Electro depilation

These people can be helped by electroepilation (epilation). With these procedures, the success is independent of the color of the hairs to be removed. When using alternating current (thermolysis), the cells inside the hair follicle are melted.

The hair follicle becomes desolate and can no longer form hairs. When direct current is used, chemical substances are produced, which irreversibly damage the cells from which hairs would later have grown and make regrowth impossible (epilation). If both direct current and alternating current are used, this is called the blend method.

Pain during epilation

Epilation is considered more painful than other hair removal methods (shaving, chemical depilation with creams). Classically, three large supergroups have a stimulating effect on receptors for pain perception: During epilation, the nociceptors, which in the case of the skin are located in the second large layer of the skin, the dermis, and are mostly free nerve endings (= nerve fibers that end blind without a solid structure), respond to the tearing out of the hair or the hair root, which are also anchored in this middle layer of skin between the epidermis and the subcutis. The pain that occurs during depilation is therefore a predominantly mechanical one.Pain receptors are characterized by the fact that they require a relatively strong stimulus to send their signal, and do not become less sensitive or dull in the case of rapidly successive similar stimuli (no adaptation of the nociceptors).

Therefore, the beginning of a depilation session by epilation is as painful as the end of this session. Over a certain period of time, however, in the vast majority of cases epilation is perceived as less painful. What is the reason for this development?

Several factors play a role here: An extremely important component in the sensation of pain is always the cognitive evaluation of what is happening in the brain. When the depilation procedure is known and practiced and conscious or unconscious fears no longer play a major role, when epilation has become routine, the patient becomes accustomed to the pain and the perception of it becomes much weaker. When assessing and observing the above-mentioned factors, it is always worth noting that different people have different individual perceptions of pain: Thus both pain threshold and perceived pain intensity are highly variable.

What is unbearable for one person is only a slight tugging and at most a little unpleasant for another. Nevertheless, for those who are interested in medium-term hair removal, it is worthwhile to try epilation at least one more time, even after a painful first attempt. In most cases the procedure is not as painful as before.

On the one hand, less hair grows back after repeated epilation. With hairs that are caught in the growth phase of their life cycle during epilation, the chances are good that the hair will not grow back at all. Therefore, from time to time there will be less hairs that need to be removed.
Secondly, the hairs that grow back after epilation usually grow finer and thinner than before.
The reason for this is the damage to the hair root, which is caused by the pulling out of the entire hair including its anchoring. When epilating again, these thinner hairs cause less pain.
Ultimately, both the skin gets used to the stress of depilation and the psyche gets used to it.
Thermal stimuli (warm, cold)
Mechanical stimuli (pressure, bruising) and
Chemical stimuli (poison, inflammation, acid).

To ease the pain of epilation, you can also use some tricks:

For example, it is advisable to bathe before hair removal, but not with too hot bath water. Warm water makes both skin and hair soft and opens the pores.
The hairs can thus be pulled out of their anchoring more easily. However, strong heat (for example, from very warm to hot water) even increases the pain. It is much better to cool the affected areas, for example with the help of a pre-cooled epilator or with cold cloths or similar.
It is also helpful to stretch and pull the skin a little bit, because this causes a direct tear at the hairline during epilation and prevents unnecessary stretching and pulling of the skin.
In the end, the pain will subside more quickly if, before and after epilating, you run your flat hand over the depilated area with gentle pressure or massage the area a little. On the one hand, this results in a kind of “distraction” for the pain sensors, which already react to the slight pressure, and on the other hand, the blood circulation is stimulated, which can also have a pain-relieving effect.