Any client who comes to Furless, will eventually ask how many sessions are needed to remove all the unwanted hair. The answer has a lot to do with the hair’s lifecycle. Determining the number of sessions you may need to remove all the annoying hair permanently, will always depend on your unique case in terms of hair growth and skin care. This is why we always advise all our clients to come for a free consultation, during which our senior electrologist will be able to give her professional opinion.
Understanding hair growth will help clarify why more than one session is needed. First, you must know that hair growth consists of three distinct stages: Anagen, Catagen and Telogen. Each and every hair will go through these stages before completely falling out. However, it will not grow at the same rate. Each strand of hair will be going through one of the three stages at any given time.
The first phase hair starts at is the Anagen Phase. This is the active phase of the hair, in which new hair is formed at the bottom of the hair follicle underneath the skin. The hair will grow outwards pushing previous hair that stopped growing, called “club hair”, out. During this phase, the hair is connected to blood vessels that nourish it.
- Note that, the Anagen phase of scalp hair is longer than that of the hair on your arms, legs, eyelashes, and eyebrows. This is why they are so much shorter at all times.
The second phase of the hair’s lifecycle is the Catagen Phase. This is a short transitional stage that forms the club hair (full grown hair). During this short phase, the hair bulb at the bottom of the follicle detaches from the blood vessels and moves upwards. The sebaceous gland acts as a lubricant helping the hair move up and the follicle shrinks to encourage this upwards movement.
Finally, the last phase of the hair is the resting phase and is called the Telogen Phase. During this stage, the hair follicle is completely at rest and the club hair is completely formed until it eventually falls out. This stage of the lifecycle lasts longer in body hair.
Ideally, the best stage to remove your unwanted body hair for a successful electrolysis session is the Anagen Phase. At this stage all your hair is visible and all the chemical elements (water/salt based solution) are provided for a good “reaction” to enable the follicle to grow hair in the future. To catch the hair at the Anagen phase more than one session is needed. Just keep in mind that good things that last are never done overnight!