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Permanent Hair Removal: Electrolysis vs. Laser — Transcript

by Dr Dray · 2,208 words · 329 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00electrolysis versus laser hair removal
0:02let's get into it shaving plucking
0:05waxing chemical toilat creams these get
0:08old they're time intensive they're often
0:11irritating and depending on your hair
0:13type and the location can lead you down
0:16the path of developing those pesky
0:18painful ingrown hairs which can lead to
0:20Stubborn hyperpigmentation scarring and
0:23skin infection so you may be seeking a
0:26method to permanently reduce hair growth
0:30and to cut down on the need for these
0:33time intensive hair removal approaches
0:35there are two established evidence-based
0:38ways to permanently remove hair to
0:41permanently reduce hair growth
0:43electrolysis and laser hair removal in
0:45this video I'm going to talk about how
0:48exactly these two techniques differ I'm
0:50going to explain the pros and cons of
0:52each one what the heck is electrolysis
0:55anyway electrolysis has been around for
0:58a very long time it is a tech Tech that
1:00involves taking a fine fine needle and
1:03inserting it down into the hair follicle
1:06and delivering electrical energy to
1:08destroy the hair bulb and get rid of the
1:11hair growth to that one hair there are
1:14actually three modalities of
1:16electrolysis number one is galvanic
1:19galvanic is interesting in that it
1:21delivers the current down there into the
1:23follicle and basically causes a chemical
1:26reaction it causes the salt water that
1:29is in the hair follicle to convert to
1:32sodium hydroxide which is very CTIC and
1:35essentially destroys the hair you also
1:37have thermolysis this is a modality that
1:39uses a high frequency alternating
1:41electrical current it targets the
1:43follicle and the high frequency causes
1:45the cells that make up the hair bulb to
1:47vibrate and that vibrational energy
1:50leads to the generation of heat that
1:52essentially destroys the bulb then you
1:54have the Blended method which as the
1:56name implies involves a blend of both
1:59galvanic and and thermolysis
2:01unfortunately there are no randomized
2:03control trials clinical trials comparing
2:05the different modes of electrolysis so
2:08we don't know which one would
2:10necessarily be better what about laser
2:12hair removal then what exactly is laser
2:14hair removal laser hair removal actually
2:17involves the delivery of specific
2:19wavelengths of light that Target the
2:23pigment melanin in pigmented hairs so in
2:27contrast to electrolysis where you're
2:29delivering electrical energy to destroy
2:32the hair bulb in this case you are
2:34delivering light energy which targets
2:37the pigment melanin in the hairs now one
2:40thing about laser hair removal in
2:42contrast to electrolysis that bears
2:44mentioned is the fact that because it
2:46targets the pigment melanin it tends to
2:50often work best on hairs that are Darkly
2:54pigmented and because it needs some
2:56contrast so as to specifically Target
2:59the hair follicles it often works best
3:02on people who have a paler skin type and
3:05dark hairs whereas the risks with laser
3:08hair removal become much greater when
3:10you have a deeper skin tone and dark
3:14hair because it can't distinguish
3:16between heating up your skin and heating
3:18up the hair follicle that being said we
3:22have many new and advanced lasers these
3:25days that actually are capable of safely
3:29treating people of deeper skin tones
3:31laser hair removal is not necessarily
3:34always super effective for really light
3:37hairs however blonde hair those little
3:40Peach fuz velous hairs those can be
3:42tricky to Target with laser hair removal
3:45on the flip side however with the
3:47electrolysis electrolysis can be safely
3:50used on any skin tone and it can be
3:53effective for any type of hair dark
3:57blonde red velous terminal because it's
4:01not relying on that pigment melanin it's
4:03just relying on the skill of the uh of
4:06the operator to effectively get that
4:09little needle down on the follicle and
4:11zap the hair bulb do they work and does
4:14one work better than the other they do
4:16work uh they are established for
4:19permanent hair reduction with laser hair
4:22removal you can appreciate reduction in
4:25hair almost immediately usually after
4:27the first treatment you can appreciate
4:3010 to 25% reduction in hair laser hair
4:34removal typically requires 6 to eight
4:36treatments to achieve the desired
4:38outcome electrolysis is also an
4:40established way to permanently reduce
4:43hair growth and it is estimated that
4:45with the electrolysis one can get about
4:4825% reduction of the treated hair in
4:52contrast to laser hair removal
4:54electrolysis is very very time intensive
4:59it requires multiple sessions with laser
5:02hair removal you're going across the
5:04area and so it can go pretty quickly
5:08electrolysis relies on delivery to each
5:11individual hair and it can take some
5:14time to heat up and deliver that energy
5:17so it's very time intensive now notice
5:19I'm saying can lead to permanent hair
5:22reduction because I think a lot of
5:24people approach either of these
5:26modalities with the mindset that it's
5:28going to completely eliminate all hair
5:31they're going to be bald smooth and they
5:33are never ever ever going to have to
5:36remove hair and that is really just not
5:38the case with either of these approaches
5:41the treatments are only going to be as
5:43effective as they are at targeting the
5:46hairs hairs are in different stages of
5:48the growing cycle so depending on where
5:51that hair follicle is in the growing
5:53phase of the cycle can influence to what
5:55extent it responds and you get reduction
5:58so while you can expect a reduction in
6:01overall hair growth hair density and a
6:03decreased need to remove the hair with
6:06means like shaving plucking or whatever
6:08it was that you were trying to get away
6:09from don't assume that you will never
6:12ever ever have to use those again you
6:14can have an effective laser hair removal
6:17or effective electrolysis yet later on
6:19down the road you will likely at some
6:22point need to remove the hair again now
6:24it's not going to be as dense because
6:27those hair follicles have been
6:29effectively targeted but you're going to
6:31have you know we're mammals we're
6:32covered in hair so keep that in mind
6:34what are the risks with each of these
6:36the major risks that you need to be
6:38aware of uh with laser hair removal is
6:41that it can lead to discoloration
6:44hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation
6:47the risk of this is dependent on the
6:51operator the settings so not as common
6:55with a dermatologist who does this on a
6:57regular basis however I want to make a
7:01note here that you need to be hyper
7:03aware of especially if you have a deeper
7:06skin tone we're talking about laser hair
7:09removal here you also have intense pulse
7:12light slight little Nuance there in the
7:15language intense pulse light can be
7:18effective like laser hair removal in
7:21contrast to laser hair removal it's not
7:23a laser though it's a variety of
7:25different wavelengths of light this is
7:27something that you often can get in a
7:29med spa and if done on people with
7:33deeper skin tones especially with
7:35certain settings can really really burn
7:37you and lead to horrific stubborn
7:42hyperpigmentation so I want you to be
7:44aware of that regardless of your skin
7:45type but it's especially risky in people
7:48with deeper skin tones and we do see a
7:50lot of patients coming in having gone to
7:53some Med Spa and had IPL for hair
7:57removal by someone who was not skilled
8:00didn't have the knowledge base with
8:02regards to treating patients of deeper
8:04skin tones and burn them so be really
8:07cautious in that regard rarely you can
8:10have scarring burning again the burning
8:13it's possible to burn the skin but
8:15someone you know a board certified
8:17dermatologist is going to have the
8:19expertise to not burn you um again it's
8:22all dependent on the the settings
8:24there's a risk of blistering very very
8:26uncommon when done by a professional if
8:29you're someone who gets uh cold sores
8:32laser hair removal on the face could
8:35potentially trigger a cold sore so your
8:37dermatologist might prescribe you an
8:39antiviral medicine to reduce the risk
8:41that that happens at the time of the
8:43procedure with laser hair removal there
8:45is one very very rare unusual side
8:49effect that bears mention um I have only
8:52seen one case of this does happen it's
8:56super rare it's called paradoxical hyper
8:59chosis basically for whatever reason for
9:02some
9:03people laser hair removal seems to
9:06trigger excessive hair growth in the
9:09adjacent skin um and why this happens is
9:13not clear uh it's that uh hyptosis that
9:18new hair growth can be effectively
9:20treated with laser hair removal but uh
9:24it does happen sometimes electrolysis
9:27what are the risks of electrolysis
9:30electrolysis you run the risk of
9:32infections um if not done by someone who
9:35has the best technique um you know maybe
9:39the the cleanliness standards of
9:41wherever you are going to get this is
9:43are not the best could potentially put
9:45you at risk for an infection because the
9:47needles you know they are going down
9:49into the follicle the needles are not uh
9:52properly cleaned there is a risk of
9:54introducing viruses into the skin
9:56bacteria all sorts of things shouldn't
9:59be not a common occurrence I've never
10:01seen anybody come in with a skin
10:04infection from electrolysis but has been
10:07reported in the medical literature
10:09scarring is also a risk if you are prone
10:11to keloids I would exercise caution with
10:14electrolysis because patients can have
10:17keloids as a result the risks of
10:20electrolysis become more of an issue uh
10:23if the follicle is damaged uh so
10:27remember they're inserting a needle down
10:29to
10:30Target the root so to speak but if they
10:34accidentally perforate the wall of the
10:36follicle think of it as like a glass
10:38vase if they accidentally shatter the
10:41stem of the vase well you can have a lot
10:43of inflammation in the surrounding skin
10:45that's what can lead to
10:47hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation
10:49changing your skin color like laser hair
10:51removal you also have to be careful if
10:53you're someone who gets cold sores
10:54because it can trigger a cold sore
10:56outbreak those are some of the more
10:58serious adverse risks all right let's
11:01talk about pros and cons the pros of
11:04electrolysis are that it can be safely
11:06done in all skin types um and it can can
11:11effectively Target any type of hair the
11:13cons are that it is a lot more painful
11:16in comparison to laser hair removal both
11:19can be uncomfortable but electrolysis is
11:21typically more painful now everyone's
11:23pain threshold is you know
11:25individualized so could be way too
11:28unbearable for one person but no big
11:30deal for another person and it also is
11:32going to depend on where you are where
11:35you are targeting you know where where
11:36you're having the treatment done um
11:38certain areas of the body are a lot more
11:40sensitive to pain than others big con
11:42with electrolysis is simply it is very
11:44time intensive so you have to think
11:46practically are we talking about your
11:48entire back here that you want
11:50electrolysis on in that case I'd say
11:53realistically you're probably going to
11:55be better served with laser hair removal
11:57up front it might seem as is though
11:59electrolysis is less expensive than
12:01laser hair removal but you have to
12:03remember you're going to need more
12:05sessions of electrolysis in comparison
12:08to laser hair removal so you have to
12:10factor that in it might end up being
12:12more expensive in the long run the other
12:14con of electrolysis is that it takes a
12:16lot longer for you to start appreciating
12:19the reduction in hair laser hair removal
12:21pros and cons the pros are well you see
12:24results faster and in fewer treatments
12:26fewer treatments overall the pain of
12:28laser hair removal again it kind of
12:30depends on where you're having it done
12:32as it as it goes over a bone that tends
12:34to be more
12:35uncomfortable uh it's kind of like
12:37having a rubber band snap on you the
12:40Cons with laser hair removal are that
12:43it's probably not going to be super
12:44effective for the little peach fuzz
12:45hairs they're coming out with new lasers
12:48all the time so we now have more
12:51sophisticated lasers that are
12:53appropriate for people with deeper skin
12:55tones when performed of course by
12:57someone with skill expertise in doing so
13:00and knows the right settings to safely
13:03um treat patients with deeper skin tones
13:06all right y'all so that's how they
13:08differ I hope this video was helpful to
13:10you and was informative in terms of how
13:13the two differ now at the beginning of
13:15the video I alluded to more common ways
13:19that people remove hair at home waxing
13:21depilatory creams Etc on the end slate
13:25is going to be my video on how to remove
13:28unwanted hair hair you need to watch
13:30that if this topic of hair removal is of
13:33interest to you because I go into more
13:35detail about things like at home laser
13:38hair removal is that a thing I go into
13:41detail about depilatory creams their
13:43risks and benefits so watch that one
13:45next but if you guys like this video
13:47give it a thumbs up share it with your
13:49friends and as always don't forget
13:50sunscreen And subscribe I'll talk to you
13:52guys tomorrow bye
13:58[Music]

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