Does Permanent Hair Removal Exist?
There are so many different ways to remove hair, it can be hard to actually figure out which one offers the best combination of convenience, results, and affordability. After all, everyone will have slightly different needs, and expectations can sometimes be difficult to meet when it comes to making sure that unwanted hair goes away, and stays gone.
First, let us state definitively that, YES, permanent hair removal is indeed possible. However, it’s important to understand exactly how this process works, how long it may take, and how the different methods for performing permanent hair removal differ from each other. Each approach to permanent hair removal has varying pros and cons to consider, including cost, comfort, and convenience.
Before we get to the comparison of hair removal techniques, it’s a good idea to review the process by which hair actually grows in order to better understand the science behind each method.
How does hair grow?
Hair growth begins below the surface of the skin inside little pockets called ‘follicles’. The first part of the hair to form is known as the root, and from the root the visible portion of the hair grows up and out of the follicle. The root is fed by the blood circulating around the follicles, which also helps produce a natural oil from a gland in the follicle that is secreted on to the hair as it grows.
The number of follicles and the rate of hair growth will be different for each individual. Each person is born with the total number of follicles that they will ever have, but the rate of growth and the properties of the hair can change over time due to a variety of factors, including:
- Hormonal changes, such as puberty, pregnancy or menopause
- Gender, with hair on males growing slightly faster on average than females
- Aging, as some hair follicles cease to grow new hairs
- Nutrition, as poor diets & vitamin deficiencies can result in hair loss
- Medication, has an impact on how hair grows and how it behaves
Regardless of these factors, however, chances are pretty high that there’s some hair on your body that you don’t want. Of course, there are plenty of common options for removing the hair, such as waxing, shaving, depilatory creams, and epilators, but these are all just temporary solutions. With all of these approaches, the hair will inevitably grow back, again and again, because they don’t actually treat the follicles to prevent regrowth from occurring.
To make sure the hair stays gone, we need to use a different approach to hair removal that involves affecting the follicles themselves. That’s the real trick to permanent hair removal.
So, what does it take to permanently stop hair from growing back?
As you might suspect, the key to permanent hair removal is finding a way to stop the follicles from generating new hairs. To accomplish this, it requires energy to be transferred to the cells inside the follicles that are responsible for hair growth in order to inhibit their functions.
This energy can come in several different forms, including light and electricity, and must be carefully measured. If there is too little energy delivered to the cells in the follicle, then hair growth won’t be properly halted. If too much energy is delivered, there is the potential for injury or damage to the surrounding skin. This is why it’s important to ensure that you use only FDA-approved hair removal devices, or visit clinics that are trusted and are staffed with properly trained technicians.
So, what are these methods of hair removal that actually deliver permanent results, and how do they work?
Permanent Hair Removal Methods
Electrolysis
Electrolysis is a method of achieving permanent hair removal that has been used for many years. To perform an electrolysis treatment, a very fine metal probe is inserted directly in to the hair follicle. This probe carries a small electric current down in to the follicle, transferring this energy to the cells surrounding the root of the hair. This energy begins to inhibit the ability for these cells to function, preventing hair regrowth from occurring.
Because electrolysis must be done one follicle at a time, and often requires multiple treatments, it can be quite time consuming before the desired results are achieved. In addition, electrolysis is heavily regulated in North America due to the delicate nature of the treatment and the complexity of performing it properly and safely. This unfortunately means that electrolysis treatments, although effective, are very costly and can only be done in a clinic by a certified professional.
Laser Hair Removal
With laser hair removal, the process of delivering energy down in to the follicles is done using beams of focused laser light. This light is absorbed by the hair strand and is converted in to heat energy, which then affects the cells surrounding the root and inhibiting their growth. Laser therapy is very popular, and while it is most commonly performed in clinics like electrolysis, there are also small laser hair removal devices that can be purchased and used at home.
While laser hair removal offers many benefits, such as faster treatments than electrolysis and the ability to perform the treatments yourself with an at-home device, the method is not without it’s disadvantages. Laser technology uses a very narrow spectrum of light, which means that the ability for the energy to be absorbed and turned in to heat is dependent on the tone of the hair. In general, darker hair is much easier to treat with laser technology than lighter hair.
In addition, because of the narrow spectrum of light used by laser hair removal devices, it is not suitable for people with darker skin tones. This is due to the light being absorbed by the surrounding skin instead of the hair strand, which can result in irritation or injury, and does not achieve the necessary effects on the cells within the follicle to inhibit hair regrowth.
Intense Pulsed Light Hair Removal
Intense pulsed light (IPL) hair removal functions in a very similar way to laser hair removal, with highly focused beams of light transferring energy to the hair where it is converted to heat in the follicle and affecting the surrounding hair growth cells. However, IPL devices use a much broader spectrum of light than lasers do. This means they are much more effective on a wider range of skin and hair tone combinations.
Also, similar to laser hair removal, IPL technology is used in clinical environments by trained technicians, as well as being available in compact at-home devices. At-home IPL devices are extremely popular due to their exceptional flexibility in treating a broad range of skin and hair types, as well as their superior affordability when compared to laser alternatives.
Silk’n Infinity Hair Removal Device
Silk’n developed the Infinity to combine intense pulsed light hair removal technology with the added benefits of galvanic energy to achieve an incredibly effective and easy-to-use at-home hair removal device.
As you pass the Infinity over your skin during treatments, the tip generates galvanic energy which stimulates the skin and opens up the pores. This allows the light pulsed to penetrate deeper and easier down in to the follicles for even faster results.
Furthermore, the Silk’n Infinity uses an ultra-long-life emitter bulb that is capable of delivering over 400,000 light pulses. That’s more than enough for a lifetime of comfortable at-home IPL treatments!
Here’s a quick video that shows you just how easy it is to use the Silk’n Infinity:
Embed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIy6YbZHiU
What should I expect from permanent hair removal?
When you first get started with permanent hair removal, having realistic expectations is definitely a good idea. Achieving permanent results takes time, and you won’t cross the finish line after just one treatment. Your body has tens of thousands of hair follicles, and each treatment will affect them differently based on how much hair is growing out of each follicle.
For example, a follicle that has just recently lost a hair and is in the process of generating a new one will not have enough hair in it to effectively transfer the IPL heat energy to the root. However, as you use the device regularly these hairs will continue to be treated with each successive session. Over time, this repetition will ensure that each and every hair you want removed will be properly treated for best results.
In general, a typical full hair growth cycle can take between 18 and 24 months. Most IPL treatment plans follow a two-week interval for the first 4 treatments, with treatments 5-7 occurring about 4 weeks apart.
For successive treatments, you will simply perform them whenever you feel they are needed to ensure you catch any hairs that may have not been fully treated during the initial hair growth cycle, which happens with all light based hair removal methods, including both at home and professional devices.
Get the Smooth, Hair-Free Skin You Want, and Keep It That Way!
As you can see, there are several options for achieving the permanent hair removal that you’re looking for. However, there’s only one solution that offers a perfect combination of effectiveness, convenience, ease-of-use, and affordability, and that’s the Silk’n Infinity! With the Infinity, you’ll get fantastic hair removal results that last, so you can say ‘goodbye’ to razors, wax strips, and costly clinic appointments, permanently.
