There are many methods of removing unwanted hair that claim to be permanent but the truth is that none of them offer the permanency offered by electrolysis. Laser hair removal is very effective, but the FDA only certifies laser hair removal as a permanent hair reduction – you will need occasional touchups.
Electrolysis hair removal is the only method that has faced every scientific test and proven itself to be the only solution for permanent hair removal.
Electrolysis, as the name should make it obvious, relies on electricity to affect hair removal. The process begins with a very fine sterile needle-like probe that is thin enough to penetrate the follicle of a single hair. This needle is called the probe. Since the probe is thinner than the hair itself there is no sensation of pain and neither is there any bleeding when the needle penetrate the follicle. The probe never comes into contact with any blood cells or nerves in the skin so it is not possible to feel anything beyond a slight tickle that is the overall result of electric current running just beneath the skin.
Once the probe enters the follicle the probe is inserted down to the Dermal papilla then a small electric current is discharged through it to the root of the hair.
The electrologist, the technician who performs this task, will give the hair a slight pull with tweezers to see if it comes away readily. If the hair still clings to the skin then more sessions are required until the release is easy.
The best result is when the hair is pulled out and you do not even feel it. However, the hair should never be tweezed out because then the treatment will fail.
Though electrolysis is a very effective form of hair removal you must not expect hair to go away in one session only. Thicker hairs will always grow back though with more and more sessions they will continue to get thinner until they eventually stop growing. So the thickness of your hair has a direct impact on the effectiveness of electrolysis. Once a hair does not grow back after three months since the last session then it will never grow back.
During the electrolysis session the current cannot travel away from the probe because hair does not conduct electricity. You will need at least a few electrolysis sessions before you will see the results that you really want. The multiple sessions are also required because the probe may not always successfully penetrate the hair follicle. With every treatment the follicle gets straighter until the probe can enter it and once that happens and electric current is applies the root of the hair is “sealed off” and nothing will grow there again.
As you can probably guess, electrolysis is a very tedious process and isn’t practical for all but the smallest areas. In conjunction with laser hair removal electrolysis is useful for areas around the eye, like under the brow, where it isn’t safe to use laser and for getting the occasional stray pesky gray chin hair that the laser may not get.
If you’re in the metro Denver Boulder area stop by and see us at Bella Pelle Laser for a free consultation to see how we can address your hair removal needs. We are conveniently located in Broomfield, so a short drive from Boulder, Westminster, Brighton, and the rest of the metro area.