Permanent Hair Removal Versus Hair Reduction

Most women use shaving, waxing, and depilatory creams as a way to remove their own unwanted hair. While each of these is effective at removing hair, it is only temporary. Purchasing multiple hair removal creams, razors, and waxing treatment kits can get fairly expensive over time. So many women are making the decision to find a way to get rid of it permanently.

Ads and brochures tout the advantages of permanent hair removal. To the consumer, permanent is usually thought to mean "never, ever again." In laser hair removal, that is not what they are talking about.

The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees and approves many medical procedures, defines it differently. On their website they state: "Several manufacturers received FDA permission to claim, "permanent reduction," NOT "permanent removal" for their lasers. This means that although laser treatments with these devices will permanently reduce the total number of body hairs, they will not result in a permanent removal of all hair." Just in case that is not clear (which it really isn't) they go on to say: "Permanent hair reduction does not necessarily imply the elimination of all hairs in the treatment area."

The upshot of it is this: with laser hair removal, you can expect some or most, depending on your situation, of the area treated to have the numbers of hairs reduced. Some of 'em will be gone forever. Hopefully the ones that remain come back as really fine ones, perhaps so much less noticeable that you won't care.

The only really, truly way right now to get rid of all the hairs in a given area is electrolysis. Electrolysis takes more than several treatments to get them all. What happens is that hairs don't all grow at the same rate. So ones that are not out where you can see them get missed. It takes all those treatments to track them down.

The FDA approves the laser machines that are used in many laser hair removal procedures. Before an office specializing in laser hair removal can begin treatment with a particular machine, the FDA must have already approved that equipment. That list is ever growing and changing. Because of this, they don't even post it on their site. The main goal of the FDA is to examine the equipment used in laser hair removal procedures to make sure that is safe for use.

They also want to make sure that the public is not being taken advantage of. They do this by making sure that the laser hair removal centers do not advertise that their machines will result in permanent hair removal.

While laser hair removal is a popular hair removal procedure, it is not the only choice available. If you feel that a laser procedure is not for you, consider checking out electrolysis. Electrolysis takes longer than traditional laser treatments, but it tends to cost about the same and is permanent.

Whether you opt for a laser hair removal procedure or select another option, it is important to keep yourself informed. Do not pay for an expensive procedure to remove your unwanted body hair only later to learn that the procedure really wasn't all that permanent.