Saturday, March 13, 2010
Unwanted hair is no fun, and it's not as easy to remove as you would like it to be. Yet, there are solutions to your unwanted hair. Removal can be one of two types. First of all, it can be simply temporary, such as shaving the hair away. Or, it can be made to be permanent.
Why Remove Hair?
Why should you bother with having costly procedures done to remove hair? There are many reasons. For example, many athletes have hair removed so that they can shave seconds off of their times. Or, many fashion conscious people want eyebrow, leg, arm and private areas hair free to stay with the current style. Some men enjoy having their hair styled into a specific fashion statement such as a moustache or goatee. Sometimes, individuals need to have it removed for medical reasons. Still, others just want it gone.
Why Permanent?
For many individuals the best way to get hair gone is through investing in permanent solutions. You'll likely need to see a licensed Esthetician for this procedure and it will cost you. But, if you get it done, and it is done significantly, you will not need to keep worrying about the hair.
What Permanent Options Are There?
There are many. Here are some of the many that you can choose from.
Laser treatments: these are by far becoming some of the most popular. The process, which is FDA approved, actually uses a small laser to destroy the hair follicles. It takes seconds to do. But, many individuals can not have this procedure as you will need the right colored skin/hair for it. The procedure is expensive, up to $3,000 per procedure in which you may need more than one treatment. Experience is helpful in having a good experience the first time.
Electrolysis: This is another option for permanency. In this procedure, a probe is placed into each follicle (yes, it takes a long time for large areas!) and will then use an electric charge to destroy the follicle. It is painful to an extent, and you will likely need more than one treatment. Again, it can cost up to $3,000 for this procedure.
Photo epilation or pulsed laser treatments: These are much like the laser treatments in that they use pulsed light to work at destroying the follicles and it can be very effective for under arm hair as well as that of the bikini area. There are few limitations here, and it will cost you slightly less at about $2,000 per treatment.
Temporary?
There are many temporary methods for hair removal. You can use processes like shaving and waxing to help remove hair. You can use creams as well as plucking. Temporary or not, these are less expensive and often less painful methods of hair removal.
Which solution is for you? Base your decision on your budget and your preferences. Talk to your local dermatologist for recommendations. Whatever you do, get rid of the hair
Hair removal has been practiced for a long time due to various reasons and there are new and better methods that have been developed to achieve ideal hair removal results. Hair removal is the extraction of hair from the skin and, it is also called depilation. The most popular is shaving and is undertaken by men and women everyday. Men are known to shave their chins while women remove hair in their legs and arms. There are very many reasons why removal of hair is practiced by various people in the society and the major one is for aesthetics or to enable the people look better. It has been a popular culture to look more presentable when you do not have too much facial hair for men and, if they do have it, it is usually different and kempt. This is mostly the case in the urban setting where people have white color jobs. In other cultures, due to their environment and nature of work, shaving may not be common. There are women who have male hormones in them and this causes the growth of beard. This is one of the most common reason why women engage in hair removal.
In ancient Egypt, people used to remove hair to discourage lice and fleas from infesting their bodies. This is because hair is a breeding ground for such parasites and therefore, they did it for hygiene reasons. The Egyptians also depilated for religious reasons. They believed that shaving hair all over would present them more pure before the gods. It is also undertaken for medical reasons and this is evident when surgery of a particular part of the body is being performed. However, it is not very necessary to shave because hair has now been found not to affect the healing process in any significant way. Cancer medication like chemotherapy will cause the hair to fall and the patients shave their heads totally when they experience hair loss. Some patients in anticipation of the treatment, remove the hair in advance.
Women in the ancient times, engaged in hair removal of the pubic area to please the culture that found such women more attractive than others with the hair. Many other cultures engaged in this and going through history books will reveal so much. Many cultures in Africa shaved the heads of widows as a sign of cleansing of bad spirits. When young men prepared for circumcision, removal of hair was paramount to mark the beginning of a new chapter. When transsexuals are preparing for gender reassignment, men must shave their pubic hair to allow the creation of a neovagina. This is a modern culture which is increasingly gaining so much popularity especially in the western world.
Removal of hair is done in the military. This is because of their hectic schedule and it helps to maintain hygiene, it is also a sign of solidarity and it keeps them disciplined and together. There are very many ways to remove hair and you can either do it traditionally or engage in more modern ways. Modern ways include the use of laser which is a revolutionary way to do it because you can have hair removed permanently. There are several parts of the body that hair is usually removed and they include abdomen, back, eyebrows, face, head legs, eyelashes, pubic hair and others. Methods of removing hair come with advantages and disadvantages and the internet has many resources on this subject. Whichever method you use, keep safety first.
"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field." (Isaiah 40:6)
Like everything in life, hair removal is not permanent. How could it possibly be, when your body is constantly renewing itself? However, different options for hair removal offer different periods of hairlessness and different degrees of permanent hair reduction.
Shaving
Shaving offers the shortest period of hairlessness because it does not remove the hair from the follicle, meaning that hair continues to grow. Essentially, shaving offers no period of hairlessness and no permanent hair reduction.
Plucking
Plucking removes a hair from the follicle, which immediately stimulates that follicle to produce a new hair. Although it takes some time for the hairs to emerge from the skin, the period of hairlessness achieved by plucking is also relatively short, and, because plucking does not target the follicle, it achieves no permanent reduction in hair in the treated region.
Depilatory Creams
Depilatories work by chemically breaking down the hairs. The creams can remove all hair on the surface, along with some level of penetration below the skin, giving as much as 3-5 days of hairlessness.
Intense Pulsed Light and Laser Hair Removal
Both Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and laser hair removal work by a process known as selective photothermolysis, in which the heat energy of the laser is absorbed by the melanin in the hair follicle, leading to the destruction of the follicle. However, because the treatment only targets follicles in the anagen (growth) stage of the hair cycle, several treatments are necessary to kill the majority of follicles. However, once completed, both IPL and laser hair removal give you long periods of hairlessness and up to a 90 % permanent reduction of hair in treated areas.
Electrolysis
Electrolysis is the process of delivering electrical energy to the hair follicle, killing it. Two modes of delivering the energy are the thermolysis method, which delivers the energy via radio waves, and direct current electrode, which delivers the energy directly. According to published studies, patients can see 6 to 36 months with no hair growth, and it is the only FDA recognized treatment for permanent hair removal. The main drawback for electrolysis is the length of treatments. For a man to receive electrolysis on his back can take as long as 225 hours, and cost nearly $20,000