Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-12-21
BEAUTY's BLEEIsHEs.
HOW THEY MAY BE oBLITERATED BY
MODERN METHODS.
Electrolysis Employed to Remove On.
slightly Capillary Growths-" The
World Do Move"

| Doctor" asked a SUNDAY UNION re
porter yesterday of one Of the physicianl
OF the city, what is there in this new
tangled fad called 'electrolysis,' which i.
said to be employed nowadays for the pur
pose of destroying or removing the ex
cessive growth of hair on the hands, face
or other portions of the human body? Oh
are you familiar with its alleged uses ano
the results thereof"
"Oh, yes" replied the man of medicine
II believe know something about it, and
am prepared to say there is something in
it. The term 'electrolysis' signifies de.
composition of substance by means of an
electric current. During the past ten years
the use of electricity has become an i'm.
portant agent in the treatment of certain
affections of the skin. Its value has al.
ready been thoroughly established, ard its
general employment is simply a question
of time. The recorded experience of few
American dermatologists has excited con-
siderable Interest both at home and
abroad.
made in recent years, the DEVELOPMENT of
the operation for the permanent removal
OF hair is without doubt the most brilliant.
few years ago one of the most celebrated
physicians of the day was asked for relief
by a bearded lady, who suffered intense
modification and distress owing TO her
supertiuous growth of hair, and he replied
that the only means of relief at our com.
mand is the daily use of the razor or the
employment of depilatory powder.
I'm 1880 lady with growth OF hair
upon chin and neck consulted the promi.
nent dermatologists in Vienna, and all
agreed that no one would promise per-
manent eradication Of such superhuous
hair but regular charlatan. In the ljgbt
of what has been accomplished in this
country, it is apparent that in one respect
ct least, our physicians are in advance of
the profession abroad. European authors
of recent date appear unacquainted with
this plan of treatment, or merely mention
it without giving any record of personal
experience.
Perhaps very few people have any ade.
quaie idea of the prevalence of an un.
natural growth of hair upon the female
face. OF the number of ladies in private
life who endeavor by artifice of various
kinds to conceal the unpleasant fact tLat
they have beard, it would be hard to form
an estimate. There are hundreds of such
cases. But OF those who have compare
lively moderate growth of coarse hair upon
the face, and particularly upon the chin.
the number is beyond computation. We
note instances of this hypertrichosis on
every hand-in the drawing room, on the
street, or wherever ladies congregate. Could
We but know the secrets of the boltdoiy. we
would be surprised how large percentage
OF our female acquaintance resort coca
sionally, if not habitually, to the use of the
depilatory, the razor or the tweezers.
Although an abnormal growth of this
character may not prove fatal, and to the
sterner sex may appear trivial, woman
derives very little satisfaction from the
fact that 'ugliness is not fatal 1t is con.
slant source Of ANNOYANCE. 1t is very apt
to affect her disposition and to iniure her
prospects in life, especially if she is young
and unmarried; and by the mental dis.
quietude. which in many instances it pro-
duces, Injuries the health and DESTROYS the
happiness.
THE cause of facial hirsuteness and other
blemishes, in the light of our present
knowledge, is not thoroughly settled. No
condition or set of symptoms are common
to all patients. Some are healthy and
strong, while others are debilitated; some
are extremely nervous, others not so in the
slightest degree; some are fair, others dark
eompiexioned; some stout, others thin:
some are maidens from twenty to fiftv,
others married; some have children; some
have none. The common idea that the
growth of beard in the female is neces-
sarily associated with masculine traits of
character is certainly not founded on fact,
for many such patients present the very
hignest type of feminine refinement
AS to the amount of pain occasioned by
the operation it may be stated that the
most sensitive and nervous rarely COM
plain of it. The majority OF patients say
that it is not as disagreeable as having
teeth filed, and many consider it no greater
than they experience in removing the hairs
with tweezers. Not only can superfuous
hair be removed successfully by means of
electrolysis, but other facial blemishes.
"Telangiectasis (wine mark or noepy
araneas. so-called from its resem blance to
spider (f,oeptss refrucosus), small wart or
mole which is frequently augmented, is
biemish often seen upon persons of mid
die or advanced age. Its removal can be
easily accomplished. there being no foun-
dation whatever that it is likely to turn
into cancer. There are ladies who affect
to regard an unsightly excrescence of this
kind as "a thing of beauty" but when
they find that it can be removed without
the use Of the knife and with very little
pain they very willingly part with it,