|
Hair
removal by threading
Threading is a popular form of hair removal found predominantly
in communities where there are a high percentage of Asians, Indians,
Pakistan, Arabs, or Egyptian people. It's a centuries old hair removal
method that has been passed down from generation to generation in
the middle east. Threading is called khite in Arabic and fatlah
in Egyptian.
Threading is a method of mass plucking hair. The cotton thread
is twisted, then slid back and forth to snag the hair. The practitioner
holds one end of the cotton thread in his or her teeth and the other
in the left hand. The middle is looped through the index and middle
fingers of the right hand. The practitioner then uses the loop to
trap a series of unwanted hairs and pull them from the skin. There
are also devices made that can hold the thread during the procedure.
When properly done, it can be used to shape the eyebrows with a
clean defining edge. It can be used to remove hair from the upper
and lower lip as well as other areas of the face.
The traditional method of tweezing can be time consuming, somewhat
uncomfortable, and can be anything but exact. Threading can take
only five minutes, is comparatively less painless and it gives a
pretty smooth and even result. Threading can be obtained professionally
at some salon, mostly those serving ethnic communities, but threading
is gaining in popularity among other communities too. The cost of
threading varies considerably from place to place, but as a rough
guide, eyebrows can be done under $20 and the entire face can be
done for $40 (as of November 2003). For best results, you will need
to have the procedure done about every four weeks.
Threading is a great alternative for people who are not able to
have waxing due to laser treatment, peels and alpha hydroxy products
or who have problems with sensitivity to waxing and chemical hair
removal. The effects are generally less than with other hair plucking
removal methods such as tweezing, waxing or sugaring. The skin may
be somewhat red and sore for half an hour after the procedure but
only a slight pinch is felt as the hair is removed and a relatively
large area is covered in a short space of time. Unlike waxing or
the use of depilatories, irritation and skin rashes are avoided
as the top layer of dead skin is not stripped off in the process.
There are however, some minor side effect risks. For some people
the skin can be painful and cause itchy afterwards. A few people
may develop folliculitis, a bacterial infection in the hair follicles,
skin reddening or puffiness, and occasionally some people may experience
changes in skin pigment. After a threading procedure, some salons
will cover the treated area with a blend of essential oils to soothe
the skin and to provide some antibacterial action.
Hair
removal by threading references
- Abdel-Gawad MM, Abdel-Hamid IA, Wagner RF Jr.
Khite: a non-Western technique for temporary hair removal. Int
J Dermatol. 1997 Mar;36(3):217.
|
