Do Epilators Hurt? How to Make Epilator Less Painful

Almost everyone considering using an epilator to eliminate objectionable hairs from their bodies wants to know how much pain they should expect. Unless you are new to these tools, your concern when trying to get one will most likely be to select a brand that promises the least pain. That’s because the mechanism of action of epilators cannot guarantee nearly painlessness. These handheld, tweezer-mouthed, rolling devices, though effective, can hurt so badly.

But isn’t life itself a blend of pain and pleasure? Do we then summarily dismiss an effective gadget just because it comes with momentary discomfort? These are the fundamental questions that this article seeks to address. Beyond establishing what is already an open secret, I will help you decide whether the pain that comes with using an epilator is worth it. Also, if you want helpful tips on easing this pain, here is where you can find them, too.

Perhaps you are reading about epilators for the first time; I will help you understand what they are and how they function. So, let’s kickstart by reviewing what epilators are.

A Look at What Epilators Are

The temporary nature of early hair removal approaches and their setbacks was why players in the beauty and personal upkeep space continue to invent new methods. Epilators came as an improvement to waxing, which uses strips or sugar to remove hairs from their roots. These devices do the same but with more precision. With epilators, you can uproot fine and short hairs that the best wax would miss.

According to historical records, Mepro’s first epilators were manufactured in Israel in 1986. Today, many notable brands like Braun, Remington, and Panasonic manufacture these beauty gadgets for home and commercial use. The motors drive the tweezers, which roll the head in a manner that collects hairs and uproots them.

Considering the location of hair roots – two layers deep into the skin – it’s no surprise why epilation hurts. Can you remember when you or someone inadvertently removed a strand from your leg? How pleasant was it? Now, imagine a device grabbing as many as 30 strands at once and uprooting them.

Do All Epilators Look Alike?

Since different brands manufacture different epilators, they can’t look alike. While their operating mechanism may be similar, certain factors set epilators apart. One of these differentiating factors is the design of their heads. Some look and work like tweezers, while others contain springs that pull out the hairs from the body. The third type, which is famous with Remington, has rotating discs.

We can also categorize epilators based on their functioning medium. In this regard, we have wet, dry, and wet & dry epilators. This categorization means that some epilators function in wet mediums while others don’t. Most modern releases function in both mediums to give users more freedom to decide what they want.

Pro Tip: Epilation is best done on dry skin and hair. Although it hurts more when your skin is dry, you won’t miss any strands, and you only have to run the tool over your skin once.

Do Epilators Hurt?

Yes, epilators hurt, especially when used for the first time. The degree of pain you will experience depends on your tolerance level, the coarseness of the hair, and the area you’re working on. Be ready to do some cringing if you’re epilating your pubic area or armpit; these places are damn sensitive!

Although there are ways to minimize discomfort when using these tools (I will touch on this later), the best effort will still not eradicate all pain. That’s because unlike shaving, which cuts hairs very close to the skin, this tool pulls them out.

People who say that epilators do not hurt have either been using them for a long time or are numb to sensations. Their numbness may be because of a medication taken or a condition. But where none of this is the case, epilators cause stinging or pinching sensations, which many people find discomforting.

If Epilators Truly Hurt, Why Are People Still Buying Them?

For some, the expensiveness of the alternatives to epilators is why they still stick to this painful hair-removal approach. Most epilators cost less than $50, although some are more expensive than that. However, when you consider superior devices like lasers and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) devices, the initial cost of procurement can be discouraging. Yes, they are better and more effective, but so also is their price.

Take the Ulike Sapphire Air 10 IPL Hair Removal device, a better and more efficient alternative, as an example. The device is pain-free, obliterates hair, and is endorsed by the FDA and board-certified dermatologists, among other impressive qualities. However, its downside is the price. Buyers must cough out $329 to get this device. Although discounts exist, it doesn’t bring the price lower than $300. Now, if we compare $300 with $50 or $70, which is the typical cost of an epilator, you can imagine what a rational buyer who is budget-constrained will choose.

Price aside, some people opt for epilators because of their effectiveness and speed. Better alternatives like lasers and IPL devices take time to remove hair. IPL, for instance, requires a minimum of two weeks before you can expect its action. Epilators, like shaving and waxing, give same-day results. That aside, epilation provides a reasonable time off from hair, which can be up to a month and a half.

How to Make Epilators Less Painful

Thankfully, there are things you can do to minimize the pain of epilating. Below are five proven ways to achieve this objective.

1. Use Painkillers

Painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen are sold over the counter at pharmacies and local chemist stores. You can take them post-treatment or 35 minutes before. They help address all pain-like issues arising from the epilator. Please confirm the dosage of these drugs before loading yourself with them. If used correctly, ibuprofen counteracts pain and swelling.

2. Try a Warm Bath Before the Treatment

Warm water helps to open your pores and makes epilation hurts less. When the pores are open, hair removal happens faster, and the skin recovers quickly before any further reaction. The opening of your pores also calms you, enabling you to handle what’s coming.

3. Begin Slowly

As earlier remarked, most epilators come with speed graduations. If this is your first time trying it out, you should begin from the lowest speed and gradually ascend the ladder. Starting big is an excellent motivational talk that does not apply to epilators.

4. Exfoliate before Epilating

Exfoliation removes dry, dirty, and worn-out skin cells from you, leaving your skin supple and fresh. In this stage, your risk of getting ingrown hair becomes minimal, and you will not feel as much pain as you would have felt were your skin dry and not exfoliated.

5. Purchase a Numbing Cream

Numbing creams temporarily deactivate the signal transduction pathway of the skin, causing you not to feel much sensation around the place they are applied. While some are available without a prescription, others require it before selling it. You can consider buying this cream for sensitive parts like your face, armpit, and bikini lines to help you manage pain in such areas.

6. Epilate at Night

One of the setbacks of this hair removal method is inflammation and redness. Because of the mechanical approach it employs, the skin gets disturbed in a manner that makes the body think that it’s an infection. As such, white blood cells move toward that spot to help curb it. This response leads to inflammation and other post-treatment reactions. If done at night, you can recover from many of these things before the next day, preventing the awkwardness of explaining what went wrong.

7. Maintain a Healthy Post-Epilation Routine

What you do after using an epilator matters a lot. Healthy routines like moisturization and avoidance of stressors can quickly help you get over whatever discomfort the process brings. Depending on the size of the area you epilated, you may need a day or two off from work so you can rest properly.

How to Choose the Best Epilator

The market size of epilators continues to rise, making it quite challenging for non-experts to identify which epilators to buy quickly. However, you can save yourself the stress of research by selecting from the best brands and reading online reviews about the product. As a rule, be sure your brand offers a money-back guarantee and provides an undisrupted means of communication if you need any clarification.

Is Using an Epilator Worth it?

Most of our attention has been focused on the pain or discomfort that epilators cause. But they are also helpful. In fact, their effectiveness compared to shaving is impressive. You will not notice any hair regrowth for at least weeks after using an epilator. And like waxing, hair regrowth after using an epilator is sparser and finer than before.

That said, epilators are not the best hair removal tools primarily because of the pain they cause. Besides, they do not also offer a long-lasting solution. Alternatives like IPL, lasers, and electrolysis are preferable, although they will also cost more money. In my view, the pain and care involved in using an epilator are not worth it, especially since there are alternatives.