Hair Removal for Swimmers

Swimmers often remove all or most of the hair from their bodies because it causes friction while swimming hard through water. Especially in competitive swimming, every second counts, so removing this hair makes a real difference. However, hair is often difficult or uncomfortable to remove, so swimmers have devised a variety of options for hair removal on various parts of their bodies.

  1. Shaving

    • While women and many men elect to wear swim caps over their hair so they don't have to shave their heads, some male swimmers will shave their heads bald so that they can glide through the water smoothly as they swim, without the extra weight of hair or a swim cap. This is done by shaving the hair to the scalp with a straight razor and treating the follicles on the scalp with lotion so that it is smooth. While all areas of the body can be shaved of hair, the head and face are the easiest. Many male and female swimmers will also shave their armpits, arms, legs and chests regularly throughout their swimming careers.

    Waxing

    • A painful but effective alternative to shaving hair is waxing the hair off. This consists of spreading hot wax over hair and then sticking strips of paper to it. The paper is then ripped off, pulling the hairs out at their roots. While this isn't comfortable, it will remove hair from hard-to-reach places that cannot be shaved effectively, such as areas around the buttocks and middle of the back. It's probably best to first cut the longer hairs in the region you plan to wax, in order to minimize the inevitable pain.

    Laser Treatment

    • Laser treatments are another option. They are not very painful and will effectively remove hair from just about any part of the body. Treatments need to be administered by a trained professional because a laser essentially burns away hair follicles at their roots. If the practitioner doesn't know what he is doing, the patient can be injured. These laser treatments can be rather expensive, costing more than $1,000 per treatment in some situations, and the hair will still grow back.