Alternative treatment for hair removal

Hi there, after thinking what I’m going to discuss about in this post I got an idea to discuss more about the other treatment for removing hair. As many people wanted to remove their hair and some of them are scared about laser or probably wanted a simple way to remove their hair. So, in regards to that I want to list some of the alternative treatment that you may or may not know and add some pros and cons.

The alternative treatment for hair removal:

·         Shaving

It is the most common way to remove hair, but without completely removing the hair follicle. It removes hair with a sharp razor with a down motion to remove the unwanted hair. Some study said that shaving may increase the risk of having bacterial infection due to the small unseen tiny cuts in the epidermis. The fresh cut increases the chance of bacterial survival in the tissue and can cause micro trauma, genital warts, or infections if it is under non-hygienic situation.

·         Waxing

Waxing is also popular in the beauty industry and loved by most people as it is easy, quick, and affordable. It is a semi-permanent hair removal that removes the hair to the root and the hair will grow back for about 6 weeks depending on the growth cycle. Not just easy and cheap, it can be used on almost all parts of the body depending on the type of wax used. There are two kinds of wax that are usually used, stripless wax or the hot wax is used on sensitive area such as eyebrow, bikini area, or underarms and the other one is called strip wax, the normal wax using a cloth to remove the wax away along with the hair, usually used for waxing a larger area such as leg and arms. Despite it is popular and easy to do, some people can’t have it because it can be painful and it may trigger cold sores if it performed on the lip area.

There are some contraindications for waxing such as: blood thinning medication, recent sunburn, eczema, psoriasis, recent surgery, autoimmune disease, severe varicose leg veins, recent laser or electrotherapy treatment, very dry or sensitive skin, history of cold sores, and recent cosmetic peeling procedure. Therefore precaution may be needed before doing this treatment.

·         Epilator

It is an electrical device that works similar to waxing but doesn’t include the use of wax; it works by pulling several hairs with a spring but without removing the skin with the hair. It is easy to use and affordable, can be used alone at home but it is a painful method.

·         Sugaring

It is similar to waxing but instead of using wax this use honey instead and this method already exists for quite a long time in Egypt.

·         Hair removal cream

It is also a popular hair removal method that is very simple, cheap, and painless. The only thing that you will need is a cream that contains NaOH and CaOH. You can find it in the pharmacy or your local supermarket. It is chemical depilatory cream that can remove hair within minutes and just rinse it with running water and soap. There is no possible risk of secondary infection as using razor because no cuts are created during the process.

·         Plucking or tweezing

It is a simple way to remove hairs but it is a painful method. You can do it by yourself by using tweezer and pluck the unwanted hair, but it takes time to cover a large area. Usually this method used for tweezing eyebrows and or several hairs that left after a waxing procedure.

·         Bleaching hair

It is a process of colouring the hair to a white colour, it is not a hair removal as it is not removing the hair. It helps blends the hair and make it less noticeable by removing the pigment of the hair. It can’t be performed in sensitive skin.

·         Threading

It came from the word ‘Khite’ in Middle East that means ‘thread’ and it is a very popular practice from India used for removing and shaping eyebrows. The method is using a cotton thread that is held in the mouth of the therapist and the other end looped around the hair that want to be removed and then quickly removed by repeated threading movement.

·         Electrolysis

This one is a permanent hair removal that using a probe that inserted into the targeted hair follicle and then releasing heat to the follicle until it because localised damage and the hair is easily taken out from the follicle. It needs several treatments to be able to treat all the hair and also treat every hair growth cycle; therefore this treatment is quite expensive and not effective for a very large area. The probe use is 50 to 150 µm and made of metal or gold and it has 3 modes (galvanic, thermolysis and blend). It is recommended for treating red hair or grey hair as their pigment won’t be recognised by light from the laser or it recommended for a smaller area such as upper lip hair.

·         Medication

There are some medications that can be used for reducing hair, but these medications can only be used under doctor prescription. Anti-androgens such as Spironolactone, cyproterone acetate, flutamide, bicalutamide, and finasteride are usually used to reduce or slow hair growth but it won’t affects scalp hair. It is made of potassium sparing diuretic and it is specialised for people who suffer hypertrichosis or other hair condition.

The other medication is Vaniqa which is a prescription hair removal cream to slowing down hair growth without removing the hair and the hair growth will be back to normal upon its completion. It contains active ingredients such as eflornithine hydrochloride, inhibits the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase, preventing new hair cells from producing putrescine for stabilizing their DNA.

So, there are the lists of other way to reduce hair. Please give a comment of maybe ask a question if you have any and feel free to like and subscribe as I will be posting the next post soon during my holiday. Thanks for reading this guys, I hope this post can be useful for you. Cheers J

References:

Combination Therapy for Treating Unwanted Facial Hair. (2005). Dermatology Nursing, 17(6), 475-476.

Harris, K., Ferguson, J., & Hills, S. (2014). A comparative study of hair removal at an NHS hospital: luminette intense pulsed light versus electrolysis. Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 25(2), 169-173. doi:10.3109/09546634.2012.715239

Hill, S. (2002). Women First HealthCare acquires Vaniqa, plans relaunch. Dermatology Times, 23(9), 33.

Kaptanoglu, A., & Duruk, N. (2005). Depilatory cream vs. shaving: does it influence recurrences of genital warts?. Dermatology Nursing, 17(3), 202-203.

Karegoudar, J., Prabhakar, P., Vijayanath, V., Anitha, M., Surpur, R., & Patil, V. (2011). Shaving Versus Depilation Cream for Pre-operative Skin Preparation. Indian Journal of Surgery, 74(4), 294-297. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12262-011-0368-5

Lee, A., & Fischer, G. (2015). A case series of 20 women with hidradenitis suppurativa treated with spironolactone. Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 56(3), 192-196. doi:10.1111/ajd.12362

Verma, S. (2009). Eyebrow threading: a popular hair-removal procedure and its seldom-discussed complications. Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 34(3), 363-365. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2230.2008.02920.x