Unlike other mammals, humans have a thing about getting rid of what makes us, well, mammalian. Whatever the reason, we’ve long been focused on getting rid of the hair covering certain areas of our bodies.
Ancient Egyptians used tweezers made from seashells to pluck every hair they could find, leaving only the eyebrows. Other methods with varying degrees of pain and risk were employed to get rid of the hair. To be hair-free was a signal of status.
The problem is, there are about five million hair follicles on your body. The only areas that don’t grow hair are the palms of our hands, the soles of our feet, and the red part of our lips. Each of those five million hairs works on its own. They don’t align in their timing through the hair cycle because that would make for times when we had no hair. But that lack of coordination makes it hard to get rid of as many unwanted hairs as possible without a series of sessions with your friends at Romeo & Juliette Laser Hair Removal.
At Romeo & Juliette we have 12 lasers for hair removal. That’s a far cry from the Egyptians and their seashells. In case you’ve ever wondered how we got here, let’s get into a little history of laser hair removal in this near-spring blog.
The first lasers for hair removal
It’s odd to think of a scientist developing a laser to get rid of hair when the Defense Department was trying to develop them into super weapons. But Theodore H. Maiman developed the first laser designed to destroy not Russians, but hair follicles on July 7, 1960. The ruby laser Maiman developed was slow and inaccurate. It did minimize hair growth, but it could severely burn the skin. Plus, the ruby laser could only target a few hair follicles at one time making the process glacial at best.
The alexandrite laser was developed in the 1970s. Although alexandrite lasers didn’t burn the skin as ruby lasers did, they also didn’t deliver enough energy to fully destroy the hair follicles. Achieving true hair reduction would take years and dozens of appointments.
The YAG laser was approved by the FDA for hair removal in 1964 but it also was unable to create permanent removal. Then in 1983 scientists developed a laser that utilized a pulse duration in order to target the hair follicle. This pulse delivery allowed the laser to target the melanin in the hair and damage the follicle without damaging the skin.
Today, there are a variety of lasers used for permanent hair removal. In fact, at Romeo & Juliette Laser Hair Removal, we have 12 different lasers for the job. Each has different characteristics that can address hair color, skin pigmentation, and other variables.
That’s why Romeo & Juliette is the only place you need to go for your laser hair removal. Our expertise and technology are unmatched. Call us at (212) 750-2000 for an appointment.