Let’s talk about the epilator pain scale, does the mere thought of the word bring shivers down your spine? If that is the case, I do not blame you because the very definition of the word, epilate, sounds like torture, pulling the hairs out from the root using a device with a rotating head called the epilator. 

For me, at first, the experience was not that pleasant, on the epilation pain scale I would say that the level of pain was at the ‘oh my god’ level – so painful, a few drops of tears spill from your eyes. 

The main reason being, the epilator was used as a dare. You know how your friends are, they want to see your cry. 

They tricked you into using the epilator in the most painful manner. If you are like me, this caused you to associate more pain to the device than is actually true. 

They epilate the long hairs on my arms, dry, while the time is cold where you see goosebumps on your skin. I know what lovely friends I had.

These days I know better. If you have ever waxed or used the sugaring technique of hair removal, the pain is quite similar to epilating unwanted hairs. 

You do not have to take my word for it, browse through a number of YouTube videos, several video logs and read a few blog posts and you will get the idea that the pain you feel will be different based on your sensitivity to pain. 

You have to measure your own level of pain on the epilator pain scale. 

WHAT’S YOUR PAIN TOLERANCE LEVEL?

An epilator works with the help of tweezers that plucks my hair out from the root of the hair follicles – ouch! It hurts. At first, the pain was oh my god but not is more ouch. 

As you epilate more the pain virtually disappears. It will take some time for your pain tolerance to go up and for your skin to get adjusted to the new pain threshold that comes with epilating, waxing, tweezing or sugaring. 

Epilating is not pain free but the pain you feel is dependent on your pain tolerance. As a beginner in epilating, you may be quite apprehensive about epilation pain levels that you could tolerate. 

However, if you follow a few steps you will find that the process is somewhat pleasurable. If you are like me you can opt to go for waxing first. 

Wax all the areas with unwanted hairs like the hands, legs, bikini area, armpits and the Whiskers (hairs on the top lip). 

When the hairs start regrowing, it will do so in stages or cycles, causing you to epilate fewer hairs per session of epilating.  Hair grows in three stages – growth, rest and shedding. 

It also grows in cycles, so all the hairs will not be in the growth stage at the same time. It is important that you target the hairs in the growth phase for the best result. 

You will not be able to look at the hairs and say which phase they are in, as a result, multiple sessions are needed so that the unwanted hairs can be eradicated at the right time. 

Shifting the epilator pain scale: How to make epilating less painful?

Epilation can be painful but there are a number of simple hacks that you can do today to reduce the level of pain you may feel during epilation. 

In the first place, epilation pain depends on the sensitivity of your skin to pain. Some of my friends have a high pain tolerance but I have a low pain tolerance. 

I shared with you things that I do to reduce the level of pain felt. The first time you epilate if you are more painful because your skin is not used to the sensation but you will soon get used to it. 

Look at me now, I do not know what life would be like without my trusty Braun Epil 9 epilator. I just love it. I will share with you how to reduce the amount of epilator pain. 

1. UTILIZING A WET AND DRY EPILATOR REDUCES EPILATION PAIN

The technology of epilating has moved on from when they were first introduced to the market. 

Most of the popular brands including Braun, Phillips, Panasonic produced epilators with the wet/dry feature. This neat little feature allows you to use the device in water. Now, you can epilate in the shower, in the bath, essentially in a damp environment.  

The Braun Epil 9 has the lovely wet and dry feature. Plus the other attachments that will cause you to not feel much pain. 

How does a wet and dry epilator reduce the pain of epilation?

The answer is quite simple, the warm water opens up your pores making it easier for the epilator to grasp the unwanted hairs and pull them out. 

The feeling of water flowing over your skin like a waterfall relaxes your skin making epilating an almost pleasurable process. 

The main benefit of the wet and dry epilator is that it can be used underwater. Based on personal experience, it is less painful to epilate underwater than dry.

2. EXFOLIATE YOUR SKIN BEFORE STARTING THE EPILATION PROCESS

Since we are dealing with pain, let’s prevent the potential of pain. Epilation, waxing, shaving, sugaring as a hair removal technique brings with it the potential of causing ingrown hairs to form. It is therefore important that you exfoliate to get rid of dead cells, oils and bacteria that can cause skin irritation after epilating. 

Exfoliation helps to remove dead skin cells laying on top of the skin. You can use a spa glove or a scrubber and gently agitate your skin exfoliating all the areas that need epilating. 

Exfoliating helps to reduce ingrown hairs caused by the oiliness of your skin and the dead skin cell stuck on the skin. While exfoliating try using a spa glove or a skin scrubber.  If you are adventurous, you can even make your own scrubs to use with your skin scrubber. I provide a link here to Wikihow’s make you own salt scrub page.  

Exfoliation will also keep the hairs on your skin straight so the epilator can grasp the hairs better making the epilation process less painful.

Now, slowly move the epilator in the opposite direction to your hair growth. Remember to epilate at least 24 hours before you have to go out. This gives the skin a chance to relax and for the redness of the skin to dissipate. 

3. HAVE A WARM SHOWER BEFORE EPILATING

Even if you are going to epilate dry a quick shower is ideal. A quick warm shower gets your pores opened. If you are going to epilate dry, make sure that you thoroughly dry your skin before you start epilating. 

Since the hairs are removed from the root an open-pore will ease the pain of epilating. Personally, I shower first before performing any hair removal technique. 

You can use the wet/dry epilator or the same braun epil 9. 

4. KEEP YOUR SKIN TAUT WHEN YOU EPILATE

Loose skin makes the epilator work harder than it has to in order to epilate your hairs. Pulling your skin taut makes the epilator glide over your skin easier and grasp the hairs better. 

If you are epilating your legs, pull the skin on your leg taut downwards in the opposite direction of the hair and then epilate upwards. 

When you tightly pull your skin, the epilating process becomes less painful as the epilator gently glides over the surface of your skin epilating any hair in its path. 

The hair lifting technology on the epilator will work more efficiently in lifting those hairs that lay flat on the skin. 

5. USE NUMBING CREAM OR TAKE A PAIN KILLER

The thought of epilating is simply too much but you still want the amazing results of epilating, there is a solution for you.  Not all of us have a high pain tolerance so, if your pain tolerance level is really low, you can take a painkiller to take off the edge of the pain. If this is your option, take the painkiller at least 30 minutes to an hour before you epilate. 

There is a caveat to this method, check with your doctor or pharmacist to ensure that it is OK for you to take medication. Medication should be a last resort. This is important therefore I will repeat, before you take any form of medication, consult a doctor, he or she will inform you if it is safe to take the pain killer. 

You can use numbing cream on the area before you epilate. The numbing cream will make the skin less sensitive to pain and thereby artificially increase your pain tolerance.  If you were on the oh my god it hurts scale you would move down to it, ouch it hurts a little to no pain. 

CONCLUSION

Epilating unwanted hairs may cause you to feel pain. The sensitivity of your skin will determine where you fit in on the epilator pain scale. 

If you are high up because your pain tolerance is quite low, there are a number of things that you could do. How you find the solutions in this article useful. 

It may be painful at first but overtime the sensation will become moderate where it hurts only a little. If you are going to epilate, get a good quality epilator. The one that I use could be beneficial, The braun epil 9 with face epilator included.