Deep, course hairs cannot always be cauterized or per- manently eliminated in just one treatment; to attempt to do so would invite leaving a permanent pit or depression in the skin. Breaking down the hair germ cells in a series of treatments allows permanent hair removal gradually.

The first treatment may only partially destroy the hair matrix, although the hair itself will be removed. The hair cell will produce another hair, but it will be finer than the first, and will surface in about five to seven weeks after the first treat- ment. Sometimes the same hair might take as long as three to five months to reappear. The treatment is repeated when the second hair appears, and so on until the cells have been com- pletely destroyed (See Fig. 5).

FIG. 5

THE NORMAL

HAIR GROWTH CYCLE

Hair on various parts of the body have different growth cycles. Eyebrows and eyelashes. as an example, grow for five to six months, and then are shed. The average human scalp hair grows for approximately two years before being sloughed. Once the hair is shed, the fol- licle lapses into a dormant state, lasting for several rnonths. There will be no new hair produced during this resting period, as the derma papilla, or hair cell, rebuilds its strength for the next hair it will generate, which in turn will grow for its usual cycle, and then be shed. It is estimated that at least 20% of the body's hair follicles are dor- mant at any given time.

Since it is only possible to treat hairs that are visible, even if each visible hair in the treatment area is permanently removed during the first six months, there will still be a large

D'ANUNCI proportion of the total hairs

2nd Stage

3 Stage

1st Stage

Stage Complete Sterizatie"

-74-

scattered through the area that had been dormant (see Fig.6).

Although this proportion is sometimes mistaken for regrowth it is actually hair emerging from dormancy and available for treatment for the first time. Electrolysis, therefore, takes from six to nine months to