Shaving
When one thinks of hair removal, the image of shaving suggests itself. Shaving is a quick and cheap method of hair removal. However, it only cuts the hair on the surface of the skin and does not remove it permanently. Shortly after, the hair continues to grow and stubble appears on the shaved area.
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Tweezers
Tweezers are used to pull the hair out of the hair shaft, but the hair follicle remains in the skin. At first, the result seems more thorough than shaving, but epilation with the help of tweezers is also much more painful. However, even this method is not permanent. Soon the hair grows back again.
Wax, sugar solution, honey
If you use wax or other pastes for depilation, you can get rid of hair from larger areas of the body faster. Whether honey, sugar solution, resins or cold and hot wax – the procedure is painful and quickly leads to permanent skin irritation. Sometimes the hair follicles can also become inflamed.
If you are unlucky, the hair will grow in during hair removal using tweezers or wax and other sticky solutions, leading to further problems.
Electroepilation / needle epilation
Electroepilation was developed in the second half of the 19th century in the USA and was first used in 1875. The principle of electroepilation is based on the use of electric current for hair removal. In this process, an ultra-thin needle made of steel is inserted into the hair follicle as a probe. The thickness of the needle depends on the body region and the corresponding hair thickness. One probe is placed per hair follicle. A light electric current is now applied to this needle and conducted directly into the hair follicle. The electrical energy destroys the hair follicle and damages the surrounding hair growth cells. As a result, no more hair can grow from this follicle.
Three different methods have emerged for electroepilation: thermolysis, electrolysis and the blend method.
In thermolysis, the hair follicle is ultimately destroyed by heat generated in the needle; the electrolysis method is based on the principle of the correct dosage of electrical energy, and the blend method combines both methods. It depends on the particular situation, the patient’s individual sensitivity to pain and the area of the body to be treated, which electroepilation method is favored by the treating physician.
The main disadvantages of electroepilation are mainly the slowness of the procedure, because each hair follicle must be individually equipped with a needle, and the uncertainty of the method, because when inserting the probe often the hair follicle can not be hit exactly.
However, the advantage of electroepilation is its independence from the patient’s hair color. Electroepilation can permanently remove hair of any color (black, brown, blond, gray, white), while IPL technology (see below) works well especially with dark hair.
Enzymatic epilation
In enzymatic hair removal, a special complex of active ingredients acts on the previously shaved and epilated skin regions. The mix of enzymes used in the Epiladerm complex acts on the hair follicles, attacking the hair growth cells and permanently stopping hair growth with repeated use. During application, the hair should be in the anagen growth phase to optimize the effect. Therefore, several treatments with the enzymatic active complex are also necessary to achieve permanent hair removal.
Photoepilation and laser technology
The term photoepilation covers all techniques of hair removal using light energy. This includes both laser technologies and
IPL technologies
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Light-based hair removal has significant advantages over other techniques. It is gentler on the skin, less painful and ultimately more permanent than the other epilation techniques.
The functional basis of most photoepilation procedures is selective photothermolysis – the conversion of light energy into heat energy when the technology is used selectively or locally.
