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A randomized clinical trial on the comparison between hair shaving and snipping prior to laser hair removal sessions in women suffering from hirsutism
Author(s) -
Alijanpour Robabeh,
Aliakbarpour Fatemeh
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of cosmetic dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.626
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1473-2165
pISSN - 1473-2130
DOI - 10.1111/jocd.12280
Subject(s) - medicine , hirsutism , hair removal , randomized controlled trial , dermatology , surgery , insulin resistance , polycystic ovary , insulin
Summary Background and objectives Hirsutism or excess hair growth is a common dermatological problem in females, affecting up to 10% of females worldwide. We aimed this study to compare the two hair‐shortening methods shaving vs . snipping among hirsute women regarding the outcome of the therapy and also the paradoxical hypertrichosis phenomenon (terminal hair regrowth) 6 months after the final therapy session. Materials and Methods In this study, 129 premenopausal women affected by hirsutism were randomly divided into two study groups according to hair‐shortening method: shaving as group A (66 patients) and hair shortening by scissor as group B (63 patients). Each patient received six alexandrite laser therapy sessions every month for six consecutive months. Chin hairs in a 5 × 5 cm 2 zone were counted, and the paradoxical hair regrowth was evaluated four times during the study: once at baseline, once before the third session, once before the sixth session, and once 6 months after the last laser session. Results Before the third session, the counts were 15.06 ± 5.20 in group A and 13.07 ± 4.44 in group B ( P = 0.022); both counts were meaningfully less than the baseline count ( P < 0.001). The counts before the sixth session were 2.80 ± 1.16 in group A and 2.71 ± 1.12 in group B ( P = 0.673); the counts were significantly lower than the previous session ( P < 0.001). Six months after the last laser session, the counts were 11.27 ± 9.30 in group A and 8.15 ± 3.12 in group B ( P = 0.012). Paradoxical hypertrichosis was observed in three patients of group A vs . no patients in group B. Conclusion We found that alexandrite laser therapy is really effective for treating hirsutism. Both shaving and using a scissor for hair shortening showed similar short‐term results, but in one‐year follow‐up, paradoxical hypertrichosis was only observed in shaving group and also a lower hair count was observed in the snipping group.