Electrolysis is hair removal using electric current. A thin needle-electrode is inserted under the skin into the hair follicle, then current is applied, and under the influence of high temperature the hair follicle is inevitably destroyed. Please note that in this case there is an immediate contact between instrument and skin and intradermal tissues.
Laser hair removal is hair removal with a directed beam. The pigment melanin found in the hair converts light energy into heat. Under the influence of high temperature, the hair follicle is destroyed. Only the nozzle of the device comes into surface contact and does not penetrate into the tissue.
You can often hear the comparison that electrolysis is more reliable, more effective and safer.
How the procedure works
Laser hair removal and electrolysis refer to procedures using innovative equipment designed to destroy hair on any part of the body. The devices can be used by cosmetologists who have undergone professional training.
The peculiarity of the laser device is the direction of the beam along the length of the hair at a level of 5 mm. Each hair contains a certain amount of melanin, which attracts the beam and heats it up to 80 degrees. As a result, the hair follicle is destroyed; this effect is typical for the diode and alexandrite apparatus. If you use neodymium technology, the beam penetrates deep into the tissue and seals the blood vessels, thereby stopping the nutrition of the hair. After some time, the bulb dies.
The difference between electrolysis and laser hair removal is the use of a different device that produces low-frequency electric current. With its help, the hair follicle is removed for a long time or forever. The essence of the method is the precise impact of a needle, which is inserted deeply, destroying the root system. This procedure requires the hands of an experienced craftsman.
Laser, electro and photoepilation. What's better? Test Drive. Part 1
How do different types of hair removal work and what do they promise? Is it really possible to get rid of hair quickly, forever and without pain? We ask an independent expert and check it for ourselves. Having decided six months ago to write a comprehensive post on the topic of hair removal, we were faced with so many questions that it seemed easier to tear out hair on all parts of our body, including our head, than to figure it out. Judging by the advertisements, there are a huge number of types of hair removal, and each of them is the best.
But each has its own fundamental differences.
Electrolysis promises to get rid of any type of hair - blond, gray, vellus - regardless of skin tone (for more details here and below, see the encyclopedia, where we have created several sections so that you do not drown in this text at the very beginning :).
Photoepilation promises the removal of hair that contains at least a little pigment on the skin of any color type.
Laser hair removal works on the same principle as photo hair removal, but is more targeted, so fewer sessions are required. The effect depends on the color of the patient's hair and skin, as well as the power he can tolerate. One of the types of laser hair removal is the alexandrite laser. Prescribed for patients with dark hair on light skin. Another (even newer:) variety of the same laser hair removal is a diode laser. Safe for use on dark skin. In rare cases, a neodymium laser is used (according to the patient's indications and in small areas). And finally, the popular Elos hair removal is essentially not a separate method, but a trademark of the Israeli company Syneron Medical. It is a combination of light (IPL or laser) energy and electromagnetic RF energy.
When, having mastered these basics, we turned to salons and clinics with the proposal “Let’s show the effectiveness of your photo-electro-video-schmideo-laser-smaser hair removal?” — new details have emerged. Doctors unanimously called electrolysis a barbaric method - it takes a long time, it’s painful and there are possible consequences in the form of swelling, hyperpigmentation, burns and scars. No one recommended photoepilation - why, if there is a laser? Neodymium, it turns out, is prescribed extremely rarely and only when indicated. For standard cases, it is considered less effective and painful (no one has undertaken to show its advantages in comparison with diode and alexandrite).
As a result, the diode and alexandrite laser and Elos became the leaders. And three beauty insiders with similar parameters (light skin, dark hair) - Lena K., Karina and Arina - went to courses on procedures using these devices. With a clear goal - to get rid of hair. And with a serious task: to compare pain, duration and effectiveness. Control zones: shins, armpits, bikini.
But at the same time they turned to an independent expert. We present his opinion - and our impressions of the first procedures.
Advice from expert, candidate of medical sciences, dermatocosmetologist and specialist in the field of laser aesthetics Alexey Mimov:
BI: So, after all, which method is better?
AM: An unbiased doctor who is familiar with different light systems will never say that photo hair removal is definitely and in all cases worse than laser hair removal, or that an alexandrite laser is better than a diode laser. They all work on the same principle of selective photothermolysis. It's like saying Mercedes is better than BMW or Audi. One is more agile, the other is more comfortable, the third is more prestigious, but in the end everyone will get to the store :) Do you make your choice based on what is your priority - comfort? prestige? maneuverability? Perhaps only electrolysis can be considered obsolete. All the confusion and confusion comes from the fact that different methods and devices are opposed to each other by managers who need to sell their device and advertise their clinic. If I am given the task of convincing you that Laser N is better than Laser X, I can certainly do it. Exaggerate the importance of some features and keep silent about the shortcomings. But this is done by unscrupulous equipment sellers. They write favorable comments on forums, signing themselves Olga Petrovna or Svetlana Borisovna.
BI: So most types of hair removal are equally effective?
AM: Provided they are in the hands of a well-trained physician with extensive experience, yes. The specialist knows what initial client data to pay attention to and will set the settings correctly so that the hair disappears in 4 to 8 procedures. The exact amount depends on a lot of nuances: the thickness of the skin on the treated surface, the density and depth of hair, the level of the patient’s pain threshold, hormonal levels, phototype, melanin concentration in the shaft, and so on. If a woman comes to remove hair above her upper lip and chin, a competent doctor will refer her for a consultation with an endocrinologist and will not torment her with twenty procedures. If there is a hormonal imbalance, they are powerless. In general, when deciding on hair removal, choose not a technique or a device, but a clinic and a doctor.
Any type of hair removal affects hair that is in the growth stage - anagen. At the same time, there are 10-25% of such hair on the body, so several hair removal sessions are required.
Lena K. tests the Lightsheer Duet diode laser in the Epilike network of clinics. Impressions after the first procedure.
Procedure time: shins (10 min.) + armpits (5 min.) + full bikini (15-20 min.)
Lena's opinion: Inspired by the expert's advice, I studied the pedigree of almost all Moscow clinics offering hair removal. I chose Epilike: this is the first clinic from the official distributor LightSheerDuet - which means the equipment is new, and the doctors are at least not yesterday’s graduates.
It is also critically important for me how painless the process is: once upon a time, my experience of photo-epilation ended exactly on the fourth flash)). Therefore, my doctor, Elena Vladimirovna Makarova, had to give me about ten oaths that there would be no pain now. For the tenth time, I pretended to believe it, caught my eye on the lamp on the ceiling and... felt nothing. Or rather, this: someone lightly grabbed my shin and for half a second leaned my iPhone, which had overheated in the sun, against it. Tolerable. And even funny. There were only two unpleasant moments in the entire procedure: when they treated the area near the ankle bone and the deep bikini. But still it was no more painful than sugaring (our girls Karina and Arina, with their high pain threshold, would probably scroll through Facebook and not even notice).
After three weeks, I noticed: the new, recently grown hairs became thinner, softer and about 15% sparser. We'll see what happens next.
Advice to those who, like me, are afraid of pain and will follow me :) - shave everything thoroughly before the procedure. In those places where the hairs accidentally ended up 1-2 mm. longer, it was “auuuch” and smelled ahem... burnt)
Advice from an expert, candidate of medical sciences, dermatocosmetologist and specialist in the field of laser aesthetics Alexey Mimov
BI: Why do reviews vary so much? Two people with approximately the same color and hair type undergo a course on the same device in different clinics, one has an excellent effect after the third procedure, the other has a C-minus after the tenth.
AM: All other things being equal, the reason may be in the lamps. Two clinics may have the same, at first glance, LightSheer Duet or Alexandrite devices, it doesn’t matter. It is important that in one, say, the emitter was changed yesterday. And the armpit hair removal procedure costs 5,000 rubles. In another clinic, the diode matrix of the device has completely exhausted its resource, and the price is half cheaper. Clients run for a lucrative offer, but after the eighth session the effect is insignificant or completely absent: a device with old emitters shoots like a flashlight, it is a dummy. However, the clinic is in no hurry to replace it for 5-7 thousand dollars - why, if clients bring money every month for several years. And it turns out that the one who cheats wins. So before you rejoice that you managed to save money, try to find out why everything in this clinic is cheaper than its competitors.
Karina Tumanskaya tests the Candela GentleLase alexandrite laser at the Telo's Beauty clinic. Impressions after the first procedure.
Procedure time: shins (10 min) + armpits (5 min).
Karina: I also chose a trusted place. Telo`s Beauty has existed since 2007, it has a full medical license and certified doctors. When registering, they will create a medical record for you and include all the information about the procedures performed. They will call not only on the eve of the appointment to remind you about it, but also after - to clarify whether everything went well. In general, it’s clearly not the case that after the procedure you start frantically trying to find out on the Internet “what is it that I’m itching here.”
My doctor, Elena Nikolaevna Nasatskaya, spoke so thoroughly and clearly (and repeatedly, I’m a well-known talented listener) about all the intricacies, consequences and potential results that it seemed to me that I was just about to be able to give lectures on laser hair removal myself. .
I did two zones - shins and armpits. The treatment of the shin took about 20 minutes and it was not painful at all. No unpleasant sensations - miraculously I didn’t fall asleep. For the armpits, Lena always uses an anesthetic ointment during the first procedure - she checks what your sensitivity threshold is. She also applied this ointment to me. I still felt some tingling, but it was quite tolerable. The procedure lasted about 15 minutes. The second time I’ll try without ointment - just to understand the whole range of sensations.
About 5 procedures were recommended to me. My hair is growing slowly, and I have been waiting for the second week for it to appear above the surface so that I can go to the clinic again. It’s terribly curious how visually it will be noticeable that there are 10% fewer of them (this is the result promised after the first procedure).
Advice to those who follow me :): keep in mind that after the procedure you cannot visit the sauna or sunbathe. The treated areas will burn as if there was a burn, although no burn or even redness is visually visible.
Expert advice, candidate of medical sciences, dermatocosmetologist and specialist in the field of laser aesthetics Alexey Mimov
BI: Can we trust clinics’ promises to “remove hair forever”? From a physiological point of view, this does not seem very natural.
AM: Just from a physiological point of view, this is natural. By conducting light, the hair heats up and warms up the vascular source that feeds it. When the temperature approaches 42 degrees, the blood coagulates and clots. A follicle that has lost nutrition is not viable; it has nothing to provide for its own metabolism and trophism (the process of cellular nutrition). It dies and is “disassembled” by cells engaged in “garbage removal” - phagocytes, macrophages.
Another thing is that there are a huge number of dormant hair follicles in the skin. They have been present in such a sleepy state since our birth, and you are not even aware of them. But suddenly - against the background of taking hormonal drugs, pregnancy, lactation, stress, moving to another climate zone - they can wake up and begin to produce hair. How to live from 25 to 80 without stress? I wish I could see these people. Therefore, it is impossible to guarantee that hair will never appear on the treated area of skin. If you hear this, know that you are being deceived. But it is also impossible to assume that new hair is regrown old hair that the doctor did not remove “out of forgetfulness.” If you could take a photo of the same area of skin, you would see that the hair that grew back was not the same, but located at a distance of 1-2 mm. from the deceased.
BI: Is it possible to remove vellus and blond hair?
AM: The principle of selective photothermolysis is based on the absorption of light by melanin. No melanin - no target, shoot from a cannon or from a machine gun. Therefore, unfortunately, it is impossible to remove vellus hair using this method. With light ones it’s not so clear. There are 50 shades of blonde hair. If a woman with “transparent” hair comes to me, I explain to her the pointlessness of the idea and offer an alternative, for example, wax. Electrolysis can theoretically deal with such hair, but at the same time you need to hit each hair with an electrode and discharge it - this is long, painful, and if the doctor is inexperienced, scars may remain. I think electrolysis is outdated.
Arina Esipova tests Elos hair removal at the Lazerjazz clinic. Impressions after the first procedure.
Procedure time: shins (30 min) + armpits (15 min) + bikini (15 min).
Arina: I haven’t had the question of where to go for hair removal since this Yulia’s post. I even gained confidence in Lazerjazz in absentia: the clinic specializes in hair removal
