Question
I recently found this comment on a page for a local electrology site in Dallas (sandraselectrolysis-dot-com):
"The beauty of electrolysis to the underarms is that when the hair dies, the entire follicle does also. This means that the sebaceous glands (they produce sebum to lubricate the hair) die so you won’t have to worry about deodorant ever again. The sebum is what causes body odor so after electrolysis you won’t have to worry about hair or body odor."
Is this true? Any input from y'all would be appreciated!

Answer
I recently found this comment on a page for a local electrology site in Dallas (sandraselectrolysis-dot-com):
"The beauty of electrolysis to the underarms is that when the hair dies, the entire follicle does also. This means that the sebaceous glands (they produce sebum to lubricate the hair) die so you won’t have to worry about deodorant ever again. The sebum is what causes body odor so after electrolysis you won’t have to worry about hair or body odor."
Is this true? Any input from y'all would be appreciated!

Answer
Body odor is not caused by the sebum from sebaceous glands. It comes from the apocrine (sweat) glands, a separate entity from the hair follicle.

Answer
LE is correct.
There are a three glands to be aware of in the underarm area: the sebaceous (oil), the eccrine (sweat) and apocrine (odor). Sebaceous glands lubricate the skin and hair. Sweat glands help cool the body. Odor glands produce a type of perspiration that contributes to a pungent odor. These odor glands are located in the underarm, breast and genital area. They have no specific use in humans, but are related to odor attraction in animals. We, as humans, really don't need these odor glands.
Properly performed elctrolysis leaves the sweat and odor glands largely unaffected. SWEATING is not affected by permanent hair removal, however, underarm odor is lessened a great deal.
Hair present in the underarm area traps the bacteria that normally lives there. Hair, in addition to the the odor gland secreting it's special perspiration mix together to make things smelly. When the hair is removed, there is nothing to trap the bacteria so it can continue to grow in numbers and thus, one has very little odor to worry about.
Sebaceous (oil) glands often survive electrolysis because they are located in the upper 1/3 of the follicle. We are destroying tissue in the bottom 2/3 of the follicle.
Before I became an electrologist, I had electrolysis on my underarms. I will never regret doing this. It's probably one of the best places to invest money. You always feel clean and smooth.
D

Answer
Good detailed answers - Thanks. So the original claim is incorrect although odor IS reduced after UA electrolysis (simply due to hair absence -- just like regular shaving). I would assume that a similar result would be seen with pubic hair removal as well. Is there a difference in the affect on the sebaceous glands between electrolysis and LHR? Any difference on the other glands (sweat and odor producing) between these removal methods?

Answer
T
You might want to post this question in the laser section. Since, I perform electrolysis, I can't comment on what structures laser affects. If I had to assume an answer for you, I would say that laser most likely has no affect on these structures when performed properly.
D