From WebMD

Hair Removal Information Sources News
#1

I wasn’t sure where to put these so I’ll toss them here. Hopefully people will actually read these articles, as they are actually from the medical profession. WebMD always has extensive coverage over a variety of topics and I pulled two from there about hair removal. They championed Laser for a long time as the way to go but the opening line of this first article is “Yes it works - but only for some people.” I’ll the the text of the article speak for itself.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/43/1689_51063.htm
This next one is an overview of electrolysis and it dispels a few “myths” about the procedure. Maybe a little slanted in favor of electrolysis but the information is very useful.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/79/96303.htm

Have at it folks.

#2

In addition, I coauthored an article on laser with Dr. Mounir Bashour for eMedicine:

http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic738.htm

#3

I wish more people would pay attention to things of these sorts. Laser can provide great results for certain people who are willing to offer large sums of cash for a consistent basis, but the idea that its results are universal bothers me in that it is so widely available. Whenever I first sought laser treatment I was astonished at how many “clinics” and “spas” were popping up, all who claimed to have the best laser available. Here in Texas it is slowly and incrementally becoming regulated but I don’t think its enough. And something that provides better and permanent results, electrolysis, is not even regulated in Texas. In truth, I had never fully heard of electrolysis until AFTER a few rounds of laser and realized I wasn’t going to end up bare like I wanted. (Had I not found Hairfacts.com I would probably be broke by now chasing a pipe dream. The info I was being fed from laser folks was grossly misleading.) I wish the advertising was more balanced and the practices more regulated. It seems like electrolysis is barely advertised, yet is the century old practice with consistent results. That is not to bash laser but I don’t think the practice has been truly refined yet. Forums such as these are the best anyone can hope for these days with the emphasis being on the consumers.

#4

Hopefully, the folks at the organization I pay dues to every year, The American Electrology Association, will read your comments here and REALLY get the word out as they are now working with a marketing company just for that reason. Yes, Hairtell and Hairfacts are wonderful sites for all the neophytes out there, but it would be even better to have our AEA blow the horn a little louder so someone like yourself might have had a better chance knowing there was something better to try for your unwanted hair problem.

You as a consumer can contact the AEA at www.electrology.com and tell them what you have told us here. I think they would be interested in your feedback if they are truly of one mind to market the value of electrolysis better to the general public.

Dee

#5

Excellent idea Dee and I will do just that. As much as laser advertises and the manner in which it is done, one would think its a one-time-cure-all for the troubled hirsuite person. While it can provide relief, the little mention they provide of electrolysis is very negative and misleading. And their own tactics of advertising for their industry are misleading in their own right.
The two industries could come together possibly, although in a smaller manner than some would like to chirp, to let patients know that there is hope and realistic hope at that.
Whenever I told my mom I wasn’t happy with my laser treatments and was considering switching to electrolysis, she told me she didn’t know why I didn’t have electrolysis to begin with. I wish it was acceptable to slap my mother because I could have had my shoulders cleared a while ago had that been the case. She told me about my aunt who had her upper lip cleared back in the 60’s and has had to do nothing ever since.
If the electrolysis industry puts itself out there more, people could hear more about the procedure and the subject would not be as taboo. And the folks at Hairtell could appear as testimonials. I’m a genius.

#6

Hopefully, the folks at the organization I pay dues to every year, The American Electrology Association, will read your comments here and REALLY get the word out as they are now working with a marketing company just for that reason. Yes, Hairtell and Hairfacts are wonderful sites for all the neophytes out there, but it would be even better to have our AEA blow the horn a little louder so someone like yourself might have had a better chance knowing there was something better to try for your unwanted hair problem.

You as a consumer can contact the AEA at www.electrology.com and tell them what you have told us here. I think they would be interested in your feedback if they are truly of one mind to market the value of electrolysis better to the general public.

Dee

Hi Dee!

I was actually a keynote speaker at the AEA convention last fall in Las Vegas. I discussed laser at length. Sorry you missed it!

#7

It’s all really simple. LASER companies get tens of thousands of dollars per machine in profit on the cheap ones! Some machines cost $250.000 US and on top of that, they charge “Royalties” for every zap the machine makes.

They have the money to spend on Super Bowl Ads if they want to.

LASER practitioners can make hundreds of dollars every 15 to 30 minutes, with a statistical limit on clients per day that is many times greater than the lesser number of clients an electrologist can see per day.
They can afford to blanket their area with advertising.

Electrolysis manufacturers make hundreds to thousands per machine, and the most expensive electrolysis machine you can buy is only $10,000.00 US They spend their time trying to find electrologists to sell machines to, and maybe encourage people to learn the trade.

Electrologists themselves don’t co-operate, so no one is making a collective piggy bank to do any kind of national return fire to combat the LASER assault. On an individual basis, each electrologist can only perform so many treatment hours per day, per week, per year. Many already are operating at, or near capacity, so they could only create a demand they can’t meet with (more) advertising. It sounds like a nice problem to have, but the net result is not good for the profession, and prospective clients. It is an industry where the average professional gets most, or all their customers from word of mouth, and if you don’t know a mouth that tells you the scoop, you don’t know about the practice, and you don’t know about the practitioners either.

I hope things change, but for now, I can only wait and see.

#8

Thank you for your testimony! As a beginning electrologist, I am frustrated when I see and hear the false information from local laser businesses. I have seen a phone book ad where they claim “permanent hair removal” and a laser clinic manager answered, “yes” when I asked her if laser is “permanent hair removal.” The FDA states that they cannot claim this, only electrolysis can. They are also stating that electrolysis is very expensive and painful! Electrolysis is usually cheaper than laser. I charge $52.00 an hour. Clients have reported that the discomfort is equal to or less than laser. The false information from laser clinics has taken a real toll on the local electrologists business. Unfortunately, I cannot afford the slick advertising, mass mailings, and 1-800 info lines that they can so I continue to struggle financially to continue my practice. I truly believe in electrolysis but am afraid I won’t be able to compete with the laser propaganda. Thanks again.

#9

No, my friend, you can’t out spend them, but what you can do is out perform them.

Learn your craft well, attain a good speed, with the least irritation possible, and start clearing faces and other body parts.

For the best word of mouth, get some male clients and strip them bare. Most women want to get rid of their problem and act like it never existed. Most people who know the women in question don’t even know they have a problem to get rid of. Men, on the other hand, will tell everyone they know about the great hair removal they have had from you, and will be showing loved one’s the progress along the way.

If the guy is having a beard removed, the whole world will watch as the beard thins, the shadow lines are redrawn, and finally, the hair disappears, and the skin lightens, and starts to look younger.

Since you can only work on 2 or 3 men who are starting out on beards, you could soon have no available time for anyone and be booked into the next month.

I had a postman for a client who went from looking like a wolfman, to having bright white hair free skin. All his co-workers saw it happen, and all the customers on his route saw it too. He got to talk about it a lot because people asked him if he had a face lift, because his skin was looking so much better. He got to explain that he only got electrolysis to remove the hair, and that saved his skin from constant irritation and infection.

Good Luck

#10

Hairfairy,
Where are you located? I’ll be your guinea pig if need be.

#11

I am in WA state. Sounds like that might get expensive. Thanks anyway!