We all want to get rid of our unwanted hair, but not necessarily at the cost of intolerable pain. While some people will definitely take any pain to get the smooth skin that they are looking for, far from everyone is willing to undergo such unpleasantness. Luckily, there are several forms of hair removal that are likely to cause little to no discomfort. While the most and least painful methods of hair removal might also depends on who you ask, there are a few facts that many people would agree on.
Waxing is described by many people as the most painful thing they have ever experienced. It is right in the moment where the wax is being ripped from the skin that hurts the most, in fact, this pain is often described as excruciating. However, the pain will usually subside after the first couple of strips, because that is when the body’s own painkillers, endorphins, kick in. Other than taking a painkiller prior to treatment, there isn’t much else one can do to ease the pain of waxing. But waxing is still a popular form of hair removal, because it leaves the skin smooth for several weeks.
Laser hair removal treatments are often experienced as painful, but not necessarily more so than waxing. There are those who swear that waxing hurt more than laser hair removal. This can be related to the individual pain tolerance, but also to other factors, such as how new the laser machine is and what was done to ease the pain. While many practitioners will use a chiller, cooling gel or numbing cream, newer laser machines come with a built in cooling device that helps to reduce discomfort, and that can be the reason laser hair removal is experienced as less painful than waxing.
IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatments can also be painful, but again, much of it has to do with which machine is being used as well as pain relief. Threading is a form of hair removal that is usually done only facial areas but can be very painful. Shaving is a much less painful method of hair removal, but it does have its side effects, and can easily lead to skin irritation, where there will be a stinging sensation, especially if the skin is being shaved frequently. Methods of hair removal that are pain free include depilatories, such as “Nair”, these do not cause any pain.
While pain will always remain an individual subject, meaning it is experienced differently from person to person, there is a general consensus of which hair removal methods hurt the most as well as the least. Waxing, laser hair removal, IPL and threading are considered the most painful forms of hair removal, while shaving and depilatory creams are the least painful forms. Trying a variety of hair removal methods to see which ones are efficient and tolerable is always a good idea in the battle against unwanted hair.
