The Dermatology Blog

Before Plucking

After Plucking

You can’t catch a cold from going outside without a jacket, and hairs don’t grow back thicker after you pluck them. I swear.

In fact, repeatedly plucking hairs can scar the follicle, which over time can lead to permanent loss of that hair. It is actually a very inexpensive way to remove unwanted hairs.

Waxing, threading, and plucking hairs are essentially the same thing; the hairs usually will grow back (unless you perform this repeatedly over a long period of time).

Electrolysis and laser hair removal, in contrast, destroy the hair follicle. Most of these hairs will not grow back and repeated treatment will lead to permanent hair removal.

If you pluck your hairs:

1. Start with good, clean slanted or straight tweezers. Be sure the edges are sharp, not damaged.
2. Pluck in the direction that the hair grows.
3. Grab and pull the hair out in one quick motion.
4. Pluck only one hair at a time.
5. Repeat.
6. Repeat again.

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This is a popular one, perpetuated by fitness and fashion magazines.

Only one study ever linked drinking water with skin hydration. That study used expensive mineral water, not plain bottled or tap water, and the study didn’t have a control group.

No study has ever shown regular water has any impact on your skin and no controlled study has ever shown that any type of drinking water has an effect on your skin.

From a physiologic perspective, drinking water could only have a negligible impact on your skin’s hydration. In fact, patients who have too much water in their tissues (edema) do not have healthy skin. For example, patients with venus insufficiency who have swollen, fluid filled legs have skin that is often dry, itchy, and scaly.

The amount of water in your skin after a 5 minute shower is magnitudes higher than you could achieve by trying to hydrate it from the inside out. The key is to apply a cream or ointment when your skin is still wet to seal in the moisture.

Then drink as little or as much water as you like.