LESLY DAVIDSON, MD’s FORUM
No direct comparison
directElectrolysis successful wherelaser hair removal fails
Publish date: September 1, 2011
By: John Jesitus

Dermatology Timesu Direct comparison of lasers and electrolysis difficult

due to price variations based on body area and hairtype being treatedu Electrolysis useful in treating areas that are
inappropriate for lasersu Potential adverse events with electrolysis are
generally similar to those with lasers

Establishing direct comparisons between laser treatments
and electrolysis is difficult because prices in both arenas varydepending on factors such as the body area being treatedand how much and what kind of hair is present, Dr.
Davidson says.
"The average electrolysis treatment costs between $35 and$52 for a half-hour," she says.
In one case, treating an average patient's bikini line required
about 20 treatments (averaging 24 minutes each) over twoyears.
"The total cost was $601," Dr. Davidson says.
In contrast, Dr. Davidson says dermatologists typicallycharge in the neighborhood of $300 to $500 per laser treatment session.

Mount Pleasant, S.C. — Electrolysis provides a safe, "According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons,permanent alternative for patients who don't want or are the average price of a laser treatment is $429," she says.
not appropriate for laser treatments.
"Lasers have gotten very popular, but they don't fulfill all adermatologist's needs for hair removal. When lasers camealong, many dermatologists didn't understand that they can't
do everything that electrolysis does," says Lesly Davidson,M.D., a dermatologist in private practice in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

A typical bikini line treatment requires three to six sessions.
At a rate of $500 per treatment, "That's up to five times as
expensive as electrolysis. But it's a lot more convenient,"
although patients also will require ongoing maintenance laser
treatments to keep the hair away, she says.

"It's not that one treatment is better than the other. Eachhas advantages in different situations," Dr. Davidson says.
Electrolysis, which uses current passed through a needle in- If a patient is concerned about predominantly white facialserted down the hair follicle, has existed since the late 1800s, hair, "Laser is not going to treat that at all," she says.
Dr. Davidson says. And it's the only method approved by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permanent If an African-American patient with very dark skin wants
hair removal. In contrast, she says that FDA-approved la- to remove dark hairs, "You can't do a treatment that's gosers are approved for permanent hair reduction only.
ing to be effective in that scenario" because patients would
Because lasers work by destroying pigment, Dr. Davidson
says, "Lasers are great for removing dark hair on white skin,
but they're not great for removing other colors of hair —particularly white or vellus hair."Electrolysis works on these hairs because its mechanism ofaction has nothing to do with pigment, she says. However,
it's more time-consuming than lasers because it must be
done hair by hair.
8Electrology World 2011 – Vol. 30, Issue 3

experience burning, Dr. Davidson says.
Additionally, many physicians will not treat certain body
locations such as the eyebrows and between the eyes withlasers. "There have been many reports of eye damage causedby lasers in these areas," Dr. Davidson says. "In fact, theFrench Society of Dermatology recommends not ablating
continued on page 9

continued from page 8eyebrows with lasers (Le Jeune M, Autié M, Monnet D,Brézin AP. Eur J Dermatol. 2007;17(6):553-554. Epub
2007 Oct 19)."

Hand-in-handElectrolysis can work hand-in-hand with laser treatments
to treat areas inappropriate for lasers. It's part of the American Electrology Association's (AEA) mission to remind dermatologists that in such cases, "There's probably an electrologist in your town who would be more than happy tofill the gap," Dr. Davidson says.
Somewhat similarly, she says, when treating the face with alaser, "In any area that is strongly affected by androgens, wehave seen many cases of paradoxical hypertrichosis." Thisconsists of thick, dark hairs growing in the lateral face or
sideburn area and neck.
"That can be very frustrating — a patient is trying to remove hair, and they start getting more hair. This is anotherarea where electrolysis is a better way to go," Dr. Davidsonsays.
However, "The problem is that for doctors to know a lot
about electrolysis, they have to get to know an electrologist
or learn about the AEA because electrolysis is not a medical
specialty — it's an age-old beauty specialty, for lack of abetter term," Dr. Davidson says. "Even though many stateslicense electrologists, there's not a lot of research in the literature because electrologists don't write scientific papers."
Moreover, the few scientific publications that mention electrolysis position it as a competitor in studies designed tocast favorable light on a new laser, Dr. Davidson says.

"It would be a shame to lose it," she says. For the foreseeable future, "We're always going to need electrolysis to do
the things that laser can't."
Dr. Davidson says that in her practice, she does not provide any laser treatments and refers many patients each week
to local electrologists (she also refers appropriate patientsto laser treatment providers).
"Whenever excess hair growth comes up, I usually talk about
the pros and cons of either option," she says.
Adverse events
Potential adverse events (AEs) associated with electrolysis
are generally similar to laser AEs, Dr. Davidson says. The
most common ones include redness and swelling, whichlast up to a few hours, in the treated area.
"Some people consider electrolysis painful," she says.
"That's certainly true of lasers, too. There are ways to getaround that," such as using topical anesthetics.
Electrolysis also can cause temporary hyperpigmentation,and occasionally bruising or small areas of crusting, Dr.
Davidson says. "Scarring is extremely rare. It has been reported when electrolysis is not done correctly."

Disclosures: Dr. Davidson is a volunteer for the AEA.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Excerpted and Reprinted withpermission from Dermatology Times, September 2011.
Dermatology Times is a copyrighted publication ofAdvanstar Communications. All rights reserved.

"Since there's nothing else in the medical literature about
electrolysis, that's the only place where doctors are getting
information" about the procedure, she says.
"Perhaps it's hard for people who have lasers to be as awarethat sometimes they need to use something else," Dr.
Davidson says.

Please send questions toDr. Davidson at:
reginarakar@yahoo.com

Dermatologists need electrolysis to remain a viable treatment option, however, because patients who can't undergo
laser hair removal treatments will struggle without it, shesays.

Electrology World 2011 – Vol. 30, Issue 39