When seeking to remove hair from the body, it is a well-known fact that epilators do a much better job than shaving. However, they are also known to be more painful than shaving so if you are looking for ways to reduce the pain, here are some tips and tricks you could try.
Photo by Amy
Why It Hurts to Use an Epilator
Oddly, there really are reasons why epilators can cause a bit of pain. No, don’t be frightened as it isn’t unbearable like childbirth, but it hurts nonetheless. What happens is that the epilator literally plucks the hair which causes pain activators to be activated. They, in turn, send signals to the brain via nerves in the spine. This is the point when you say ‘Ouch!’ So the key is to find a way to reduce the sensation of plucking which is the ultimate cause of the sensation of pain.
Tip #1 Epilate on Wet Skin
There are models of epilators that can be used wet or dry. This is what you want to get when trying to epilate under water, and warm water works best. Just the very nature of how water literally floats the hair is often enough to ease the pain but also, wet hair follicles are softened enough to be relaxed, thus releasing the hair more easily.
Tip #2 Keep the Skin Taught
You know that when you pluck your eyebrows you always stretch the skin. The same principle applies here. By stretching the skin taught you will be reducing the pain caused when the epilator ‘plucks’ at hairs with its tiny tweezers.
Tip #3 Squeezing Also Works
Although it isn’t readily obvious why pinching the area around the skin you are epilating works, it really does. Have you ever had a splinter in your foot or finger? What did your mother do? That’s right! She pinched the skin to either side of the splinter before attempting to pluck it out. The reason this helps to reduce pain is because you are literally pinching off the nerves which then can’t send signals up the spine and to the brain. Pretty cool, right?
Tip #4 Wax First – Epilate Second
Many women find that by using waxing sheets on their legs first it hurts less when they epilate. Of course you need to find a way to dull the pain when you pull the waxed sheet off your leg but if you do it very quickly there is less pain. Imagine pulling at your hair over a period of seconds before it comes free from your head versus taking one strand and plucking it free. Which hurts less? Yes, of course the hair that you quickly pulled free. That’s why waxing helps ease the pain when epilating.
Tip #5 Good Old Fashioned Lidocaine
When all else fails, go to your local pharmacy and get a tube of lidocaine cream. You can also apply sunburn relief spray that also has a lidocaine base but the trick here is to give it a few minutes to do its job numbing the skin and nerves beneath but not too long where it will lose potency.
So here you have five easy ways to ease the pain caused by your epilator. There is just one more tip that should be mentioned and that is to get the best quality epilator you can afford. The better the quality, the better it will perform its function and for you that equates to less pain. As the old cliché says, you have to suffer a bit to be beautiful so just think how great you’ll look when you’ve finished removing all that hair!