Charles Michel was an American ophthalmologist best known for publishing the first clinical report of successful electrology in 1875.

Michel was practicing in St. Louis, Missouri, when he began using a battery-powered needle epilator to treat trichiasis (ingrown eyelashes) in 1869. This direct current–powered method was called electrolysis because a chemical reaction in the hair follicle causes sodium hydroxide to form, which damages the follicle. Electrolysis is also sometimes called galvanic electrolysis.

[edit] References

• Michel CE. Trichiasis and distichiasis; with an improved method for radical treatment. St. Louis Clinical Record, 1875 Oct; 2:145-148
• Wagner RF Jr, Brysk H, Tyring SK. Revisiting the Michel/Green controversy of 1879: was Carron du Villards the first to use probe/needle electrolysis for permanent hair destruction? International Journal of Dermatology 1997 Dec;36(12):947-51.

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