Hair removal describes any method of removing hair, especially from the human body. Whether you realize it or not, unwanted hair could be sabotaging your popularity, devastating your attractiveness to the opposite sex, and destroying any chance you might have for a normal and happy life. Hair removal might be considered a cosmetic issue, but managing or removing unwanted hair can go beyond being a simple cosmetic problem. As you browse the aisles of your local drugstore, you may feel a little dizzy. Next to the dozens of products devoted to making the hair on your head thicker or shinier, you’ll see dozens more promising to get rid of unwanted hair. So which hair removal methods work best? And do you need any of them? Strangely enough, hair removal is anything but a new approach, but only relatively recently has entered mainstream.

Types of Hair

Before removing hair, it helps to know about the different types of hair on our bodies. All hair is made of keratin, a hard protein that's also found in your fingernails and toenails. Hair growth begins beneath the surface of your skin at a hair root inside a hair follicle, a small tube in the skin.

Vellus hairs are short hairs, only a centimeter or two long, and contain little or no pigment. The follicles that produce them do not have oil glands (often called sebaceous glands), and never produce any other kind of hairs.

Terminal hairs are the long hairs that grow on the head and in many people on the body, arms and legs too. They are produced by follicles with sebaceous glands. In people who have inherited a tendency to baldness the hairs in these follicles gradually become thinner and shorter until they look like vellums hairs.

Hair removal methods 

They range from a few dollars a month to several thousand dollars per treatment. Typically four, five or more of these costly treatments will be required. Only you can decide whether that is going to be the best use of your money. Some of them are shaving, depilatories, waxing, electrolysis and laser hair removal

Shaving: Shaving is the removal of body hair (depilation), using a sharp blade known as a razor or with any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down to the level of the skin. Shaving is most commonly used by men to remove their facial hair and women to remove their leg and underarm hair. A man is called clean-shaven if he has had his beard totally removed.

Depilatories: Depilatories are chemicals which dissolve hair at the skin's surface.  Depilatories are great for anyone who gets rashes from shaving, or who hates the coarse, blunt-edged way that shaved hair grows back.  They are good for use on the legs, bikini line, face, and underarms, and they perform best when hair is at a reasonable length. 

Waxing: Waxing is a method of semi-permanent hair removal which removes the hair from the root.  It is accomplished by spreading a wax combination thinly over the skin.  Waxing is an effective method of removing unwanted hair in both large and small areas.  It is the most useful method to individuals with sensitive skin.  Waxing is a popular makeover procedure that can be done for pretty much any part of your body. 

Electrolysis: Electrolysis is a very slow method of hair removal that may also be prolonged by having to do repeat insertions into the hair follicle.  Electrolysis is the only method proven to completely stop hair growth.  It is a method of semi-permanent hair removal which involves inserting a small electrified needle into the hair follicle to destroy growth tissue. 

Laser hair removal: We will focus on this in the next page of the web site.

Traditional hair removal techniques, such as shaving, plucking and waxing, provide only temporary results. Electrolysis, although it can result in lessening hair growth, often requires years of ongoing and frequently painful treatment. Allergic reactions and ingrown hairs are common side effects of all these hair removal methods. Laser hair removal is the best technique these days. 

Laser hair removal is done to rid your body of any unwanted hair in a variety of areas that you may be experiencing problems with. 

Laser hair removal has proven to be a very popular non surgical cosmetic procedure; see current American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) statistics. It is a non-invasive, convenient way to permanently reduce unwanted facial or body hair. 

The laser hair removal procedure is done with the use of lasers which use light wavelengths of different levels; some of these lasers use a device for cooling whereas others may not. The laser energy passes through the patient's skin, being absorbed by the pigment in the hair follicle. A percentage of the follicles are instantaneously and permanently disabled with each treatment. In most cases, no anesthesia is necessary. The process takes from several minutes to several hours, depending on the area of the body involved. 

Laser hair removal is very safe for the skin. There are many advances in laser hair removal technology for all skin colors. 

Laser hair removal is good for both facial hair removal and for body hair removal.  Specific body sites include the upper lip, underarms, legs, back, shoulders, chin, cheeks, and other facial areas for women, etc. Laser hair removal can be used almost anywhere that's covered with unwanted hair.   Perhaps the most commonly treated areas are facial hair in women. Laser Hair Removal is effective on almost any area of the body where smoother, younger, hair-free skin is desired. 

Laser hair removal performed by a licensed practitioner with an approved laser is safe and has a low risk of lasting side effects. States regulate who can use therapeutic laser devices, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves lasers for specific uses. You might want to make sure your treatment provider is licensed and that they use a FDA-approved device. 

The popularity of laser hair removal has increasingly grown, prompting many laser manufacturers to conduct research and seek FDA clearance for their lasers for this indication. The market is growing so quickly that FDA cannot maintain an up-to-date list of all laser manufacturers whose devices have been cleared for hair removal, as this list continues to change. 

Laser Hair Removal uses the light of the laser to scan the treatment area and within minutes, all of the growing hairs in the laser's beam are treated.