Waxing for Hair Removal: Dipping Into Danger?
Dr.Drew, By: Lenore Skomal. “America is fast becoming a hairless nation. To help achieve that goal, there are many methods to become free of unwanted hair. Once they reach puberty, American women start the ritual of removing unsightly hair from their legs, underarms, bikini area, eyebrows and upper lip. These days, it’s not uncommon for young men to join in the ritual.”
There can be serious health concerns: “Pugliese explained that a problem can arise if a piece of skin, or something else from the human body, were to get into the wax, introducing an element of water. Heating the wax to the melting point would not kill the bacteria.
“The wax isn’t heated to the boiling point, obviously, or you would seriously burn the skin. When you sterilize something you have to take it up to 220 degrees and hold that temperature for 15 to 20 minutes,” says Pugliese.
Another concern is about bacterial spores. “If the bacteria is in spore form, you can hit it with a hammer and it can still live,” he says.”