Question:
alopecia sufferer who has had enoughcan anyone recommend a product that can get rid of hair. I have been
suffering from alopecia areata for the last 20 years now and am fed up to
the gills with trying to hide my bald patches and I think that the time has
come to shave off all my hair. However, I don't want to be left with the 5
o'clock shadow left in the places where my hair still grows. Is there any
product out there that will get round this problem.
Answer:
Unwanted hair growth remains a therapeutic challenge and an effective
treatment modality without side effects is needed. Today, hair removal is
offered with lasers and light sources and patients may expect long-lasting
or permanent hair removal. Evidence-based clinical results have been
considerably examined for ruby and alexandrite lasers, whereas there is
little documentation on Nd:YAG and diode lasers. The results with the
diode laser are, however, promising. No controlled clinical studies have
been published with intense pulsed light sources. We conclude that there
is scientific evidence of a short-term effect after hair removal with
ruby, alexandrite, Nd:YAG, and diode lasers (three, six months). Ruby and
diode lasers may have a long-lasting effect (one year), but this, however,
must be further clarified. No studies have examined whether laser hair
removal may be permanent. The occurrence of postoperative side effects is
reported to be low for all laser systems. From this review of the
literature, we conclude that laser hair removal does not at the moment
have a permanent or convincing long-lasting effectiveness.
