Hair is this kind of emotive subject and with human nature being human nature, what we would like we can’t have and what we’ve we don’t want! Frizzy hair and we would like straight, straight hair and we would like curly, brunette and we would like blonde, blonde and we would like red. Likewise upper lip hair on a lady, so valued as an indicator of exquisite beauty using parts of the entire world, is vilified by our Western society.
Unwanted hair is really a common problem affecting the majority of women to varying degrees throughout their lives and prompting the usage of various temporary methods of hair reduction or hair management systems. It causes great distress, and it is often followed by feelings of poor self esteem, an expression of isolation and low self worth.
Since the instances when bearded women in Victorian travelling fairs were displayed for entertainment and ridicule, Western society has nurtured a stigma about excess hair. Many women are pressured into tremendous lengths to eliminate any trace of hair from any and every part of their body as they think it to be unattractive and unappealing. However it is not just women which can be now affected… increasingly the male gender is at the mercy of pressure from the ‘fashion’ and celebrity world and unwanted hair can be just like vilified by the male population nowadays since the female.
Different Methods of Hair Removal
Superfluous hair growth can be caused by many factors, such as, hormone imbalance, (during puberty, pregnancy and menopause), genetics and ethnicity, hereditary, medication or topical stimulation e.g. waxing or tweezing. Therefore, electrolysis – the only permanent approach to hair removal, is cure that’s in great demand by female and transsexual clients and recently, because of society’s attitudes, how many male clients is increasing.
To generally meet this need there as always been many hair removal measures some which return centuries in history. Hair removal has been around since caveman times but interestingly the parts of your body we are 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 is evidence that cavemen did this but in addition the ancient Egyptians and it had been undertaken, we imagine, for protection, as scraping off the beard and hair on the top would take away the main advantage of an adversary having anything to grab onto as well as having less mites!
In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Middle Eastern countries, removing body hair was important. In reality these women removed most of their body hair, except for 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 questionnaire of razors made of flint or bronze since the razor was not invented till the 1760’s by French barber, Jean Jacques Perret.
They also used a technique of temporary hair removal called sugaring. A sticky paste (bees wax was sometimes used) would be applied to the skin, a strip of cloth was pressed onto the wax and yanked off – the equivalent of waxing today. Wealthy women of the Roman Empire would remove their body hair with pumice stones, razors, tweezing and pastes. There is also another technique used called threading which will be recently seeing a resurgence in popularity. Thin string or yarn would be placed through the fingers of both of your hands, and quickly stroked on the area. This repetitive process captured the hair and effectively tweezed, ripped or pulled the unwanted hair out. During the Elizabethan times the practice of hair removal, (not of leg, armpit or pubic hair), of their eyebrows and the hair from their foreheads in order to give the look of a longer brow and forehead was fashionable. It is startling to see the most 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 typical temporary methods that lots of people try today. In reality new hair removal devices seem to seem like buses – every 20 minutes or so! However, technology has managed to move on and with it, it seems that there are some restricted and doubtful methods of hair removal. X-ray and photodynamic methods have been in a restricted category as the former has been banned in certain countries such as the USA and the latter are only in experimental stages. Electric tweezers, transdermal electrolysis, and microwaves are some of the doubtful methods in that there surely is no established data on their effectiveness.
Electrolysis remains the only proven permanent approach to hair removal and many women and indeed many men, have benefited out of this tried and trusted treatment. It is the case that electrologists are privileged to witness a dramatic transformation within their clients, from a timid, introverted personality in the beginning of a program of treatments, to a confident and happy individual once treatment is underway and results become apparent.
Whatever your opinion of hair, ‘removing it’ inside our Western society is a multi million pound industry. This type of huge money making machine though could have a lot more than its great amount of misconceptions, misunderstandings, myths and legends none which relate much to the hard reality truth. The huge profit led hair removal industry has its great amount 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’s only 1 system available on the market today that may totally prove ‘permanent’ hair removal primarily because longevity, client testimony and satisfaction and that’s electrolysis. Invented in 1875 electrolysis offers permanent removal of hair for several hair types and colours and all skin types and colours. It remains utilised in hospitals by surgeons and ophthalmologists for trichaisis and other distortions of the eyelashes as well supporting a medical facility laser hair removal departments. It can also be 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 gives cosmetic relief for the customer with mild hirsute problems to the individual with seriously hirsute problems and for the transgender patient who may require much time of treatment.
Apparently there’s been confusing messages coming from the regulatory bodies on definitions of what the language ‘permanent’, ‘removal’ or ‘reduction’ in the hair removal industry actually mean. Agreement was reached when the hairs which were removed don’t grow back for an amount of 12 months after the final treatment, permanent reduction can be claimed. Electrolysis, invented in 1875 remains even today, the main one method legally allowed to claim ‘permanent removal’ ;.
The newer technologies such as 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 several permanent hair removal. This, it is now realised, is at best, somewhat nave and at worst, certainly misleading. The stark reality is that this was wishful thinking and nowadays ‘claims’ are more realistic. The simple truth is that whilst they’ve their successes they likewise 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 simple truth is this newer technology is brilliant for big 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 if the hair is grey or white there’s 激光脫毛價錢 no melanin remaining in the hair because of it to target. In addition to this, for unknown reason(s) not every one of the hair reacts to treatment and results vary from 85% – 95% success. The rest of the 5% – 15% hair is likely to be stripped of its melanin (thus appearing white) but nevertheless stubbornly continues to grow. This then leaves the only option of ‘permanent hair removal’ right down to additional electrolysis treatment to accomplish the job. Laser and IPL are actually recognised to be always 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 hair removal. Photoepilators work with a burst of filtered light directed at one hair at a time. After the focus of the light, the hair is tweezed. Like any laser and light instrument, the light utilized in the device is targeted from the blood and melanin pigments in the hair and heats them up. Allow this technique, fibre-optic probes were inserted to the hair follicle through which the light was flashed. There is no clinical data published to date to guide any permanency claims and there’s no established data on its effectiveness.
The tweezer method with its unsubstantiated claim of ‘permanent hair removal’ was first patented in 1959. This system functions passing an household current through the tweezers, which holds the hair at first glance of the skin by grasping them for all minutes. Electricity enters through the hair to its root and claims to permanently damage it. The scientific community has reservations since the claim of electricity destroying the root of the hair doesn’t have scientific backup.
Transcutaneous and Transdermal offers ‘permanent Hair Removal’ but no clinical data has been published currently to establish the declare that permanent hair removal is achievable using these methods. 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 change into transcutaneous hair removal. It uses the idea of direct current (DC) for transdermal delivery of drugs (iontophoresis) without the usage of a needle. A DC household current is passed by way of a conductive gel at first glance of the skin via an adhesive patch placed on the skin. The hair root is claimed to be damaged permanently by the household current that travels right down to the hair follicle.
Currently no clinical data can be obtained and the laws of physics don’t 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 will spread along the surface of the skin as opposed to passing through the hair. Therefore, as with the tweezer method, the argument so it will reach the root of the hair to destroy it doesn’t have scientific backup.
Ultrasound hair removal claims that ultrasound waves are channelled precisely down the hair shaft and in the act they transform to thermal energy that super heats the hair growth areas and inhibits regrowth. It is stated that the waves are bound to the hair shaft and don’t dissipate into the skin prevents any side effects.
Ultrasound hair removal offers ‘total hair removal’ and claims to function as ‘next generation of longterm hair removal devices’ ;.It states in its marketing material it is ‘The hair removal solution’ and that ‘no additional hair appears in exactly the same follicle proving that this can be a long-term treatment’ ;.The FDA hasn’t given the outcome currently regarding a credit card applicatoin to market in April 2010 of the newest device.