Removing back hair seems to be a necessity for many males. American society can’t seem to accept that body hair is natural and even healthy. We idolize men with other masculine qualities like big upper body muscles, a deep voice, and the like, but we just can’t seem to deal with mens back hair.

Most types of prejudice are no longer allowed in polite company, but hairy back jokes are told every day by people who consider themselves politically correct in all other ways. Just saying the word “caveman” is a sure way to get a laugh at a party.

The ridiculous thing about all this is that it wasn’t that many years ago that body hair was crucial for survival. Men with smooth, hairless skin were at an evolutionary disadvantage compared to their hairier counterparts.

Of course, the bottom line is attractiveness to women. For totally illogical reasons, most women seem to prefer guys with smooth, hair-free skin. Rightly or wrongly, most girls have a low gross-out threshold. A man can cover his back at the office, at the ballgame, and even at the beach if he has to. But in the bedroom the clothes have to come off.

When all’s said and done, removing back hair with laser treatment is the only satisfying choice for men who suffer from this genetic advantage-turned-disadvantage. It costs money, and it’s not painless, but you’ll like the results.

Not only do you lose your hair in the front, but also in the perianal area, from the labia all the way back to the buttocks. You’ll be completely clean and smooth, front to rear, and free to wear even the most revealing of beachwear and lingerie—or nothing at all. Many women report that Brazilian waxing enhances sexual sensation. And more men are asking for Brazilian wax treatment.

It’s recommended to find a reputable salon and have your Brazilian done professionally, especially if it’s your first. Prices vary, but are in the range of $40 to $100 per treatment, depending on geographic location and the reputation of the salon. It will take about 15- to 30 minutes.

If you’re apprehensive and don’t know what to expect from a Brazilian wax, here’s a play-by-play.

You’ll be shown to a private room and asked to remove all your clothing from the waist down. The aesthetician will spread talcum powder over the entire area to be waxed and then start work.

First she’ll snip the hair down to one-quarter inch in length. She’ll spread heated wax over small areas at a time, press a cloth strip in place, and then rip it off quickly and smoothly, taking the hair with it. Immediately afterward, she’ll apply a soothing gel to take the sting away.

It’s going to take a while to get everything, and you’ll be asked to get into some odd positions so she can reach the hard to find areas with the wax. Occasionally she might ask you to stretch your skin away from the wax while she pulls.

If you’re embarrassed by the idea of another person looking at your most intimate areas, don’t be. Aestheticians do this every day and take a clinical view of their work.

Does it hurt? It can sting a bit, but a good professional will work in a way that causes the least pain. If you’re concerned about it hurting, take a couple of ibuprofen before treatment. Don’t take aspirin, as it’s a blood thinner and can cause bleeding in the treated area.

The average length time for a Brazilian wax to last is three weeks, although if your hair grows slowly, you might be able to wait longer.

Laser hair removal treatment consists of directing concentrated laser light at a patch of hair to impair the follicles that produce it. The pigment in the hair, which gives it its color, attracts the laser first. The laser interacts with the pigment right where it enters your skin and heats the pigment up. The heat travels down the hair shaft into the follicle and damages it so it can’t grow back, or grows back less thick than before.

Laser treatment depends on pigment to be effective, so hair with less pigment is much harder to treat. People with white, gray, or blonde hair aren’t good candidates for laser. Very light “peach fuzz” hair (called vellous hair) can’t be removed with laser. Until recently, dark-skinned patients weren’t candidates for laser removal because the heavier pigment in their skin heats up as quickly as the hair pigment does and causes burning. This has changed somewhat as laser technology improves but still remains a significant challenge.

Like laser, electrolysis eliminates unwanted hair by destroying the follicle. Unlike laser, electrolysis kills hair one follicle at a time. The electrologist uses a hand-held electric needle that she inserts into the follicle and zaps it with a mild electric current. The hair is then pulled out of the dead follicle with tweezers.

Unlike laser, electrolysis can be done on any patient, no matter what color their hair or skin. The problem with laser hair removal vs electrolysis is that electrolysis is so slow. Patients with heavy hair growth will spend a lot of time being treated with electrolysis because it removes hair one follicle at a time.

In comparing the results of laser and electrolysis, you’ll find that electrolysis is permanent—once the follicle has been treated, it will never come back. Laser is considered semi-permanent, not permanent, and the results vary widely depending on the individual’s characteristics. Some people achieve great results with only a few laser treatments. Others are able to maintain their results with a few maintenance follow-up treatments per year. In general, what hair that does grow back after laser treatment is thin, fine, and slow-growing. If you had to shave every day before your laser treatment, you may find you only have to shave every one or two months afterward. However, a few people simply don’t respond to laser and end up with the same growth they had before treatment.

Comparing laser hair removal versus electrolysis shows a very different treatment time for the two methods. Electrolysis is not the best choice if you want to remove hair from large areas of your body. Removing one hair at a time from areas like the legs, the back, and the bikini line can take hundreds of hours. Smaller areas where permanent removal is a must, such as facial hair, are better candidates for electrolysis removal.

Laser hair removal treatment can treat multiple follicles at once. Even though it may take four to six treatment sessions to get good results, laser removal was found in a medical study to be 60 times faster than electrolysis to produce the same or better results. Laser is most effective when treating certain areas such as the bikini line and underarms. The upper lip seems to be the most resistant to laser treatment and may be a better candidate for electrolysis. Generally speaking, thinner hair is easier to treat than thicker hair.

You’ll need more than one laser treatment because laser only kills hair in its active growth phase. Some hair is in a resting phase and isn’t growing. These don’t produce any pigment close to the follicle, so a laser pulse won’t affect them in the least. That’s why you need a cycle of laser treatments to get all of the hairs as they cycle through the growth and dormancy phases. This usually adds up to a treatment session every six to eight weeks.

The choice of electrolysis or laser is a clear one as far as pain goes. Neither process is pain-free, but laser is widely known to be less painful than electrolysis. At worst, laser will feel like a rubber band snapping on your skin. Most patients say it’s not as painful as waxing. Electrolysis, on the other hand, delivers a small electric shock that patients say is more painful than laser. Although it doesn’t stop hundreds of thousands of patients each year from seeking hair removal electrolysis, the slow progress of the treatment means that the pain isn’t over with as quickly than if you were treated with laser. The pain has been said to be comparable to getting a tattoo, which is probably correct since both processes use an electric needle. This is the reason that patients with large areas of hair to treat opt for laser, despite the higher cost.

Laser hair removal is expensive. Although a professional association study came up with the average cost of $429 for one treatment, this figure is almost meaningless considering the variations from one part of the country to another and the different costs depending on the area to be treated. Don’t be shocked if you end up paying twice that much for laser treatment of unwanted hair. Normally it takes four to eight treatments for laser to be effective, plus one to two maintenance treatments per year, which adds up to a hefty price tag.

The cost of electrolysis hair removal is approximately $60 for a session which typically lasts 30 minutes. You’ll need between 15 and 30 visits before you start to see results for the area you’ve selected to treat, which will be much smaller in size than an area targeted for laser treatment.

Do your homework before you choose laser hair removal versus electrolysis and make a good decision about what’s right for you. One way to make sure you’re getting the appropriate treatment is to go to a laser electrolysis treatment center where both procedures are performed and the clinic has no vested interest in selling you one over the other. If you have light-colored hair or vellous hair that you want to remove, you’ll have little choice but to use electrolysis. On the other hand, if you’re looking to remove unwanted hair from a large area, laser is probably the way to go. If you’re working with a small area and have light skin and dark hair, then you have a choice,

The decision between electrolysis and laser hair treatment is a personal one. Most doctors, however, will be upfront with you about which treatment is best for your personal situation. If you have light hair or peach fuzz, you will definitely need to use electrolysis to remove unwanted hair. In general, if you want to treat a large area, it is most practical to pursue laser hair removal treatment. If the area is small, it is a matter of the amount of time and money you want to invest.