Easy Permanent Hair Removal

By Erin Carson

While a number of methods exist to help temporarily remove unwanted hair, including shaving, waxing and depilatory creams, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) says lasers offer the only permanent method of hair reduction and electrolysis remains the only treatment approved for permanent hair removal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Both methods offer simple, effective, relatively painless hair reduction and removal. Depending upon your coloring and the areas of hair you want removed, one might be preferable to the other.

Laser Hair Removal

1. During laser hair removal sessions, the doctor passes a light beam through the skin that targets the dark pigment, known as melanin, in your hair. When the light beam comes into contact with the hair follicle the heat destroys it. The AAD describes laser beams as feeling like “tiny pinpricks.” Since lasers are a relatively new technology and there is little data that proves they definitively remove hair permanently they can only be marketed as offering “permanent hair reduction.”

If you decide to pursue laser hair removal, the Mayo Clinic recommends choosing a doctor who is board-certified in dermatology, which means she specializes in the treatment and management of hair and skin problems.

Laser hair removal works best on individuals with brown or black hair and fair skin, and it may not work as efficiently, or at all, on individuals with blond, light brown or red hair. You can expect the procedure to take as little as five minutes for small areas such as the upper lip and several hours for larger areas such as the back. Side effects can include redness and swelling and in rare cases blistering or changes in the color or texture of your skin.

According to the Mayo Clinic, you can expect a 10 to 25 percent reduction in hair growth after each treatment, with most people needing an average of three treatments to achieve permanent hair reduction. You will notice that your hair grows back finer and lighter after each subsequent treatment, and some people find that their hair doesn’t grow back at all after several treatments. Your doctor will ask you to return for additional treatments at four to eight week intervals.

Electrolysis

2. Until the development of laser therapies in the 1990s, electrolysis offered the only method of permanent hair removal. Since electrolysis has been used for almost 100 years and there is a variety of data on its efficacy for permanent hair removal, the FDA allows it to be marketed in this manner. For individuals with dark skin or light hair, electrolysis might still be the best option of hair removal.

In electrolysis, specially trained individuals known as electrologists use a needle to apply a small amount of energy to the hair follicle, which destroys it. According to the Cleveland Clinic, people undergoing modern electrolysis often feel only a “slight tingling.”

If you decide to pursue electrolysis, make sure you choose an electrologist that is board certified in your state. While home kits do exist, most individuals will not achieve easy, professional results and run the risk of doing permanent damage to skin. The British Medical Association suggests avoiding home kits entirely, and the FDA urges people to limit home treatment to the lower arms and legs and avoid the face and more sensitive areas.

Side effects of professional electrolysis might include reddening and, in rare cases, scarring. You can expect to spend 15 minutes to an hour for each session, and the number of sessions varies according to the body parts from which you want hair eliminated. It takes about one minute per hair follicle, so larger areas might take a considerable amount of time. You will generally return once every week or two for treatments until the hair is reduced or eliminated. Laser Hair Removal