ABSTRACT
The desire to effectively remove unwanted body hair is a trend that continues to become more prevalent in our society, and photoepilation by laser or other lightbased technology is one of the fastest growing procedures in cosmetic dermatology.1
Excess hair growth ranges in severity and may present as hypertrichosis or hirsutism.2 Hirsutism refers to abnormal hair growth in women in androgendependent sites while hypertrichosis is excess hair growth in any body site. There are many methods that temporarily treat unwanted hair, including: bleaching, plucking, shaving, waxing, and chemical depilatories.3,4 These methods can be inconvenient and tedious, and they may produce unwanted side effects such as irritation and infection of the skin. Electrolysis offers a more permanent hair removal by inserting a fine needle deeply into the hair follicle and using electricity to destroy the follicle, but is monotonous and the efficacy in achieving permanent hair removal is variable. Tolerance is variable among patients.5 Side effects of these methods vary significantly and are operator dependent.
