No More Hair

A CBS 2 News Special Assignment

The newest thing in what's known as "Me Medicine" isn't a teeth-whitening formula or the latest liposuction surgery. It's actually laser hair removal.

According to CBS 2 News, Americans spend $1.5 billion a year to get rid of unwanted hair.

CBS 2 News' Lonni Leavitt examined the fast "growing" business of laser hair removal.

CBS 2 News' Special Assignment: 'No More Hair' aired Wednesday, March 18, 1998 at 11 p.m.

It's not what you see, but what you don't see that's considered attractive these days.

You don't often see American women with mustaches and hairy armpits or men with hair all over their backs, said CBS 2 News' Lonni Leavitt.

This perception of what's attractive and what's not is sending droves of men and women to their doctor's office -- not for a prescription or a pill -- but for a flash of light.

"We just did about 130 hairs in one, instantaneously, one second," Dermatologist Dr. Edward Tobinick told Leavitt as he zapped away unwanted hairs on a patient.

Laser hair removal is easy, fast and for most people, relatively pain free, said Leavitt.

About 70 percent of Dr. Tobinick's patients are women but he does see a number of men as well. Chuck Glauberman came to see Tobinick because he wanted some hair removed from his ears.

"I suddenly realized that the older one gets, there is suddenly hair popping up all over and I just can't stand it," Glaubermann told Leavitt.

There are a number of lasers that people can chose from. CBS 2 News started with Dr. Tobinick's laser -- the Photolysis H.R.

"There is no pre- or post-operative medication," said Tobinick. "There is no healing time. It's all done just in a matter of a few minutes."

Meanwhile, at Dr. Ronald Moy's office, a different laser is used to get the same result -- less hair, said Leavitt. The laser at Moy's office is called the long pulse ruby laser.

"The main benefit is if you compare electrolysis, you have to stick a needle down each hair follicle," said Dr. Moy. "With lasers, you can treat a whole lip area in just minutes."

The newest laser on the market called the Alexandrite laser, said Leavitt. It took Dr. Kathleen Adair a little over a minute to remove hair from a woman's upper lip.

All three of the lasers work similar to each other. The laser beams right through the skin without harming it, then zaps the hair follicle, said Leavitt.

Thee are limitations on who can benefit from the laser treatments.

"Not everyone is a candidate (for the procedure)," Tobinick said. "Patients with dark skin can only be done to a limited degree."

The doctor said to really zap the hair, it must be darker than the person's skin color.

There are also other shortcomings. Although a lot of the advertisements say the lasers provide permanent hair removal, that's not entirely true, said Leavitt.

"The way I word it to a patient is it is long term removal," Moy explained. "At least when the hair comes back it is thinner and doesn't come back as frequently."

"When you use any treatment to remove hair, you know you are only going to get part of the hair to go away because the hair grows in cycles," said Adair.

So basically, any of the laser procedures won't be a one-time treatment, said Leavitt.

The average cost for the laser hair removal is about $500 to treat a small area of hair, said Leavitt. Many times people need three, four or five treatments plus touch-ups down the road.

"It is my understanding that it is supposed to be permanent," Glauberman said. "And if it is not, I will be happy to do it again."

So which is the best laser treatment?

They all seem to be pretty closely related, said Leavitt. She added that each one is so new that there's not much research to support one over the other.

Those considering a laser procedure should keep in mind that they can be dangerous, said Leavitt. In some cases, patients experience some soreness, puffiness and even skin burns from the laser.