Hair Growth 101
Each hair grows out of a follicle, which is like a tiny pocket in the skin. Each follicle has a life cycle, which involves the birth, life, and death of the hair, followed by a period of dormancy. Then the whole cycle repeats, over and over, throughout a person’s entire lifetime. Cycles can last anywhere from several weeks to months to years, depending on genetics and location on the body.
At any given moment, all your follicles are at various stages of the life cycle, completely independent of one another. If you think of this in terms of real estate, it would mean that some of the follicles are occupied, others are posting eviction notices, while the rest are vacant and waiting for their next “tenant” hair.
On most parts of the body, most of the follicles are dormant – this means that for every one hair you see above the skin, there are many more of them under the skin, waiting to show up over time.
Because these cycles are staggered across all the follicles, there is a constant turnover: old hairs die and fall out, and new hairs are born and make their way to the surface.
For example, when you wash your hair, a certain amount of it falls out and collects in the shower drain, but you don’t go bald – this is because new hairs are constantly emerging from follicles that are near the ones who just lost their hairs during the shower. This same process is happening everywhere else you have hair.
Hair Removal 101
There are two ways of dealing with unwanted hair: temporary and permanent.
Temporary methods of hair removal (such as shaving, plucking, and waxing) all have one thing in common: they are fairly quick and give immediate results – but as you already know, the results are also temporary.
This is because unwanted hair is actually the “symptom” of something else: an unwanted follicle. You can easily destroy an individual hair by simply plucking it out – but that does nothing to address the source of the problem. Unless the follicle itself is destroyed, it will just continue to create new hairs, and you will have to deal with them again and again.
Electrolysis
There are many different methods of hair removal, but electrolysis is the only permanent solution.
During the treatment, a very slender probe is gently inserted into the follicle. Because the follicle is a natural inward extension of the skin’s surface, the probe does not pierce the skin. A small current is applied, creating thermal and/or chemical changes that destroy the lower portion of follicle. The hair is then removed with tweezers, and we go on to the next follicle – this is one reason why the process is so time-consuming, because each follicle must be treated individually.
After the treatment, it is normal for the skin to be slightly reddened and irritated; this should clear up within a fairly short period of time, but can sometimes last longer, depending on skin sensitivity and the amount of hair removed. Be gentle when washing – don’t scrub – and take the time to apply a soothing lotion. Sensitive individuals may want to keep from touching the treated area, to avoid irritating the skin
When you start seeing new hairs coming in shortly after your treatment, it’s important to remember that they are not from the same follicles that were just treated – even if it looks like the hairs are in exactly the same spots, keep in mind that follicles are very tiny and very close together.
Because the cycles are staggered, new growth is continually coming in – this is why we need to do a series of treatments over a period of time (usually about 12 -18 months) in order to eliminate all the follicles.
