A fellow electrologist and good friend, when asked what an electrologist does, once quipped “brain surgery”. Many people, including those in the medical profession, do not know what “electrolysis” is. Electrolysis has been around for over 100 years. Invented by an opthamologist in 1875, it was used to remove ingrown eyelash hairs which threatened to blind a patient. In a sense, electrolysis is a kind of brain surgery. The object of electrolysis is to destroy the brain or growth center of the hair. How is this done? A fine wire, about the diameter of the hair, is inserted into the hair follicle at the surface of the skin. The growth center is destroyed with either a shortwave radio frequency or natural lye created by the electrolytic action of DC current. The hair is then removed from the follicle with a forcep. The FDA and the AMA recognize electrolysis as the only permanent method to remove hair. Electrolysis can be used safely to remove hair from most areas of the body. Men tend to have hair removed from their ears & nose (external only), face, neck, eyebrows and back. The upper lip, chin, neck, legs, breasts, bikini, underarms and eyebrows are common areas of hair removal for women.
