Is laser hair removal safe for folliculitis?

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.