"Lasers belong in the hands of a doctor"

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Shaving, waxing, plucking, epilating - many fight against annoying body hair. Dermatologist Dr. Gerd Gauglitz * in a interview.

Mr. Gauglitz, what hairy problems do patients come to you with?

It is mostly women who want to get rid of their ladies' beard, excessive hair on the thighs and lower legs or in the bikini line. Some also fight for their navel with hair.

Do men not belong to your patients at all?

But of course, you can usually remove the hair on your back.

Most of them fight the unwanted hair growth themselves - when should you seek help from a dermatologist?

If you want to get rid of hair permanently. After waxing, epilating, shaving or using depilatory creams, body hair grows back sometimes faster and sometimes less quickly. A lot of people who come to me just want a permanent solution. In others, conventional methods inflame the hair follicle - an indentation of the epidermis, at the lower end of which the hair and the hair roots are formed. This is then expressed by annoying, sometimes itchy red spots on the skin.

Do you actually clarify the causes of the hairy growth?

If excessive hair growth occurs suddenly or if a patient reports problems with the menstrual cycle, one should pay attention. Then there can be hormonal causes behind it. A gynecologist has to clarify that.

How do you achieve permanent hair removal?

We work with lasers or flash lamps that destroy the hair roots with short pulses of light. Sufficient penetration depths are often not achieved with the flash lamps. Then the hair grows back after a while. But regardless of whether it is a laser or a flash lamp, a single treatment is not enough.

How often do you have to be lasered?

It depends on the device. On average, a laser takes six to eight sessions. With a flashlight it can be ten to fifteen. The reason is that the hair is in different growth phases. We do not catch hair that is currently in the resting phase.

Cosmetic studios and hairdressers also offer laser hair removal. What do you make of it?

I think that such devices belong in the hands of doctors. Lasers and flash lamps are dangerous. The technical operation of the devices can be extremely different and is also not uncomplicated. You have to be familiar with it to avoid dangerous side effects.

Do you have a tomato-red face afterwards?

The worst is actually a burn on the skin. Blisters and even scars can form. This happens more often with flash lamps because you usually do not use a specific wavelength and heat other areas in the tissue relatively unspecifically. Other side effects are pigment shifts, i.e. long-lasting brown spots in the treated area. Conversely, it can also lead to depigmentation, here white areas are formed.

Do you have to invest your entire fortune to get rid of the annoying hair?

No, not exactly that. Depending on the size of the area, the price for a session is between 100 and 350 euros. If the costs are significantly lower, the practitioner is likely not a trained doctor. Because of the possible side effects, I'd rather invest a little more money and get someone who can do it laser surgery. The bottom line is that you probably save one or two sessions.

Blonde hair cannot be removed with lasers or flash lamps. Is that correct?

Yes and no. The decisive factor is the contrast between hair and skin - it should be as large as possible, otherwise the laser will not recognize the hair. So dark hair on light skin is optimal. But there are now also lasers that combine different wavelengths. In this way, patients can also be treated in whom the contrast is not so pronounced. But light, blonde hair on light skin is still very difficult to laser.

Maybe a little sun will help to increase the color difference between hair and skin?

No, under no circumstances should you have a pre-tanned laser treatment. Nor should you go to the beach right after your treatment in the Caribbean. This increases the risk of pigment shifting. In this respect, it makes sense to be treated in the winter half-year.

Waxing studios are all the rage - is that an alternative to lasers?

Personally, I would prefer a laser because it removes hair over the long term. The waxing has to be repeated every four to eight weeks and it is not cheap either. In addition, waxing often causes inflammation.

They also make a woman's beard disappear with a drug for sleeping sickness. How does this work?

The active substance in this medication, eflornithine, works by blocking an enzyme that is involved in hair formation. The cream must be applied twice a day. The problem is: once you stop doing it, the hair will sprout again as it did before.

A flawlessly beautiful skin without annoying hair is a common ideal of beauty today. Do you think so too?

A full coat also has advantages, for example it protects against the sun. However, there is no acute medical risk when removing body hair. The ideal of beauty changes again and again. In men, for example, there was the trend towards bare chests. According to various lifestyle magazines, you have already come back to your hairy chest. Ultimately, it's probably a matter of personal taste.

Dr. Gauglitz, thank you for talking to us.

The interview was conducted by Andrea Bannert.

* Dr. Gerd Gauglitz is Head of Aesthetic Dermatology at the Dermatological Clinic of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich

Tags:  alternative medicine hair elderly care