HISTORY OF ELECTROLYSIS

In 1875, Dr. Charles Michel, an opthalmologist, experimented with ways to remove the painful ingrown eyelashes of his patients. The early techniques used fine wires attached to a battery to produce GALVANIC ELECTROLYSIS. This was a chemical method that utilized direct current to convert normal body salt and water into the compound sodium hydroxide (lye). Lye destroys the cells that initiate hair growth. The galvanic electrolysis method is still used today, although the modern machines are now much more efficient and computerized.

In 1923, after the discovery of radio waves and high frequency current, a new method of electrolysis was born. This method, called THERMOLYSIS, uses high frequency current to produce heat. The heat cauterizes and destroys the cells in the follicle that cause hair growth.

In 1945, Arthur Hinkel developed the BLEND method, which combines galvanic and high frequency currents. This combination causes destruction by both heat and chemical action at the same time.

All three electrology methods have been proven to be safe and effective. Galvanic electrolysis uses up to 16 probes at one time and takes three to five minutes to permanently eliminate those 16 hairs. This method is especially effective for deep, coarse and/or curly follicles. Thermolysis uses a single probe and usually takes less than one second to treat a hair. This method is usually the method of choice for fine, straight, and/or shallow hairs, or anyone who wants visible hairs (especially facial hairs) removed as quickly as possible.  With thermolysis, very coarse hairs usually need to be treated more than one time to permanently destroy them.  The Blend also uses a single probe and takes approximately 6-15 seconds to treat the hair. This method allows us to have the galvanic lye that can flow around the curve of curly follicles and gives us the heat from the thermolysis to speed up the chemical reaction.  The blend may also require more than one treatment per coarse hair to permanently destroy it.  I currently use thermolysis and multiple probe galvanic methods in my office. If you have had either of those electrolysis treatments in the past, I will be glad to use whichever method you are accustomed to, if you desire.