Since our ape-like ancestors first evolved into more-or-less
humanoid form, man has had a close relationship with his hair. From ancient times forward, men have grown
beards of all lengths, widths and densities, along with curious hairstyles that
have ranged from the bangs of Julius Caesar to the sideburns of Elvis and
Kookie to the Afros of the 1970s.
But it has been hair removal that has set the stage for epic
stories and social development. Sampson
supposedly drew his strength from his locks, but Delilah performed the first
hair-removal procedure of Biblical proportions, leading to follicle-chilling
results. Long before that episode,
however, man - and woman - worked hard at hair removal.
According to the Quick Shave, Inc., shaving historical
timeline, Neanderthals devised the first set of tweezers, using two seashells
to pluck hairs from their body. Blades
made of flint date as far back as 30,000 B.C.
These stones, which could be finely sharpened, were used both to remove
hair and carve designs in the user's skin.
By 4000 B.C., women were blending such daunting substances
as arsenic and quicklime with starch, producing homemade depilatory creams to
remove body hair. The development of
metalworking allowed humans to create the first permanent razors, fashioned
from copper.
Danes carried ornate bronze razors around 1500 B.C.; and
around 500 B.C., Greeks began mimicking Alexander the Great, who was fanatical
about shaving his face. Women in Rome,
meanwhile, found ways to remove hair by employing razors, pumice stones and
more homemade depilatories.
A few hundred years before the Common Era, men in India
cared for their beards but shaved off their chest hair, while women removed
hair from their legs.
During the Middle Ages, 476-1270 A.D., women adopted the
practice of removing all their hair from eyebrows, eyelashes, temples and neck,
a daily plucking chore that became quite fashionable.
By 1500, Aztecs in North and Central America were shaving
with obsidian, a form of volcanic glass, and later in the 16th
century, Queen Elizabeth popularized the removal of hair from eyebrows and
around the forehead.
In the second half of the 18th century, men and
women alike not only removed all the hair from their forehead, but they
subsequently applied press-on mouse-skin eyebrows. In 1770, Jean-Jaques Perret wrote a treatise
in which he proposed the idea of a "safety razor," which ultimately
was manufactured in a crude form.
In the early 1800s, men began following the fashion of
London's "Beau" Brummel, who meticulously shaved several times a day,
removing any missed hairs with tweezers. During that same period, the straight razor
became popular, followed by the safety razor which, in the 20th
century, grew to two blades, then three, then four in a cartridge.
Despite these eons of concern over hair removal, however,
neither razors nor depilatories have offered a permanent way to eliminate
unwanted hair. Now, though, 21st
century science gives both men and women the opportunity to once and for all be
rid of excess hair through the use of lasers that are literally on the cutting
edge of technology, incorporating both heat and light.
In the skilled hands of a clinician, these new lasers
destroy hair follicles virtually without pain and without causing damage to the
skin. Interest in laser hair removal is
growing rapidly. The American Society
for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery found that, between 2002 and 2006, the number of
laser hair-removal treatments in the United States among both men and women
increased 100 percent. In 2007, nearly
1.5 million laser hair removal procedures were performed.
Damaging the follicle is the only way to permanently reduce
the amount of unwanted hair, anywhere on the body. The comfortable and effective technology used
today for laser hair removal with new technology heats hair at its roots,
killing the follicle without irritating the skin. Optimally, laser hair removal entails several
sessions. Follicles produce hairs at
different rates and are most effectively destroyed in the hair's growth
stage. To catch each set of hairs at the
right point in their growth cycles, and to ensure that a proportion of the
follicles will not keep producing hair, physicians normally recommend a series
of hair-removal treatments over a period of months. While an individual evaluation is important
for each patient, most laser hair removal centers recommend, on average, a
minimum of six treatments, with each of them delivered about two months apart.
Consumers should avoid some of the older equipment used in
non-specialty clinics, since treatment with these devices may be somewhat
uncomfortable. The newer lasers in
clinics specializing in laser-based treatments offer procedures that are
virtually painless and highly effective.
These modern devices combine pulsed, high-intensity light with precisely
controlled radiofrequency waves to damage follicles.
It's been a long time coming, but an effective treatment for
permanent removal of unwanted hair now is a growing business and a safe,
welcome treatment for consumers.
About American Laser
Centers
American
Laser Centers (http://www.americanlaser.com)
is the largest and most successful laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation and
cellulite reduction therapy company, with more than 220 locations in the United
States. The company has performed more than two million aesthetic treatments
since its founding in 2002. American
Laser Centers offers clients laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation, body
contouring and cellulite reduction therapy treatments using
state-of-the-art-technology under a doctor-supervised regimen.
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