Many people are curious about laser hair removal vs. electrolysis. They want to know which one is best for them. It's a difficult decision because it depends on many factors, including the area of your body that you're considering removing hair from and how much time and money you have to spend. In this blog post, we'll discuss what these two methods entail so that you can make an educated decision when choosing between them!
What is electrolysis?
Electrolysis is a hair removal process that uses an electric current to destroy individual hair follicles and make them unable to produce hair. It was popular in the 1930s but fell out of favor as other methods became more widely available.
Electrolysis process can take up to four hours for one session on larger areas like the arms or legs, with sessions and mostly suitable on small skin areas. It is more painful as compared to laser hair removal, and you need several sessions to achieve the desired results.
Pros
The hair removal process is permanent and requires no maintenance.
Electrolysis can be used for any area on the body, such as eyebrows, leg or bikini line.
Suitable for all types of hair colors
Cons
More painful than other methods, one might even need anesthesia before proceeding with the procedure.
Requires four-hour appointments with a practitioner, whereas on session of laser treatment can achieve desired results in minutes.
It can cause redness and irritation of the skin in the treated area.
Cost of electrolysis
The cost of electrolysis is usually about $100 to $150 per hour for an appointment that could last up to four hours.
What is laser hair removal treatment?
Laser hair removal is a non-invasive beauty treatment conducted by licensed technician using a laser to destroy or debulk the follicles of unwanted hair. The hair is not removed, but the follicles are destroyed and need time to grow back. The treatment will then be repeated every few weeks as needed for a long period of time until desired results are achieved. It is suitable if you have dark brown or black hair and not grey or light color hair.
Requires up to 6 sessions in medical spas with an experienced technician in order to achieve the best results. It is not painful as electrolysis is and can be done on any part of the body.
Pros
Laser hair removal has many benefits. The simplest, of course, is that it can give you a hairless body in no time at all and from any part of the body. It's also not painful as electrolysis treatments are because laser energy destroys follicles without burning or cutting them.
In addition to these advantages, there are other more specific ones too:
Laser treatment is less likely to lead to ingrown hair
Higher efficiency rate means lower cost per session and faster results
One complete treatment (up to 6 sessions) may last up until two years, depending on how fast your individual hair growth is
Hypoallergenic so less risk of skin irritation
Excellent for hair that is too fine to wax or tweezes
Cons
Here are some of the potential side effects of laser hair removal:
Can burn the skin, this is particularly true for people with darker skin types, which are more susceptible to burns from lasers
Discomfort after treatment because the area may be sore and red, depending on how sensitive your skin is.
Not suitable for Darker skin type
Cost of laser hair removal
Laser hair removal treatments can range from $70 to over $1000, depending on the area of the body as well as the number of sessions needed.
Which one is best?
Hair removal with laser is better for people with dark hair on light skin. Electrolysis is better for people with lighter hair on darker skin, and it's less expensive overall, but the treatment takes longer since you have to go over each individual hair multiple times. Laser treatment is also less pain full when compared to electrolysis and needs fewer sessions to achieve results so it is cheaper in long run.