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! Wild 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 women, so valued as an indicator of exquisite beauty using parts of the entire world, is vilified by our Western society.
Unwanted hair is just 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’s often combined with feelings of poor self-confidence, an expression of isolation and low self worth.
Since the times 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 get rid of any trace of hair from any and all of the body as they think it to be unattractive and unappealing. However it’s not only women which can be now affected… increasingly the male gender is subject to pressure from the ‘fashion’ and celebrity world and unwanted hair can be just like vilified by the male population nowadays because the female.
Different Methods of Hair Removal
Superfluous hair growth can be caused by many factors, such as for instance, 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 method of hair removal, is cure that is in great demand by female and transsexual clients and now, because of society’s attitudes, the amount of male clients is increasing.
To generally meet this need there as been many hair removal measures some which return centuries in history. Hair removal has existed since caveman times but interestingly the parts of the body we’re removing hair from have differed on the ages. Removing hair from the pinnacle and face of men was originally not for vanity purposes however for survival. There is evidence that cavemen did this but also the ancient Egyptians and it absolutely was undertaken, we imagine, for protection, as scraping off the beard and hair on the pinnacle would remove the main advantage of an adversary having anything to seize onto along with having less mites!
In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Middle Eastern countries, removing body hair was important. Actually these women removed most of the body hair, with the exception of 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 have 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 from flint or bronze because the razor wasn’t invented till the 1760’s by French barber, Jean Jacques Perret.
Additionally they used a way of temporary hair removal called sugaring. A sticky paste (bees wax was sometimes used) could be put on your skin, a strip of cloth was pressed onto the wax and yanked off – very same of 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 can be recently seeing a resurgence in popularity. Thin string or yarn could 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. Through the Elizabethan times the practice of hair removal, (not of leg, armpit or pubic hair), of the eyebrows and the hair from their foreheads in order to give the looks of an extended brow and forehead was fashionable. It’s startling to notice 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. Actually new hair removal devices seem to appear like buses – every 20 minutes approximately! However, technology has moved on and with it, it appears there are some restricted and doubtful methods of hair removal. X-ray and photodynamic methods come in a restricted category because the former has been banned in a few countries such as the USA and the latter are only in experimental stages. Electric tweezers, transdermal electrolysis, and microwaves are a few of the doubtful methods in that there is no established data on their effectiveness.
Electrolysis remains the only proven permanent method of hair removal and many women and indeed many men, have benefited from this tried and trusted treatment. It’s usually the case that electrologists are privileged to witness a dramatic transformation in their clients, from a timid, introverted personality in the beginning of a class 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 a variable million pound industry. This type of huge money making machine though could have a lot more than its fair share of misconceptions, misunderstandings, myths and legends none 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 generally permanent and temporary. The English dictionary definition of ‘permanent’ states: perpetual, everlasting. With this particular in mind there’s just one system in the marketplace today that will totally prove ‘permanent’ hair removal primarily because longevity, client testimony and satisfaction and that is electrolysis. Invented in 1875 electrolysis offers permanent removal of hair for several hair types and colours and all skin types and colours. It continues to be utilised in hospitals by surgeons and ophthalmologists for trichaisis and other distortions of the eyelashes as well supporting a healthcare facility laser hair removal departments. It can also be considered an essential tool in the job of veterinary surgeons for animals (primarily horses and dogs) for the permanent removal of distorted and in-growing eyelashes. It offers cosmetic relief for the buyer with mild hirsute problems to the in-patient with seriously hirsute problems and for the transgender patient who may require many hours of treatment.
Apparently there has been confusing messages from the regulatory bodies on definitions of what the words ‘permanent’, ‘removal’ or ‘reduction’ in the hair removal industry actually mean. Agreement was reached that if the hairs which were removed don’t grow back for a period of one year after the final treatment, permanent reduction can be claimed. Electrolysis, invented in 1875 remains even today, the main one method legally permitted to claim ‘permanent removal’ ;.
The newer technologies such as for instance 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’s now realised, is at best, somewhat nave and at worst, certainly misleading. The reality is that this was wishful thinking and nowadays ‘claims’ tend to be more realistic. The stark reality is that whilst they’ve 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 stark reality is that 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 no melanin remaining in the hair for this to target. As well as this, for unknown reason(s) not every one of the hair reacts to treatment and results vary 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 option of ‘permanent hair removal’ right down to additional electrolysis treatment to perform the job. 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 hair removal. Photoepilators make use of a burst of filtered light aimed at one hair at a 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 against the blood and melanin pigments in the hair and heats them up. To enable this process, fibre-optic probes were inserted in to the hair follicle through that the light was flashed. There is no clinical data published up to now to aid any permanency claims and there’s no established data on its effectiveness.
The tweezer method using its unsubstantiated claim of ‘permanent hair removal’ was patented in 1959. This method functions by passing an electric current through the tweezers, which holds the hair on top of your skin by grasping them for a number of minutes. Electricity enters through the hair to its root and claims to permanently damage it. The scientific community has reservations because the claim of electricity destroying the root of the hair has no scientific backup.
Transcutaneous and Transdermal offers ‘permanent Hair Removal’ but no clinical data has been published to date to establish the claim 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 in place of cotton swabs were introduced and a title change into transcutaneous hair removal. It uses the thought of direct current (DC) for transdermal delivery of drugs (iontophoresis) without the usage of a needle. A DC electric current is passed by way of a 脫毛推薦 conductive gel on top of your skin via an adhesive patch added to the skin. The hair root is claimed to be damaged permanently by the electric current that travels right down to the hair follicle.
Up to now no clinical data can be obtained and the laws of physics don’t support the claims created by the manufacturers. Hair doesn’t conduct electricity but skin does. As electricity passes through the medium of poor resistance, it will spread along the surface of your skin rather than passing through the hair. Therefore, much like the tweezer method, the argument so it will reach the root 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 in the process they transform to thermal energy that super heats the hair growth areas and inhibits regrowth. It’s stated that the waves are bound to the hair shaft and don’t dissipate into your skin prevents any side effects.
Ultrasound hair removal offers ‘total hair removal’ and claims to function as ‘next generation of long term hair removal devices’ ;.It states in its marketing material that it’s ‘The hair removal solution’ and that ‘no additional hair appears in the exact same follicle proving that this can be a long-term treatment’ ;.The FDA has not given the outcome to date regarding an application to promote in April 2010 of the most recent device.