Though some facial and body hair removal procedures can be done at home - with, for example, creams that melt away surface hair - most are done on an outpatient basis in your dermatologist's office or in an outpatient surgical facility. Having some of your body hair removed can take anywhere from five minutes - to get rid of the hair above your upper lip - to 45 minutes - to remove the hair on your back and shoulders, a procedure most often performed on men. Whether your hair removal procedure takes a few minutes or the better part of an hour, you can plan to return to work or to your normal daily routine the next day.
Some people experience stinging following the procedure. To alleviate this, your dermatologist will suggest you use an over-the-counter cortisone cream that will sooth the area on your skin from which you had hair removed.
It is very important to protect the treated areas from the sun.
There are four methods of facial and body hair removal. Of them, only electrolysis and laser hair removal result in the long-term reduction of hair. The other techniques, which get rid of surface hair but keep the hair follicles intact, yield temporary results.
Laser Hair Removal
A couple of years ago, lasers came into vogue as a hair-removal technique. Laser light destroys hair at its source: the follicle. This ensures that your hair will not grow back. Lasers work by shooting a concentrated light beam onto an area of skin; when the beam hits the skin, it is converted to heat. Rather than being absorbed by your skin, the beam passes through it and is absorbed by the hair follicles.
This process is analogous to what happens inside a car that's been sitting in the sun. As the sun shines into the car, sunlight converts into heat. This heat is absorbed by the seats, the wheel and the dashboard, making them hot to the touch and the interior of the car warm. The darker the car, the hotter it gets.
The same goes for humans. Laser hair removal works best on people with light skin and dark hair. There needs to be a contrast between the hair and skin, with the hair being darker. Most dermatologists counsel their fair-skinned and fair-haired patients to consider methods other than laser hair removal to get rid of their unwanted facial and body hair.
Up to 90% of people need at least two - and sometimes up to six - sessions for laser treatment to obtain the desired results. The sessions are scheduled two to three months apart. The reason a laser cannot remove all unwanted hair in one session is that your hair grows in cycles. At any given time, you will have tiny, as well has big, thick follicles. Lasers can destroy only the mature follicles.
Depilation
Depilation is the removal of hair at the skin line. Examples include shaving and using chemical depilatories, which are chemicals that dissolve the hair so that it can be wiped or washed away. Creams like Nair (6 ounces for about $6) and Neet are examples of widely available depilatories.
Epilation
Epilation is the process of getting rid of unwanted hairs, which are removed from below the surface of the skin. The amount of time this method lasts depends on the individual, but if epilation is performed repeatedly on the same area and over a prolonged period of time, less hair will grow back in its place.
Epilation, which includes waxing and tweezing, usually is done by you, at home. Waxing is the most effective method of removing unwanted hair in both large and small areas. It only causes a minimum of discomfort. There are two types of waxing techniques: cold and, more commonly used, warm waxing. Cold wax can be purchased at your local drug store, and it usually comes in tubes for about $8 (directions included). Warm waxing not only is a more effective method of hair removal, but it also is offered in many salons. The mustache, chin, eyebrows, legs and bikini line all can be successfully waxed.
(Electrolysis also is a form of epilation, but it is a different technique. Details on electrolysis are below.)
For a warm wax treatment, the wax is heated in a warmer until it is just melted. Then it is applied to your skin with a small, wooden spatula. Next, a strip of muslin or cotton cloth is placed over the wax, which then is allowed to cool before it is quickly peeled off. It is stripped off in the opposite direction of hair growth.
Electrolysis
A licensed electrologist performs electrolysis. The process can be a painful and tedious since only one hair can be treated at a time. It works by inserting a needle through which an electrical current runs. A commonly used electrolysis technique is called thermolysis.
Thermolysis works by inserting a thin needle into the hair follicle parallel to the hair shaft. A small amount of a high-frequency electrical current then is applied to the hair. This process generates heat that destroys the hair. After the current is applied, your hair is removed with forceps. All instruments used in thermolysis are sterilized before each patient's procedure to ensure no risk of acquiring communicable diseases, such as AIDS or hepatitis.
Up to 25% of your hair will grow back but often the hairs that grow back are smaller and less noticeable than your original hairs.
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