While men have more hair than women, both sexes seek removal of unwanted body hair for a variety of cultural, psychological and medical reasons. Unwanted hair on the face, neck, arms or bikini area can be a source of embarrassment to many women who have genetically inherited the problem or suffer from a hormonal imbalance like PCOS. Popular culture in Western society promotes a clean-shaven and hairless look for men in both magazines and television commercials. Men with an abundance of back hair often feel shame and are hesitant to go shirtless.
Short-Term Hair Removal Methods
In today’s society, shaving, tweezing, depilatory creams and waxing are the most common methods for hair removal. Shaving results in stubble which grows back within days. Tweezing is a slow and painful process of pulling hairs out one by one. Depilatories chemically dissolve the hair above the skin’s surface and are effective for a week’s time. Waxing involves applying a thin layer of wax on the skin and using cloth or paper strips to remove hair. While waxing lasts the longest (typically two to three weeks), the hair grows back.
Permanent Hair Reduction
Unlike the methods referenced above, laser hair removal offers patients permanent hair reduction by reducing the total number of body hairs in a specific area. Most patients require a series of treatments since hair growth occurs in cycles. Hair must be treated over a period of time to ensure the laser targets the hair in the follicle. The best candidates for laser hair removal are patients with pigment in their hair as well as relatively light skin. No matter what is marketed, white and gray hairs do not respond well to laser hair removal as they don’t absorb enough of the laser energy to disable the follicle. To get more details, visit our Laser Hair Removal page or read our Laser Hair FAQs.
