Hair Removal Method That Is Best For You

Hair Removal Method That Is Best For You

 

Hair Removal

Before discussing hair removal, it is essential that you have basic knowledge why some people have excessive or abnormal hair growth. The medical term for excessive hair growth is called hirsutism. Growth of unwanted hair or excess hair is most often caused by hormonal changes, genetic, or ethnic factors.

Hirsutism usually appears after puberty and often results from diseases that cause increased levels of the male hormone called testosterone. There are several medical conditions that are associated with excessive hair. Diseases that cause higher-than-normal testosterone levels include: Cushing syndrome, obesity, polycystic ovaries and ovarian tumors. Your doctor may order blood or urine tests to find out the cause of your hirsutism if he suspects that you may have some underlying medical disease.

Whatever the cause, the appropriate choice for hair removal will depend upon several factors: how much hair is present, the anatomical site of the unwanted hair, and how much you can afford. Hair removal can be accomplished by several different methods: (1) shaving (2) tweezing (3) waxing (4) depilatory creams (5) electrolysis and (6) laser treatment.

Shaving is an effective and an inexpensive way of removing unwanted hair. Shaving cuts off the hair at the surface of the skin and provides short term hair removal. You should use warm water, soap, and clean razors to shave with.

With tweezing, hairs are removed one by one. This method is suitable for small areas such as the eyebrows. Tweezing removes hairs from their roots and lasts between a week and a month depending how fast your hair grows.

Waxing provides hair removal that lasts between a week and a month depending on how quickly your hair grows. Waxing can performed in a spa, salon or in your own home using commercial waxing kits. There are two methods of waxing: hot waxing and cold waxing. Both methods remove unwanted hair by pulling the hair root out of its follicle.

With hot waxing, the wax is heated and applied to the hair in strips while the wax is still moist. A strip of cloth is pressed onto the wax, then quickly pulled away. Cold waxing is similar to hot waxing, but is less effective. People who have very sensitive skin may develop small pimples and blisters with hot waxing. Applying a soothing lotion to the waxed area after treatment minimizes the reaction.

Depilatory creams are frequently used for hair removal. Many women use depilatory preparations to remove unwanted hair because they do not want rough skin on their legs or face from shaving. Depilatory creams chemically dissolve the hairs above the skin level and partly down into the roots. They work best when applied after a warm bath or shower, when the pores are open and the hairs are softer. The results using these chemical creams are not as long lasting as shaving, tweezing and waxing. Depilatories are not a permanent solution and must be reapplied whenever new hair growth becomes apparent.

The chemicals contained in the formula can cause severe irritation to the skin. Before using a depilatory preparation for hair removal, you should always perform a test on a very small area of your skin to determine your sensitivity before applying the cream to a larger skin area. Dermatologists recommend that you use a mild topical steroid cream like Cortaid Steroid Cream prior to using the depilatory cream. The steroid cream can help prevent skin irritation.

Most states require practitioners that perform electrolysis to be licensed. Electrolysis provides permanent hair removal. The procedure involves inserting a tiny needle attached to an electric source into the follicle of each hair to destroy the hair root. Usually, it takes several treatment sessions for permanent hair removal.

A word of caution - Disposable needles should always be used with electrolysis. To be on the safe side, you should bring your own needles to your practitioner so that there is no chance of you being treated with needles used by someone else. An infection from a dirty needle can devastate your health. If you are treated by an electrolysis practitioner and irritation and pimples break out, you should find another practitioner immediately.

Electrolysis was once the only treatment available to provide permanent hair removal. Nowadays, lasers are being used instead of electrolysis to remove unwanted hair. The newest laser procedures deliver short, powerful pulses of light to treat the hair bearing skin. In addition to the laser, a specialized hand piece incorporates a chiller device that is held against the skin during laser exposure. Cool water flows from the hand piece to reduce discomfort and protect the skin from injury during the delivery of the laser light.

Lasers are far superior at removing unwanted hair than any of the other methods. Clinical research has consistently shown that the laser light is selectively absorbed by the dark melanin pigment found in the hair shaft and the reproductive cells of the hair follicle. The absorption of the laser light by pigmented structures heats the hair follicle cells and sufficiently damages them to prevent hair regrowth.

The lighter your hair, the more treatments you will need because there is less melanin for the laser light to act on. Laser hair removal has minimal side effects and is painless. Hair removal lasers work by selectively targeting the melanin pigment, which destroys the hair follicle and prevents future regrowth. Current lasers work poorly on white hair and blond hair.

Laser hair removal has minimal side effects which is redness or irritation that goes away in a short time. Lasers effectively remove unwanted hair from small sites, like the area above the lip and large areas, like over the thigh and legs.

Several sessions of laser treatment may be required because the laser only destroys hairs that are in their active growth phase at the time of the treatment. Because hairs in a given area of the body are likely to have entered their growth cycles at different times of treatment, retreatment is necessary to destroy all of the hair follicles.

Depending on the area to be treated and the amount of hair on the area, it could take at least 3 to 6 treatments at six week intervals. Maintenance treatment is also required to keep the hair under control.

There are several advantages for using lasers for hair removal. A major advantage of lasers for hair removal is that any area of the body can be treated such as the bikini area, chest, back, shoulders, etc. Another advantage of lasers for removing unwanted hair is that it targets hundreds of follicles at a time thereby making the procedure much faster than electrolysis.

Laser treatment for hair removal is relatively expensive. Thus, if you are considering laser treatment for hair removal, you should consult with at least three different dermatologists to compare their services and fees before you sign up with a particular dermatologist.

You Might Be Intrested In: Utah Laser Hair Removal