Successful White Hair Removal with Combined Coloring and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL): A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective: The purpose of this study was to introduce adjunct therapy to intense pulsed light (IPL) and to assess it in terms of safety, expense, feasibility, and efficacy. Background data: Currently there is no satisfactory, efficient method for long-term white hair removal. Methods: We conducted a randomized clinical trial of hirsute patients with excessive white hair on the chin and cheeks. In addition to IPL, the patients were randomly assigned to have their white hair colored with either black eyeliner or black hair dye as an adjunct to IPL aided for of six sessions (with a 4-week interval between sessions). The primary efficacy outcome, which was defined as the outcome after six sessions of therapy, was scored as poor (<30%), fair (30-60%) or good (>60%) response to white hair removal in predefined areas. The secondary outcome was recurrence 6 months after the final therapy session. Results: In the eyeliner group (n = 31), 15 (48.4%) individuals showed a fair response, and 16 (51.6%) individuals showed a good response. In the color-dye group (n = 31), 1 (3.2%), 17 (54.8%) and 13 (41.9%) participants scored poor, fair, and good, respectively. There were no differences in clinician judgment of the treatment success between the eyeliner and color-dye groups after the six therapy sessions (p = 0.895). Thirty-one patients had 6 months of visits (11 in the hair dye and 20 in the eyeliner group). Three participants in the color-dye group and five participants in the eyeliner group failed to show improvement 6 months after the laser surgery. There was no distinguishable pattern of failure between the two study groups (p = 1). Conclusion: This study supports that hair coloring is an efficient and feasible technique that can be combined with IPL to eliminate white facial hair.