Electrology History: Timeline for Permanent Methods, 1875

1875 – The first effective technique of permanent hair removal invented was electrolysis. Noted earlier in my blog notes, the technique was devised by an ophthalmologist, Charles E. Michel of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1875. Dr. Michel had tried for many years to solve the problem of the grown eyelashes, which cased sever irritations.

Trying a new technique to solve the problem, Michel attache a very fine conductor wire to a dry cell battery. He then attached the wire to a surgical needle and inserted it into the follicle of the eyelash. After the treatment the hair did not regrow and history was made.

The electrolysis treatment devised by Dr. Michel used a galvanic or direct current. The electricity chemically decomposed the dermal papilla of the hair follicle. ~Modern Electrology: Excess Hair Its Causes and Treatments by Fino Gior