a Brief History of Electrolysis

As far back as there have been humans there has been a desire for smooth hairless skin.  While methods such as sugaring, plucking and shaving go back much further, the first and only method of permanent hair removal was started in 1875 by an ophthalmologist to treat his patients ingrown eyelashes.  Dr. Charles E. Michel kept seeing patients that presented with ingrown eyelashes as a result of the dust and dirt involved in their daily lives.  Implementing ideas previously described by Michael Faraday The Dr. discovered a way to permanently remove these eyelash hairs thus "curing" these ingrown problems.  Electrolysis uses a small hair sized probe and the application of a small amount of electricity to destroy the dermal papilla and thereby kill the hair.  Modern probes come in a variety of sizes and materials in order to offer more comfortable and effective treatment of your individual hair.  

 This early method used a direct current of electricity in what is known as the galvanic current.  This method was slow going but very effective at removing unwanted or superfluous hair.  Later in 1916 this method became considerably faster with the introduction of the multi probe electrolysis machines.  These have allowed the treatment of up to 32 hairs simultaneously.  

Later in 1923 the high frequency alternating current method of electrolysis was described.  This is what we call the thermolysis method as it uses an AC current to create heat in the follicle there by killing the hair.  This is the most popular method used today as it is considerably faster than the galvanic method although in some situations the results are not as efficient as the slower galvanic current.

As we proceed through history up to 1948 there was another great leap in the permanent removal of unwanted hair.  This is when Arthur Hinkel and his partner developed a way to combine these two previous modalities into what we know today as Blend technique.  This is a way of getting combining the two currents which makes the galvanic current a bit more caustic to the hair follicle while speeding up the process.

Todays electrolysis machines use computerized components and state of the art electronics and frequencies to offer the quickest and most comfortable electrolysis experience yet!  Modern machines and probes allow for the "slower" galvanic treatment to be done successfully in less time that the "faster" method being done only a couple decades or so ago.  Electrolysis remains the only FDA approved method for permanent hair removal and is effective on all skin and hair types.  We can treat any area of the body with any color of hair or skin.  We just need the hair to be something we can see with magnification in order to get the probe into and be long enough that it can be removed with tweezers after being treated.