceptions, misunderstandings, myths and legends none of which relate much to the hard reality truth. The huge profit led hair removal industry has its fair share of charlatans and scams all attracted by the huge profit led opportunities.

Hair Removal methods are both permanent and temporary. The English dictionary definition of 'permanent' states: perpetual, everlasting. With this in mind there is only one system available today that can totally prove 'permanent' hair removal primarily because of its longevity, client testimony and satisfaction which is electrolysis. Invented in 1875 electrolysis offers permanent removal of hair for all hair types and colours and all skin types and colours. It is still utilised in hospitals by surgeons and ophthalmologists for trichaisis and other distortions of the eyelashes as well supporting the hospital laser treatment departments. Additionally it is considered an important tool in the task of veterinary surgeons for animals (primarily horses and dogs) for the permanent removal of distorted and in-growing eyelashes. It provides cosmetic relief for the buyer with mild hirsute problems to the patient with seriously hirsute problems and for the transgender patient who may necessitate many hours of treatment.

Apparently there's been confusing messages from the regulatory bodies on definitions of what what 'permanent', 'removal' or 'reduction' in the hair removal industry actually mean. Agreement was reached that when the hairs which have been removed do not grow back for a period of one year after the last treatment, permanent reduction could be claimed. Electrolysis, invented in 1875 remains to this day, the main one method legally permitted to claim 'permanent removal'.

The newer technologies such as for example LASER (Light Amplification Stimulated Emission of Radiation) and IPL (Intense Pulse Light) were initially launched as competitors of electrolysis and initially marketed as THE answer for all permanent hair removal. This, it really is now realised, is at best, somewhat nave and at worst, certainly misleading. The reality is that was wishful thinking and nowadays 'claims' are far more realistic. The simple truth is that whilst they will have their successes they also have their limitations - they cannot treat all hair colours and types and all skin colours successfully and they now accept their limitations and embrace electrolysis and electrologists as their back up.

Laser and IPL are allowed by the FDA to claim permanent 'reduction' however, not permanent 'removal' of hair. The truth is that this newer technology is brilliant for large areas and for dark hair. For grey or white hair it just simply doesn't work. Laser and IPL target the melanin in the hair and when the hair is grey or white there is absolutely no melanin remaining in the hair for this to target. Furthermore, for unknown reason(s) not absolutely all of the hair reacts to treatment and results change from 85% - 95% success. The remaining 5% - 15% hair will undoubtedly be stripped of its melanin (thus appearing white) but nonetheless stubbornly continues to grow. This then leaves the only real option of 'permanent hair removal' down to additional electrolysis treatment to complete the work. Laser and IPL are now recognised to become a hair 'management' system and clients are advised that regrowth may occur.

Photoepilator light energy was launched in 1969 and was developed from research into laser treatment. Photoepilators work with a burst of filtered light aimed at one hair at the same time. Following the focus of the light, the hair is tweezed. Like any laser and light instrument, the light used in the device is targeted contrary to the blood and melanin pigments in the hair and heats them up. To enable this technique, fibre-optic probes were inserted into the hair follicle through which the light was flashed. There is absolutely no clinical data published so far to support any permanency claims and there is absolutely no established data on its effectiveness.

The tweezer method using its unsubstantiated claim of 'permanent hair removal' was first patented in 1959. This system works by passing an electric current through the tweezers, which holds the hair on the surface of your skin by grasping them for a few minutes. Electricity enters through the hair to its root and claims to permanently damage it. The scientific community has reservations as the claim of electricity destroying the main of the hair does not have any scientific backup.

Transcutaneous and Transdermal offers 'permanent Hair Removal' but no clinical data has been published up to now to establish the claim that permanent hair removal can be done using these procedures. In 1985 when the usage of AC electric tweezers was stopped, the manufacturers made some modifications in the apparatus. Adhesive patches rather than cotton swabs were introduced and a name become transcutaneous hair removal. It uses the thought of direct current (DC) for transdermal delivery of drugs (iontophoresis) minus the usage of a needle. A DC electric energy is passed through a conductive gel at first glance of the skin via an adhesive patch positioned on the skin. The hair root is claimed to be damaged permanently by the electric energy that travels down to the hair follicle.

To date no clinical data can be acquired and the laws of physics usually do not support the claims made by the manufacturers. Hair does not conduct electricity but skin does. As electricity passes through the medium of poor resistance, it'll spread along the surface of your skin rather than passing through the hair. Therefore, much like the tweezer method, the argument that it'll reach the main of the hair to destroy it has no scientific backup.

Ultrasound hair removal claims that ultrasound waves are channelled precisely down the hair shaft and along the way they transform to thermal energy that super heats the hair growth areas and inhibits regrowth. It is known that the waves are bound to the hair shaft and don't dissipate in to the skin prevents any unwanted effects.





Ultrasound hair removal offers 'total hair removal' and claims to be the 'next generation of longterm hair removal devices'. It states in its marketing material that it's 'The hair removal solution' and that 'no additional hair appears in exactly the same follicle proving that is a long-term treatment'. The FDA has not given the results up to now regarding an application to advertise in April 2010 of the latest device.

Microwave Permanent Hair Removal is among the more unusual ways of permanent hair and both its safety and effectiveness have not been proven scientifically. Microwave devices work in a similar manner to those found in microwave ovens. Microwaves are radio waves with a brief frequency range. One of many characteristics of microwaves is its nature of being absorbed by water, fats and sugar. Once absorbed, these waves cause the molecules in the absorbed item to vibrate, resulting in the generation of heat. Therefore the skin is heated and theoretically the thermal energy causes the destruction of the hair-growing cells. However the indiscriminate heating nature of microwaves is its biggest drawback and is the reason for its limited use

Some oral medications are located to work on retarding hair regrowth. Spironolactone, Finasteride, Flutamide, and Cyproterone acetate are a number of the medicine normally used for stopping hair growth. The main disadvantage in this is the side effects these medicines have on our body. Hence, it is always advisable to utilize them in consultation with a Doctor or Dermatologist. Vaniqa is a prescription only topical cream, that is FDA approved. It claims to help in unwanted growth of undesired facial hair with its active component, eflornithine hydrochloride, which helps in reducing undesired facial hair growth. It prevents hair growth by producing an enzyme that inhibits cell reproduction along with other cell functions. Reports show that there is some improvement shown but only whilst the drug is being taken.

So to summarise hair removal and hair reduction, can be an emotive subject in fact it is easy to be seduced by new generation devices, sexy images and clever technical jargon relayed by 'white coats'. Every individual is different and we have our own personal requirements, Temporary or permanent, perhaps a combination of both? Research and pick the method(s) ideal for you, but if you'd like permanent hair removal guaranteed. The only path proven to deliver is electrolysis.