Hair Removal

Electrolysis: permanent, but hair by hair

Electrolysis slides a probe finer than the hair itself, about 0.05 to 0.15 millimetres, into the follicle and destroys the root with electric current. Because nothing in that depends on pigment, it is the only method listed as permanent hair removal and the only one that works on grey, white, red and blonde hair. The price is time: galvanic current needs a minute or more per hair, a 30-minute session clears roughly 60 to 120 hairs, and an upper lip usually takes sessions every 1 to 2 weeks over 12 to 18 months, heavier or hormonal growth up to 24 months.

How the current reaches the root

The method is the oldest in permanent hair removal. It was first used in 1875, for ingrowing eyelashes, and the principle has not changed since: a probe of about 0.05 to 0.15 millimetres, roughly the thickness of the hair it follows, slides along the shaft into the existing follicle without piercing the skin, down to the bulb 2 to 5 millimetres below the surface. There the current works for anything between a fraction of a second and over a minute, and the hair lifts out with tweezers without resistance.

Three currents do the job. Galvanic electrolysis sends direct current through the probe and turns the salt and water in the tissue into sodium hydroxide, a caustic that dissolves the bulb; thorough, but a minute or more per hair. Thermolysis uses high-frequency alternating current, typically 13.56 megahertz, which heats the water in the follicle and coagulates the tissue around the bulb in well under a second to a few seconds. The blend method combines both, so the heat speeds up the chemical reaction; a Toronto group that logged 140,000 hours of electrolysis over 13 years found blend the most effective of the three for permanent removal. In the United States the device is defined by exactly this action, a needle-type epilator intended to destroy the dermal papilla of a hair with alternating current, direct current or both, and it has been a Class I medical device since 1988.

Because none of this depends on colour, electrolysis works on white, grey, red and light blonde hair and on every skin tone. A laser needs melanin in the shaft to turn light into heat, which is why it fails on exactly those hairs. Dermatologists sort the methods into temporary removal (shaving, waxing), temporary reduction (laser and intense pulsed light) and permanent removal, where electrolysis stands alone. Permanent does not mean every insertion succeeds: a common estimate is that about 25% of the hairs treated in one session never return, and each survivor is treated again when it shows.

Why the course runs over months

The arithmetic is the whole story. Even a fast electrologist working with thermolysis clears a few hundred hairs an hour, and with the blend method a 30-minute session typically removes 60 to 120 hairs. In the only head-to-head trial, published in 2000, 12 patients had one armpit treated by electrolysis four times at 3-week intervals and the other by alexandrite laser three times at 4-week intervals; 6 months later the laser side showed 74% fewer hairs, the electrolysis side 35%, and the laser had been about 60 times faster per hair. For dark hair on legs, back or chest that settles the choice; for an upper lip, a chin, the brows or a scatter of grey hairs, electrolysis is the better tool.

The growth cycle adds a second delay. Only a hair in its growing phase is attached to the papilla and can be destroyed; a resting follicle has already shed that connection. Depending on the site, roughly 20 to 70% of follicles are active at any moment, and the rest sit in resting phases that last from about 6 weeks on the upper lip to 4 to 6 months on the legs. Those hairs surface later and look like regrowth, although they were never treated. A course therefore starts with 15 to 30 minute sessions every 1 to 2 weeks, the intervals stretch to 4 to 8 weeks as the visible hairs thin out, and an upper lip usually finishes within 12 to 18 months. Coarse growth or a hormonal driver can push that to 24 months. If new dark hair on the chin is the reason you are booking, the guide on female facial hair explains why a blood test belongs before the first session: hormonal treatment takes 6 to 12 months to show, and electrolysis is usually still needed alongside it.

Between appointments you may shave, and you should. The Toronto series found that shaving 1 to 5 days before a session raises the success rate, because only growing hairs are then long enough to be seen and treated. Plucking, waxing, threading and sugaring are off the table for the whole course, because a plucked follicle has no hair in it to guide the probe. Arrive with 1 to 2 millimetres of growth, which is 2 to 3 days after a shave.

Budget by the hour, not by the area. Rates of 60 to 120 EUR or 60 to 150 USD an hour are common, a 15-minute slot costs 20 to 40 EUR, and an upper lip adds up to 30 or 40 short sessions, somewhere between 500 and 1,500 EUR over the course. Health services do not normally fund it.

Pain, numbing and who should wait

Every insertion is felt as a short sting or a pulse of heat, sharper with thermolysis, longer and duller with galvanic current, and the upper lip is the most sensitive site of all. An anaesthetic cream with 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine, applied 1 hour before under cling film, takes most of the edge off, and a cool compress afterwards does the rest.

Some situations rule the method out or postpone it. Anyone with a pacemaker should not have electrolysis, because the current can interfere with the electronics, and many practitioners also avoid galvanic current in pregnancy. Blood thinners, whether prescribed anticoagulants or regular aspirin, raise the risk of bruising and pinpoint bleeding at each insertion, so mention any of them before the first session. If you take isotretinoin, wait 6 months after the last tablet, because the skin heals poorly and pigments easily. If you get cold sores, say so before any work near the lip: the procedure can reactivate herpes simplex, and an antiviral tablet from your doctor around the sessions prevents that. An active skin infection, a tendency to keloids and poorly controlled diabetes are reasons to ask a dermatologist first, and a hair growing out of a mole is treated only after a doctor has looked at the mole.

Skin colour is not a barrier, but darker skin types answer the small injury with more pigment and keep marks longer. If that is you, expect gentler settings, intervals of 2 to 3 weeks rather than 1, and a stricter sun rule afterwards.

Hygiene, skill and the rules that apply

Rules differ from country to country, and in much of Europe there is no licence for electrologists at all, so the studio's own standards decide. Two examples show the range. In the United States the probe is a regulated medical device and licensing of the practitioner is a matter for each state; in England the person and the premises must be registered with the local authority under an Act of 1982 that lets councils set byelaws on cleanliness and the sterilisation of instruments. Neither says anything about skill, which matters more here than in any other method, because every one of the thousands of insertions in a course is done by hand.

What you can check is hygiene. Probes are sterile, prepackaged and single-use, opened in front of you; the tweezers come out of an autoclave; the electrologist wears fresh gloves and cleans the skin with an antiseptic first. Ask for a test patch of 10 to 15 minutes on a small area before you commit to a course: it shows you the sensation and shows the electrologist how your skin reacts. Then ask how many hours of training and years of practice they have. The Toronto series, with more than 140,000 treatment hours behind it, concluded that scarring does not occur when electrolysis is done properly; the pitted marks that do occur come from probes pushed past the follicle, too much current, or the same follicle treated 2 or 3 times in one sitting.

Aftercare is short but strict. Redness and pinpoint swelling fade within a few hours, tiny crusts follow on day 1 or 2 and drop off by themselves after 2 to 3 days on the face, up to 1 to 2 weeks on the body. Leave them alone: picking is the commonest cause of the small scars people blame on the current. No make-up for 24 hours, no sauna, pool, sunbed or sweaty sport for 48 hours, and a broad-spectrum SPF 30 to 50 on treated skin that sees daylight for 2 weeks, because inflamed skin pigments faster. The Sun Exposure Timer helps with that, and the comparison of six methods shows where electrolysis sits among the alternatives.

Questions to ask before you book

Frequently asked

Does electrolysis work on grey or blonde hair?

Yes. The current destroys the root regardless of colour, so electrolysis is the only permanent method for white, grey, red and light blonde hair, which a laser cannot see because it needs melanin in the shaft.

How long does a course of electrolysis take?

An upper lip usually needs 15 to 30 minute sessions every 1 to 2 weeks at first, then every 4 to 8 weeks, over 12 to 18 months. Coarse or hormonally driven growth can take up to 24 months, because resting hairs keep surfacing for months and each one is treated only when it is visible.

Is electrolysis suitable for legs?

Practically no. A few hundred hairs an hour is too slow for a surface that carries tens of thousands, and in the one head-to-head trial a laser was about 60 times faster per hair. For dark hair on legs, back or chest the laser is the efficient choice; electrolysis is for the face, the brows and small patches.

Can I pluck or wax between sessions?

No. Shaving is fine and even helps, because shaving 1 to 5 days before a session leaves only growing hairs visible. Plucking, waxing, threading and sugaring empty the follicle, and without a hair in the canal the electrologist cannot guide the probe.

Does electrolysis leave scars?

Not when it is done properly: a series of more than 140,000 treatment hours reported no scarring. Redness and tiny crusts for 2 to 3 days are normal; pitted marks come from probes pushed past the follicle, too much current, or from picking at the crusts.

How much does it hurt?

Each insertion gives a short sting or a pulse of heat, most noticeable on the upper lip. An anaesthetic cream with 2.5% lidocaine and prilocaine applied 1 hour before takes most of it away, and a 15-minute session on the face is bearable for almost everyone.

Sources

• DermNet: Electrolysis · galvanic, thermolysis and blend methods; a minute or more per hair with galvanic current; common estimate that 25% of treated hairs do not regrow; redness for a few days; scarring, pigment change, impetigo and herpes reactivation as risks; not with a pacemaker; anaesthetic cream 1 hour before; hair removal techniques page lists electrolysis as the only permanent method
• Görgü M, Aslan G, Aköz T, Erdoğan B: Comparison of alexandrite laser and electrolysis for hair removal, Dermatologic Surgery 2000;26(1):37-41 · 12 patients, 24 armpits; electrolysis at 4 to 8 mA four times at 3-week intervals against alexandrite laser three times at 4-week intervals; clearance 35% against 74% at 6 months; laser about 60 times faster and less painful; abstract read via PubMed 10632684
• Richards RN, Meharg GE: Electrolysis: observations from 13 years and 140,000 hours of experience, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 1995;33(4):662-6 · in use since 1875; blend the most effective modality for permanent removal; scarring does not occur with proper technique; shaving 1 to 5 days before increases efficacy; presterilised single-use needles; anaesthetic cream; abstract read via PubMed 7673501
• 21 CFR 878.5350 Needle-type epilator, Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) · US device definition: intended to destroy the dermal papilla of a hair with high-frequency AC, AC combined with DC, or DC only; Class I, general controls; rule of 1988, amended 1996 and 2001

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This guide is for general information. It does not replace medical or professional cosmetic advice or an examination.