Hair Removal: The Ongoing War

There’s no arguing with nature, but we humans sure like to. Nature gives us dark hair; we dye that sucker any color we want. Nature makes our eyes naturally brown; well, we put on some contact lenses and now we look like David Bowie. And one of our longest running and most arduous of battles with nature has been against unwanted body hair. Many people consider body hair to be natural beauty, which it is. But just as many, if not more, find hair that grown in the worst places on the body to be inconvenient and bothersome. It’s an act of cruel irony, that some of the healthiest and strongest hairs grow in the most unattractive places, whereas many people suffer from baldness and weak hair roots on their heads. But while the battle against baldness is still continuing, the battle against unwanted hair is slowly being won. As a result, there are many different hair removal procedures, but a few of these are particularly effective.

Laser Hair Removal

Origin: One of the most popular forms of hair removal is laser hair removal. It’s a procedure that was constantly being researched for over 20 years, before finally making its commercial debut in the mid 90s. Today, it is considered to be very safe, accessible, and most importantly, it removes those pesky hairs faster than a military barber shaving the heads of fresh recruits.

As stated previously, the procedure is quite safe. While a pen sized laser being pressured onto your skin to burn your hair and kill their roots sounds a bit intimidating, there’s hardly anything to worry about. The tools used have been developed and are continuously being modernized, medical specialists are constantly researching more efficient uses of the method, and there have been very rare cases of any kind of injury. Very rarely will some patients find a few small bruises and very light scarring, but again, the odds of that happening are very low. As low as your hair will be after the procedure.

How It Works: Speaking of the procedure; while the tool that is being used is quite complicated, the procedure itself is quite simple. Basically, a specialist will move the pen around your body, as the laser sends pulses of light onto your skin, burning the hairs, but most importantly, killing their roots, so they do not grow again. The technician will adjust the device based on your hair thickness, the color of your hair and also based on the qualities of the skin.

After the first session you will not notice much of a difference, but once you’ve gone to the second or third, you will notice your hair getting much thinner. You must understand that hair grows in cycles, and not all the hairs on your body are the same. So, in order to break the cycle of hair growth, as well as to address the numerous variety of hair you have on your body, you must go for at least 6-8 sessions in order to fully clean the hairs. But do consider that the hair must be given 6 weeks to grow between each session. However, once all the sessions have been completed, once the battle against those unwanted hairs has been fought, you will find naked skin, with little to no.

Advantages and Results

The benefits of using laser hair removal are also very simple. Since specialists will be using a laser to shine very focused light onto you skin, you can imagine that the removal will be very precise. Also, compared to other forms of permanent hair removal, laser hair removal is a very fast and painless procedure. Certain parts of the body can be finished in a matter of a few minutes. While hearing the name “laser hair removal” sounds very expensive, do understand that most sessions cost around $200 dollars, and considering the 4-6 week intervals you must take between each session, you can see that it is not expensive at all.

Electrolysis

Origin: There’s another form of hair removal that sounds just as complicated as laser hair removal. Electrolysis is done by dermatologists, also known as doctors of skin and nails. Electrolysis and laser hair removal are often compared to each other, as they are both considered to be very efficient ways of permanent hair removal.

While today electrolysis is commercially used all over the world, it didn’t start that way. The procedure was actually kept secret among models and actresses. And you won’t believe when it was discovered; all the way back in 1875. I know, you’re thinking “That’s absolutely nuts,” but it’s true. It was discovered by Dr. Charles Michel, an ophthalmologist (a doctor who specializes in dealing with diseases in eyeballs). The guy was attempting to treat a patient with a very painful ingrown eyelash (ouch). He then found a way to treat his patients with such problems, and soon, the procedure was implemented in other fields of life, including beauty and hygiene.

How It Works: So, remember how laser hair removal sounded painful, but actually wasn’t? Well electrolysis is almost as painless as that. Almost. The procedure involves a tiny needle being inserted into hair follicle, which is where the hair and its root is. A tiny current of radio waves then fries the root and kills it. The hair is then removed with tweezers. There are actually two different ways of electrolysis: galvanic and thermolytic. Galvanic involves removing the hair with a chemical, whereas thermolytic with heat.

Much like with laser hair removal, there are no permanent side-effects to electrolysis. The skin may be a little reddish after the procedure, but besides such skin irritations, pain and swelling are very rare. While some may feel a little pain during the procedure, the doctor can easily prescribe a light anesthetic to numb what little pain there is. Sessions last around 15 minutes, and depending on your skin and hair, several sessions may be needed weekly, thus many more sessions are required for electrolysis, than laser hair removal.

Advantages and Results

While unlike the laser hair surgery, electrolysis is a little painful, the advantage of electrolysis, is that it can be done on a broader range of areas of the body than laser hair removal. Because of possible health risks, laser hair removal is not done on certain parts of the body, such as the head, the throat, and women’s chests. Electrolysis, on the other hand, can be freely used on any part of the body, even around the eyes.

Both methods are considered to be 2 of the most effective ways to permanently removing your hair, but electrolysis has proven to be slightly more effective. After several sessions, the hair is completely gone, and will never grow back. And best of all, electrolysis requires absolutely no extra maintenance after the sessions have finished. The costs of electrolysis are mostly based on the length of the sessions. A 15 minute session generally costs around $30, so this is a good price scale to go by.

Verdict

So, consider the procedures the advantages and the costs below, and go join the war against unwanted body hair. Do consider that there are still many other forms of hair removal, but none are as efficient, painless or safe as laser hair removal and electrolysis. While the two procedures are quite different, they have still proven to be very effective in the fight against unwanted hair. So pick the one you seem to agree with the most and go join the fight.