What is electrolysis; is it a new fad?
“Electrolysis” is a term that has become synonymous with permanent hair removal since 1875. Originally it was a process involving the insertion of a wire filament into the hair follicle (the pocket from which the hair grows), while the patient held an electrode. A weak current, generated by a battery, was passed from the electrode, through the patient’s body to the wire filament and back to the battery. When the current passed through the follicle, the sodium ions (Na) from the salt molecules (NaCl sodium chloride) present in the tissue would combine with the hydroxyl ions (OH) from the water (H2O) in the tissue to form sodium hydroxide (NaOH), commonly called “lye.” Lye is a caustic substance that dissolves protein, like the protein in the hair and the lining of the hair follicle. Thus the “electrolysis” method chemically destroys the structures inside the follicle that produce the hair.
