Electrolysis begins
Electrolysis, hair removal with a needle and electric current, has been performed since 1875. It was the only method offering permanent removal before lasers.[1][2]
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History
From electrolysis in 1875 to the first ruby laser study in 1996 and the first home laser in 2009: the steps that made the treatment.
Timeline
Electrolysis, hair removal with a needle and electric current, has been performed since 1875. It was the only method offering permanent removal before lasers.[1][2]
Goldman and colleagues published a series of studies on the effect of the laser beam on the skin.[1]
Anderson and Parrish showed in Science that brief pulses of light absorbed by a pigmented target damage the target and spare the tissue around it. This is the principle behind laser hair removal.[1][2]
Fitzpatrick published the validity and practicality of sun-reactive skin types I through VI. The scale is used to set laser settings and choose devices.[1][2]
Label-retaining stem cells were found in the bulge of the mouse hair follicle, not in the bulb.[1]
Normal-mode ruby laser pulses were applied to 13 volunteers. Hair growth was delayed at all treated sites, with apparently permanent removal in some.[1]
The FDA cleared the EpiLaser normal-mode ruby laser on 5 March 1997 and the Sharplan ruby laser on 7 March 1997.[1][2]
The FDA cleared the EpiLight Hair Removal System on 7 July 1997. Gold and colleagues reported about 60% hair removal at 12 weeks after one treatment.[1][2]
Four of 13 volunteers still had significant hair loss 2 years after one high-fluence ruby treatment. The follicles had shrunk to vellus-like hairs, with no scarring.[1]
The FDA cleared the LightSheer pulsed diode array laser on 8 April 1999. A 2000 study of 38 subjects reported sparse regrowth in 59%.[1][2]
Alster and colleagues reported 70% to 90% hair reduction at 12 months in 20 women with skin types IV to VI using a long-pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser.[1]
The theory covers targets separated from the pigment that absorbs the light, such as follicle stem cells. It supports pulses much longer than the target's thermal relaxation time.[1]
Rule 64B8-56.002 took effect on 12 September 2001, allowing trained electrologists to use FDA-cleared laser and light devices under physician supervision. It was last amended on 11 March 2021 and now allows supervision by telehealth.[1][2]
The FDA cleared the TRIA diode laser on 23 December 2009 as an over-the-counter device for hair removal and permanent reduction in regrowth.[1]
People
Their studies set the devices and settings in use today.
Co-described selective photothermolysis in 1983 and led the Massachusetts General Hospital ruby, diode and extended-theory studies.[1][2][3]
Co-author of the 1983 Science paper on selective photothermolysis.[1]
First author of the first study of ruby laser pulses for hair follicle destruction.[1]
Published the 2-year ruby laser results and reviews of lasers and intense pulsed light for hair removal.[1][2][3]
First author of the long-term ruby laser and 800 nm diode laser studies.[1][2]
Published the Q-switched and long-pulsed Nd:YAG studies, including hair removal in skin types IV to VI.[1][2][3]
Published the first EpiLight intense pulsed light hair removal studies, with 1-year follow-up.[1][2]
First author of the extended theory of selective photothermolysis.[1]
Published the sun-reactive skin types I through VI.[1]
Located hair follicle stem cells in the bulge.[1]
Author of the Cochrane review of laser and light hair removal and of trials of home-use devices.[1][2][3]
Published reviews of laser hair removal and long-term diode laser studies.[1][2]