The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-17
LADIES.
The Treatment Resorted to to Clenr OG the
Dear Ones Faces.

Dear Ones Faces.
st. Louis Republicans.
you would hardly credit, said "A doctor. the
large number of lady patients | have whose only
allmenti Is u surplusago Of hair upon the face.
of course, this hair removing on my part is only
an item Of my professional duties. hut for all
that it is a pretty heavy one. and quite a lucra-
tive one withal. My patients in this line natur-
ally belong to the better class-that is to say, to
those who are most anxious to preserve or i'm
prove their looks, and who are able to afford the
necessary expense that such attendance from a
regular physician entails. In the case of a lady
a visible growth of hair is by no means olna-
mental to an otherwise pretty or attractive face,
and she is willing, therefore, to test any expert
ment that promises to rid her of this unwelcome
growth.
MANY women devote hours in every week to
pulling out these disfguring hairs with the
tweezers, the only result being a very temporary
Improvement in appearance and the necessity
for a continual repetition of this painful OPP
Grafton. Hair can never be eradicated by de
pilitation; in fact, is only strengthened by it, and
after pulling springs up again with ever-increas-
ing coarSeness and darkening of color Almost
every woman so troubled has used some of the
depilatOry powders with which the market is
Hooded, but III every instance they have had
reason to regret their folly. All these uostrums
are injurious to the complexion, and many of
them are utterly rulnOuS to the skin. To an at
tempt to hide the disiguring effect cf these
depilatories is due much of the paint and pow
der that we see upon the faces of young women
nowadays: and the worst feature is that after
they have destroyed their compilations they
find that these depilatories have only
burned Oft the surface hair, leaving the roots to
sprout out afresh. Electrolysis, on the other
hand, although very little more painful than the
application of tweezers, Is invariably successful
IN the permanent removal of hair, and leaves no
perceptable blemish upon the skin. At the out
side not more than ten per cent. of the roots retain
life after a first operation, if properly conducted,
ami a second application destroys these stras
glers without fail.
Women of nervous temperament are proba-
bly, 4 trite more subject to hirsuties than those
of a quieter disposition, but this is not sufficiently
marked for any rule to be laid down in this mat
ter either as to complexion, mental characters
ties or habits. 10 many women, to most indeed,
Il palpable evidence Of beard upon their faces is
so annoying that it is apt to affect their spirits.
and finally their general health. This fact ]
have repeatedly noticed in the good effect pro-
duced. upon the mental and physical condi-
ton of my patients by the eradication of
the obnoxious hair. In some cases they merely
desire to crafty a fancy, as happened last week,
for instance, when Il lady who had 4 small mole
upon her cheek, which she evidently regarded as
a beauty-spot, requested me to remove four of
seven hairs that were growing from it. but not
to touch the other three. l suggested that !
could have the mole itself removed if she wished:
but this idea seemed to horrifv her so that She
actually looked as if she would faint. As "a rule.
however, my bearded ladies are anxious to make
a clean sweep of it, and submit to the necessary
pain of the prolonged operation without so muah
as a whimpcr. In one case | destroyed as many
as 300 hairs at a sitting lit was a matrimonial
urgency easel but | rarely care to 20 beyond
fifty, as the operation is a severe strain upon the
eyes. There are a good many ladies who shave
regularly, quite a number of them EN-
ploying BARRIERS, who call upon them at their
houses. had one patient, quite Il pretty girl,
and no more than twenty years of age, whose
beard was stronger than a mans and who was
obliged to shave three times a week. | eradicated
np7sa tbaO tbpea tbnuSap1 boirpao+s frD,,, la.
face and neck, and to-day she has not a trace Of
beard.
The process of removing these i|ncipient
boards is very simple, | place my patient in a
chair with her back to the wall On the wall
behind | have two isolated wires, and to the
end of one Of these | atiix an instrument, which
| need not describe, and a bit of sponge: to the
other end fasten in a gold needle as fine as II
thread of babys hair. Then | place the sponge
instrument in my patients left hand take the
needle instrument in my right hand and u large
magnifying glass in my left. The head of my
patient | press gently back until it rests firmly
in the chair; the chin has to be held
as high as possible. l introduce the
needle into the follicle by the side of the
hair; and as every hair grows at a different an
gle under the skin | feel about gently until l get
the proper direction. and then push it inward
till it reaches the base Of the follicle. at which
point the root of the hair ends. If this is at all
skillfully done the needle will not prick the skin.
nor give the patient the least pam. although the
IOiilb DtictIdlCS uHC OlllNl VI ulDIG nan d NNdI
ter of an inch. The patient now places her right
hand upon the sponge, completing the circuit, and
acurrentof electricity passes through the point of
the needle, and so burns up the root of the hair.
The patient removes her hanG from the sponge,
and l draw out the needle. When l draw cut
the hair with the tweezeIs the patient does not
feel it, for the root has lost its hold and is moth
ing but an empty sack. When, through
overhaste, the electrolytic action is
checked before its work is completed, "A dwarfed
hair may spring up i'll the place of its more Wig
orous predecessor, but where care has been tax
en- the follicle will never give birth to another
hair. The needle carries the negative current.
while the positive is located in the sponge, and
the only absolutely necessary points required to
insure the success of each p%uncture are that the
needle should be pushed to the very bottom Of
the follicle and then TO be moved gently around
to enforce contact with every portion Of the root,
while a steady, uninterrupted current of cleo
tricity is kept up. So long as the patient keeps
her hand on the sponge she feels a sharp, but
not very painful burning sensation where the
needle rests, but if | We're to withdraw the latter
while her hand was still on the sponge by break
ing the current at a negative pole, she would re
ceive an unpleasant shock