Laser Hair Removal for Folliculitis
High school is tough enough to navigate.
The stress-inducing scenarios are never-ending. Academics. Making new friends. Adjusting to a new environment. Hearing all the hallway gossip. It can be a lot.
Those stressful situations can lead to another coming-of-age annoyance: acne. For most, acne is a small phase of adolescence we wish we could fast-forward.
Just when you think you’ll never have to deal with anything like acne ever again, you notice a patch of white heads appearing and instantly you have flashbacks to high school. Instead of acne, you might be dealing with folliculitis, an inflammation of hair follicles.
While folliculitis can be annoying, there are ways to address it. Antibiotics are popular options, but would you believe laser hair removal is also incredibly effective?
Read on to find out how.
What is folliculitis?
Also known as inflammation of the hair follicles, folliculitis is an infection of one or more follicles.
Folliculitis is usually more common among individuals who have acne. Regular shaving and use of topical steroid creams can increase the risk of a folliculitis flare-up.
You can see folliculitis forming when white-headed pimples appear around the hair follicles. Milder cases will go away on their own. But more severe cases may require a different course of action. We’ll get into that later.
Are there common side effects for folliculitis?
There are, and they usually start with itchiness in the area, which can soon turn into a painful sensation.
Infections can also form in the area, and a severe case may result in hair loss. Antibiotics or other medications are usually the solution if the case gets serious enough, but another tactic could lead to relief: laser hair removal.
There are two main types of folliculitis: superficial and deep.
Are there different types of folliculitis?
There are two main types of folliculitis: superficial and deep. Both types have the same causes, but the deeper type is simply more severe, involving the entire follicle.
Folliculitis is often caused when hair follicles are infected with bacteria but can also be caused by viruses, fungi, parasites, medications, or physical injury.
The most common causes include:
- Bacterial folliculitis results in a rash of itchy, pus-filled bumps often due to bacteria entering the body through a cut or wound.
- Hot tub rash, also known as pseudomonas folliculitis, occurs from bacteria found in hot tubs and heated pools.
- Pseudofolliculitis barbae looks like bacterial folliculitis but it’s caused by ingrown hairs, not infected follicles.
- Pityrosporum folliculitis is caused by a yeast infection.
- Gram-negative folliculitis appears as pus-filled bumps around the nose and mouth.
- Eosinophilic folliculitis mainly affects people with HIV/AIDS.
- Furuncles and carbuncles, more commonly known as boils, form when hair follicles are deeply infected with staphylococcus bacteria.
How does laser hair removal help address folliculitis?
Because it addresses the hair follicle directly. The laser targets the follicle and disrupts its growth cycle.
And following multiple treatments which span a few weeks apart, you’ll be left with smooth, hairless skin. No more ingrown hairs. No more boils. No more rashes. Just smooth skin free of folliculitis.
Can you get folliculitis after laser hair removal?
In the weeks and days following laser hair removal treatment, it is possible that hair from the skin will continue to shed. This hair can feel coarse and sometimes can result in tiny bumps or pimples, which is technically folliculitis.
However, it will subside in a day or two. And you shouldn’t have any disruption to your laser hair removal treatment.