Laser Hair Removal Versus Electrolysis
The big problem with electrolysis cornelius laser hair removal is that it is a slow tedious treatment that can be painful and take years of treatment even in small areas. Laser treatment was 60 times faster, and considered to be less painful by patients. This is according to a February 2000 article in Journal Watch-Dermatology, that has an abstract available online. They also said that hair counts after six months decreased 74% with the laser treatment and only 35% with the electrolysis treatment. So electrolysis may be a more permanent treatment, and may even be cheaper, but it take a real lot of time to accomplish. Electrolysis is useful for limited areas of very thick hair. One possibility is to use the two methods in combination, using the electrolysis for more stubborn hair, and the laser for broader general areas of hair removal. There are quite complicated studies available on different lasers and their applications in skin hair removal. The original cornelius laser hair removal used was the alexandrite laser, which works best on light skinned people with dark hair. Since many people have darker body hair than their head hair, this is a broader category than one might think. The Diode laser was approved for hair removal in 1997. A solid state 800 nm pulsed laser was studied for its efficacy in hair removal. The laser retarded hair growth, and also a result of hair growth stabilization was seen. Also the hairs that did regrow were lighter, finer, and of a lighter color than the ones that had been removed. Another laser used is called the ND Yag Laser.
One study compared the Nd-Yag laser, with the alexandrite, ruby, diode, and Intense pulse light (IPL). The two more advanced IPL lasers tested were quickly and more effective in removing hair immediately, but looking at the result with these lasers and the other ones after six months, the results were actually very similar. The bottom line is that if you have the money, for most people laser hair removal is the quicker and more comfortable choice. Electrolysis is good too, but just takes too darn long. The problem with other more temporary methods of hair removal such as using tweezers, and waxing is, horrors of horrors, they actually help to stimulate hair growth. Lasers can remove or thin hair, except white or grey hair. However, the darker hairs are usually the ones that disturb people the most. |