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Electrolysis Terms and Dictionary
 

Quick Reference Directory

Anagen:  A fully mature growing hair.  The first phase of the hair growth cycle (active or lengthening).

Adrenal Virilism: A disease relating to the adrenal glands or their secretions accompanied by the presence of male secondary sexual characteristics in a female.

Androgens:  A steroid hormone, such as testosterone or androsterone, that controls the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics. Also called androgenic hormone.

Anode:  A positively charged electrode, as of an electrolytic cell, storage battery, or electron tube.

Blend Electrolysis:  The administration of galvanic and shortwave flux electrolysis to dermal tissue with an insertion probe or needle for the purpose of follicle destruction.

Cathode:  A negatively charged electrode, as of an electrolytic cell, storage battery, or electron tube.

Caustic:   Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.

Cimetidine:  An OTC drug, C10H16N6S, that inhibits androgen secretion and receptor affinity in human subjects.

Cushing Syndrome:  A malignant new growth that arises from epithelium, found in skin or, more commonly, the lining of body organs, for example: breast, prostate, lung, stomach or bowel.

DNA Sequencing:  Also called DNA fingerprinting.  In genetics, method of isolating and making images of sequences of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).  Any lab technique used to find out the sequence of nucleotide bases in a DNA molecule or fragment.

EIRP:  Effective isotropic radiated power, energy radiated or transmitted as rays, waves, in the form of particles.

Electrical Pressure: Electromotive force or potential difference, usually expressed in volts.

Electrolysis:  n. Chemical change, especially decomposition, produced in an electrolyte by an electric current. Destruction of living tissue, especially of hair roots, by means of an electric current applied with an electrode.

Electrolyte:  Any of various ions, such as silver chloride, sodium, potassium, or chloride, required by cells to regulate the electric charge and flow of water molecules across the cell membrane.

Electrophoresis:  e·lec·tro·pho·re·sis n.  1) The migration of charged colloidal particles or molecules through a solution under the influence of an applied electric field usually provided by immersed electrodes. Also called cataphoresis.  2) A method of separating substances, especially proteins, and analyzing molecular structure based on the rate of movement of each component in a colloidal suspension while under the influence of an electric field.

FDA:  A Federal Agency in the US that regulates medical devices, drugs, and/or procedures for public safety.  The section of the FDA which governs electrolysis is the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CRDH).

Galvanic Electrolysis:  The administration of galvanic electrolysis to dermal tissue with an insertion probe or needle for the purpose of follicle destruction.

Galvanic Skin Resurfacing (G.S.R.):  A dermatology procedure in which electricity is applied to the skin for the purpose of collagen production, wrinkle reduction, blemish removal, and overall stimulation.  Generally considered more penetrating and aggressive than a standard chemical peel, with fewer side effects and substantially reduced risk of injury to the dermis.

Hertz:  A unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.

Hypothyroidism:  Insufficient production of thyroid hormones. A pathological condition resulting from severe thyroid insufficiency, which may lead to cretinism or myxedema.

Hirsutism:  Heavy growth of hair, often in abnormal distribution.

 Iatrogenic:  Induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of an infection or other complication of treatment.

Ionizing:  To convert or be converted totally or partially into ions.

Lanugo:  A covering of fine, soft hair, as on a leaf, an insect, or a newborn child.

Micro-Amps:  A unit of electric current in the meter-kilogram-second system. It is the steady current that when flowing in straight parallel wires of infinite length and negligible cross section, separated by a distance of one meter in free space, produces a force between the wires of 2 × 10-7 newtons per meter of length. A unit in the International System specified as one International coulomb per second and equal to 0.999835 ampere.

Microlysis:  The migration of charged colloidal particles or molecules through a solution under the influence of an applied electric field usually provided by immersed electrodes. Also called cataphoresis.  2) A method of separating substances, especially proteins, and analyzing molecular structure based on the rate of movement of each component in a colloidal suspension while under the influence of an electric field.

NaOH:  a white opaque brittle solid, NaOH, having a fibrous structure, produced by the action of quicklime, or of calcium hydrate (milk of lime), on sodium carbonate. It is a strong alkali, and is used in the manufacture of soap, in making wood pulp for paper, etc.

Non-Invasive:  The administration of electrolysis by other means than a needle (no penetration through or by way of the skin): also called transdermal inoculation; transdermal medication.  The administration of electrolysis to dermal tissue without an insertion probe or needle (example: electrified Q-tip). 

Ohms:  A unit of electrical resistance equal to that of a conductor in which a current of one ampere is produced by a potential of one volt across its terminals.

Oscillator:  n : produces radio frequency oscillations or alternating current.

Ovarian Cancer:  Any of various malignant neoplasms characterized by the proliferation of anaplastic cells that tend to invade surrounding tissue of ovaries and metastasize to new body sites. The pathological condition characterized by such growths.

Papilla:  A small nipplelike projection, such as a protuberance on the skin, at the root of a hair or feather, or at the base of a developing tooth.

Salicylic Acid:  A white crystalline acid, C6H4(OH)(COOH), used in making aspirin, as a preservative, and in the external treatment of skin conditions such as eczema.

ShortWave/RF:  Having a wavelength of approximately 10 to 200 meters. Capable of receiving or transmitting at wavelengths of approximately 10 to 200 meters: a shortwave radio.

Stein-Leventhal Syndrome:  Cystic growth and precancerous lesions inside the ovarian gland.

Synergistic:  Used especially of drugs or muscles that work together so the total effect is greater than the sum of the two (or more) [syn: interactive] [ant: antagonistic] 2: of or relating to the theological doctrine of synergism 3: working together; used especially of groups, as subsidiaries of a corporation, cooperating for an enhanced effect; "a synergistic effect" .

Thermolysis:  Physiology. Dissipation of heat from the body, as by evaporation. Chemistry. Dissociation or decomposition of compounds by heat.

Transdermal Electrolysis:  trans·der·mal (trns-dūrml, trnz-) adj. Through or by way of the skin: transdermal inoculation; transdermal medication.  The administration of electrolysis to dermal tissue without an insertion probe or needle (example: electrified Q-tip). 

µa:  The strength of an electric current expressed in amperes.

Viscosity:  Resistance of a liquid to sheer forces (and hence to flow).  Rate of which liquid flows by gravitational influence.

Watts:  An amount of power, especially electric power, expressed in watts or kilowatts.  The electric power required by an appliance or device.

Editorial Commentary

The pursuit of a hair-free body may be as old as the cavemen. Archaeologists have evidence that men shaved their faces as far back as twenty thousand years ago, using sharpened rocks and shells to scrape off hair. The Sumerians removed hair with tweezers. Ancient Arabians used string. Egyptians, including Cleopatra, also did it -- some with bronze razors they took to their tombs, some with sugar and others with beeswax. The Greeks, who equated smooth with civilized, did it, too. Roman men shaved their faces until Emperor Hadrian -- although Julius Caesar is said to have had his facial hairs plucked. Roman ladies also plucked their eyebrows with tweezers. Another primitive method of hair removal, actually used by women as late as the 1940s, involved rubbing off the hair by rubbing skin with abrasive mitts or discs the consistency of fine sandpaper.

As an alternative, there were lotion and cream depilatories (from the Latin d_pil_re: d_-, completely + pil_re, deprive of hair), which dissolved--and still do--hair above the surface of the skin. (It should be noted here that while the term depilatory has seemingly meant cream and lotion forms of hair removal, by definition it technically includes wax and sugar, as well.) Early depilatories were made from such choice ingredients as resin, pitch, white vine or ivy gum extracts, ass's fat, she-goat's gall, bat's blood and powdered viper. Evidence of depilatory use dates as far back as 4000-3000 B.C., when women used a depilatory ("rhusma turcorum") containing orpiment (natural arsenic trisulphide), quicklime (used to make cement) and starch made into a paste. Clearly, throughout history there have been drastic lengths to which people would go to eliminate body hair.

The Middle East
Among the ancient Egyptians, a clean-shaven face was a symbol of status. According to Herodotus, 'Egyptians are shaven at other times, but after a death they let their hair and beard grow.' They used depilatory creams, razors and pumice stones for this purpose. Both sexes shaved themselves bald and wore elaborate wigs. The practice of removing hair was not limited to the face and head. Egyptian women beeswaxed their legs. They also used depilatories made of starch, arsenic and quicklime.

This obsession with hairlessness probably had as much to do with hygiene as with ideals of beauty and fashion. The hot Middle Eastern climate encouraged germs and diseases to breed, and the removal of all body hair was a preventive measure against infection.

No doubt Middle Easterners used a hair removal process called body sugaring, involving the application of a natural, sugar-based paste (usually sugar, lemon and other natural ingredients cooked to the consistency of soft taffy) that was either rubbed or pulled off in the opposite direction of hair growth. The high sugar content inhibited bacterial growth in the region's hot environs. The method reputedly was born out of a Middle Eastern bridal ritual. The night before a wedding, Lebanese, Palestinian, Turkish and Egyptian brides had all body hair, except eyebrows and the hair on their heads, removed by the bridal party. According to lore, the bride maintained her hairless body throughout her marriage as a symbol of cleanliness and respect for her husband.

Not all eyebrows were left intact. Art and artifacts indicate that the Mesopotamians trimmed superfluous hair from their brows with tweezers. During the excavation of Ur, capital city of the Chaldeans, tweezers were found in a tomb dating back to about 3500 BC.

The hair removal process we call threading, comes from Arabia, where women laced cotton string through their fingers and ran it briskly over their legs to encircle and pull out the hair.

The Near East
In the Indus River Valley of Pakistan, hygiene was a religious imperative for the ancient Hindus. In ancient India, chest and pubic hair was shaved, and the chin and upper lip hair was shaved every fourth day.

Europe
An absence of body hair has been a European ideal since the Greeks and Romans. In Roman times, the first shave of a youth came to be regarded as the arrival of masculine adulthood and was offered as a token to his favorite god.

During the Middle Ages, upper class European women wanted to be pale. A 13th century French verse lists some of the requirements of a lady's toilette supplied by a traveling merchant; among the things are "razors and forceps."

The puritan element in the medieval church prevented most Englishwomen from using cosmetics. The Church believed that the use of cosmetics tampered with man's--and, therefore, God's--image. Indeed, in The Romaunt of the Rose, Chaucer personifies 'Beautee' as a woman who uses no 'peynte' and who leaves her brows unplucked.

Anglo Saxons did eventually use tweezers for plucking superfluous hairs from eyebrows and other body parts. By the mid-15th century, it was fashionable to have plucked eyebrows and a very high, shaved forehead.

High foreheads continued to be the fashion through Elizabethan times. If a woman didn't have a high forehead, she plucked her front hair to get one. It is said that mothers often used walnut oil on their children's foreheads in hopes of preventing hair growth. They also used bandages impregnated with vinegar and cat's dung.

It is also said that the Duke of Newcastle paid 40 pounds to have his wife's facial hair permanently removed, yet in a letter dated 1755, Horace Walpole refers to the Duke's retirement, saying that he can now 'let his beard grow as long as his Duchess's.'

There were many alternative methods of hair removal, ranging from pulverized egg shells to a mixture of cat's dung and vinegar. In the early 18th century (1700-1737) Lemery's Curiosa Arcana, published in 1711, gives a recipe for the complexion: To remove hair, one was instructed to 'Take the shells of 52 eggs, beat them small and distill them with a good fire.' Then, with the water, 'Anoint yourself where you would have the Hair off.' For ladies with more cats than chickens, Lemery recommended beating 'hard, dry Cats-dung...to a powder' and tempering it with strong vinegar for the same effect. Other homemade depilatories contained quick-lime.

It wasn't until the 18th century that the first instrument specifically designed as a safety razor appeared. Invented in 1762 by a French barber, Jean Jacques Perret, it employed a metal guard placed along one edge of the blade to prevent the blade from accidentally slicing into the shaver's skin.

North America
Native Americans tweezed their whiskers, hair by hair, between halves of a clam shell, and circa 1700 American women applied poultices of caustic lye to burn away hair.

There is evidence of the marketing of powdered depilatories in the United States by 1844. Writing about New York City in that year, Lydia Maria Child cited the case of the advertisements of a Dr. Gouraud, the maker of a depilatory powder, who promoted his product by linking it to the Queen of Sheba. Gouraud's ad claimed that Solomon, the Queen's famed paramour, invented a highly beautifying powder the secret of which died with Solomon until it was rediscovered by Dr. Gouraud, whose 'Poudre Subtile will effectually remove every appearance of beard from the lips.'

South America
Waxing has always been a rite of passage for Brazilian women, who used to use secretions from the Coco de Mono tree to remove hair. Today, mothers introduce their daughters at age 15 to the "aesthetic clinics" that do depilacao, using the cold wax method. Depiladoras (literally, wax women) even make house calls.

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