Long-term Facial and Body Hair Removal With a Combined Radiofrequency and Optical Home-Use Device for All Skin Types.

Objectives: To evaluate long term effectiveness and safety with the use of a combined radiofrequency and optical home hair removal device in all skin types and over both facial and body areas.

Methods: A combined intense pulsed light (IPL) and radiofrequency (RF) home device was used for hair removal. Two separate study designs were evaluated. In the first design, bilateral body areas were treated with 7 weekly procedures and then unilateral areas received up to 12 monthly maintenance treatments while the corresponding other side received no further therapy. For the second design, facial areas received 4 procedures in 2 to 5 days visits, followed by 2 weekly, and then 6 biweekly procedures. All patients in both study designs had hair count evaluations up to 12 months post their last procedure. The highest energy used was 4 J/cm².

Results: In the first design, 58 subjects participated of which 15% were skin types V-VI. A total of 188 anatomical sites were treated. Hair reduction at 6 and 12 months post the last procedure was 56% and 52% respectively for the maintenance side and 47% and 37% for the non-maintenance side. For the second design, 19 subjects had 59 facial sites treated. Fifteen percent were skin types V –VI. The overall hair reduction at the end of receiving their procedures was 45%. At 12 months post the last procedure, the hair reduction was 42%. Aside for transient mild erythema, there were no adverse effects noted.

Conclusions: Long term persistent hair reduction was achieved using an RF/IPL home-use hair reduction device. The combination of RF and optical energies allowed for the effective application of low energy usage. All skin types and both facial and body anatomical regions tolerated the procedures very well. J Drugs Dermatol. 2020;19(5):498-503. doi:10.36849/JDD.2020.4741.