Clinical evaluation of a handheld self-treatment device for hair removal.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Laser- and light-based methods for hair removal, though effective, are expensive and may be associated with adverse effects. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a thermal, handheld self-treatment device (no!no! Thermicon, Radiancy Inc, Orangeburg, NY) for removing unwanted hair. METHODS Twelve of the 20 enrolled subjects underwent 6 supervised and 6 unsupervised self-treatments of their lower legs and umbilicus-bikini areas at twice-weekly intervals for 6 weeks. Follow-up visits were scheduled at 2, 6, and 12 weeks after the final treatment. Results were evaluated by pretreatment, post-treatment, and follow-up hair counts. RESULTS For legs, the median clearance percentages were 48% post-treatment and 43.5% at 12 weeks. For the umbilicus-bikini area, the median clearance percentage was 15% at 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS The efficacy and safety of the no!no! Thermicon device for hair removal of the legs appear to be comparable to those of laser devices.