Cosmetically speaking, we like hair in certain places on our bodies and not others. Sadly, nature does not always adapt to our beauty ideals. Fortunately there are a number of ways of removing unwanted hair, either for a short while or on a more permanent basis.
In temporary hair removal, the visible hair is removed from the skin, either just from the surface or down to the bottom of the hair-producing pore. However, the cellular machinery that produces a hair is left intact and will eventually produce another hair. As you may have guessed, permanent hair removal not only removes the hair down to the shaft, but also destroys the pore’s hair-making ability. This means that no more hair will be produced from the treated pore.
Temporary hair removal
Temporary hair removal is what most of us are familiar with and what we do in the home. Simple shaving is the most common example: a razor is pulled across the face, cutting the hairs. Because each hair shaft is cut just at the surface of the skin, it does not take too long for the hair to become visible again once it grows. Depilatories, or hair removal creams, are also temporary. They dissolve the hair while leaving the pore intact. The same is true for plucking, sugaring, and waxing except that the entire hair is removed from the pore in these processes. When the entire hair is removed, it takes longer for a new hair to grow up and out of the pore. While some think that bleaching is a hair removal technique, it is not. Bleaching simply makes that hair appear lighter and less noticeable against the background of fair skin.
One interesting prescription topical cream that results in temporary hair removal is called eflornithine (Vaniqa). This cream does not cause hair to fall out immediately (another hair removal method must be used to achieve this), but eflornithine does slow down the rate at which hair grows. Therefore if you use some sort of temporary hair removal system, such as waxing, and then use eflornithine, you can increase the amount of time between hair removal treatments.
Permanent hair removal
Permanent hair removal focuses on destroying the hair-producing capability of the pore. In order to achieve this, the pore must be disrupted permanently, usually through heating. The two main ways to achieve this are through the use of lasers or electrolysis.
Electrolysis, the older and better known method, comes in two flavors: galvanic and thermolytic. The main difference between the two is that the galvanic approach uses electricity to cause a chemical reaction in the skin that is deadly to the hair follicle. In the thermolytic approach, electricity essentially heats and burns the hair follicle so that it cannot produce any more hair. In modern practice, both methods are likely to be used in the same procedure.
There are many laser hair removal options, at least one for each type of medical laser. These include ruby, alexandrite, diode, and Nd:YAG lasers, among others. The laser light energy heats the follicle and kills it. Despite the various types, there are few, real differences between lasers. What determines success in laser hair removal depends more on the patient than on the type of laser. The people that enjoy the greatest benefit of laser hair removal are fair-skinned people that want to remove dark hair. Blonde, red, or gray hairs are harder to remove with laser treatment. Likewise, people with darker complexions achieve less favorable results.
Neither laser hair removal nor electrolysis is without pain, though the area can be pretreated to help reduce the pain’s intensity. Creams and spray anesthetics may be available to reduce the pain, if the hair removal option is performed under the supervision of a licensed physician.