Is laser hair removal safe for folliculitis?

As the other physicians have mentioned, laser hair removal can be very effective for treating folliculitis. Remember that you may need more than one treatment. Also, care should be taken for areas that have actively healing folliculitis to avoid scarring.
Find a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist. Good luck!

Laser hair removal is safe and effective for folliculitis.  Please inform your provider of your situation and your tendency for scarring.

Hi Aliyas,
Laser hair removal is an excellent option for folliculitis. Laser hair removal, when performed correctly will not leave marks on your body.
If you have pigment from shaving bumps, we suggest one of two options to remove these marks once you have gone through the laser hair removal process.

Hydroquinone bleaching creams
Q-switched lasers

A combination of these two also works well and speeds the process.

Folliculitis is an inflammatory condition caused by chronic injury, allergy, or infection. It is most commonly associated with shaving in the legs.Laser hair removal will remove the irritating process of shaving by minimizing the troublesome hair follicles and shafts. However, that is not the whole treatment. You should also consider a course of salicylic acid or glycolic acid exfoliative pads found on the market. Pore Clarifying Pads are one example we offer in our office.Also, consider a topical skin lightening cream to eradicate the pigmentation associated with folliculitis.

Laser hair removal is an excellent treatment for pseudofolliculitis barbae. This condition usually affects the neck, especially in patients with skin of color. The condition can occur, however, anywhere on the body where persistent traumatic shaving or plucking brings the surface of the hair shaft below the skin level and as the curved hair grows, it doesn’t find it's way out of the skin and curls back underneath creating a bump and inflammation. If you have such a condition on the legs, rather than a bacterially-infected (true, not pseudo) folliculitis, laser hair removal will help. Old scars probably won’t worsen or improve. If you developed dark brown pigment as a reaction to the folliculitis, this hyperpigmentation is not scarring and may improve with prescription creams.