If you live with recurring hidradenitis suppurativa, laser hair removal may help. 

Laser hair removal is about more than aesthetics. For more and more people, it’s another step towards easing a skin-related health condition, including hidradenitis suppurativa (HS.) 

Laser hair removal can significantly cut down on redness, irritation, swelling, and infections. It can offer you comfort while increasing the chances of success of traditional HS treatments such as steroids or antibiotics.

To help you understand why many experts recommend laser hair removal for hidradenitis suppurativa, we’ll explain what HS really is and how laser works to prevent it.

A Quick Guide to Hidradenitis Suppurativa

What Is Hidradenitis Suppurativa?

Hidradenitis suppurativa, often referred to as HS, is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that affects areas of the body where skin rubs together and there are many sweat glands. If not properly treated, HS can lead to serious infections and extensive scarring. This can negatively affect your quality of life by causing discomfort, and impacting your self esteem, body image, and physical and mental health. 

Where Does Hidradenitis Suppurativa Appear?

The most common areas of the body for HS breakouts are the following:

  • Your underarms
  • Along the creases of your groin
  • Between your buttocks
  • Under your buttocks 
  • Under your breasts or enlarged chest tissue
  • Under abdominal folds
  • Between your upper thighs

Anywhere where there is friction and sweat between skin surfaces, HS can thrive. 

What Causes Hidradenitis Suppurativa?

The exact cause of HS is unknown, but it seems to be connected to incidences of blocked hair follicles in and around parts of the body that contain sweat glands. It’s also thought that genetics, hormonal imbalances, and lifestyle habits like smoking can increase your chances of developing the condition.

What doesn’t cause HS is lack of good hygiene or a contagious infection. No one gets HS from being “unclean”, and you can’t get it from skin to skin contact. Most people who develop HS do so during puberty when hormones are on a rollercoaster. If untreated, HS can last for years and keep getting worse.

Symptoms of Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Symptoms of HS start with hard bumps and redness around blocked hair follicles. Your pores can get plugged by keratin, a protein that makes up part of your outer layer of skin. Hormones can cause keratin overproduction, blocking follicles and leading to ingrown hairs and inflammation.

Once the area is irritated, it’s easy for bacteria to start to colonize the open area under your skin. This can lead to painful swollen nodes, abscesses, or even “tunnels” under your skin as friction destroys the structure of your skin’s upper layers.

HS is easier to stop during early stages, which is why identification and early treatment is so important. At later stages, repeated infections can cause scar tissue which pushes inflammation and infections even deeper into the skin layers, making treatment much more difficult.

You’re probably wondering, “Can laser hair removal help hidradenitis suppurativa?” In many cases the answer is yes. This is due to how laser hair removal works.

Laser Hair Removal 101

Briefly, laser hair removal technology works by targeting the hair follicles under the skin. Unlike shaving, which merely cuts off the hair shaft at the skin surface, or waxing, which seeks to rip hairs out by the roots, laser hair removal goes directly to the source. 

Very short, quickly repeated pulses of light set to a specific wavelength target the melanin (pigment) in the hair shaft. The light turns into heat and the energy races down the shaft, thus damaging the follicle and actively preventing the growth of new hair. 

Repeated sessions make it possible to target nearly all hairs in a treatment while they are in the active growth phase, ensuring that hair stops growing in that area. You’ll only need occasional touch ups to maintain your results.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Laser Hair Removal

But how exactly does laser hair removal help hidradenitis suppurativa? Since HS is related to blocked and inflamed hair follicles, deactivating the follicles with bursts of heat energy reduces incidences of blockage, preventing the ingrown hairs and bacterial infections involved in hidradenitis suppurativa. 

Can laser hair removal cure hidradenitis suppurativa? Unfortunately, no. But research shows it can significantly relieve symptoms, and is a perfect supportive therapy that can be used along with common HS treatments such as:

  • Antibiotics (oral and/or topical)
  • Retinoids 
  • Injectable and/or topical corticosteroids
  • Injectable biologics
  • Hormone therapy

Depending on your prescribed HS treatment, you may need to speak to your doctor about a short medication break before undergoing laser hair removal. Always review consent forms thoroughly, and let your laser hair removal nurse know about the medications you’re taking prior to treatment. 

Benefits of Laser Hair Removal for Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Laser hair removal offers multiple advantages for individuals with HS: 

Reduced Lesions and Drainage

One study has shown that patients with HS had 32–72% fewer inflammatory lesions after 2–4 months of laser hair removal treatment, as well as a reduction in drainage.

Disruption of the Follicle Blockage-Inflammation Cycle

Hidradenitis suppurativa begins with follicular occlusion (blockage) which quickly turns into inflammation and abscesses. Laser hair removal reduces active follicle density, stopping the HS cycle of inflammation, rupture, and infection in its tracks.

Lessened Skin Trauma and Scarring

Laser hair removal reduces the formation of new abscesses and tunnels under the skin by creating a poor environment for infection and limiting friction via hair free skin. It also drops your risk of developing scar tissue by 50–75% in treated areas. 

Positive Results for a Majority of HS Patients

A 2024 systematic review of 10 studies (227 patients) who participated in randomized trials of laser hair removal for HS found that:

  • Both Nd:YAG and Alexandrite lasers significantly improved HS severity scores.
  • There was a 75% clinical response rate in treated areas vs. 33% in untreated controls.
  • 85% of treated patients reported reduced pain and drainage after 6–8 sessions.

Those are pretty good numbers. If you have hidradenitis suppurativa, laser hair removal could be a good option for you.

Potential Side Effects of Laser Hair Removal for HS

Laser hair removal, like any other type of therapy, does come with a few risks. Fortunately common side effects are mild, while severe ones are rare and usually avoidable if you choose the right provider.

The type of laser machine used should be based on your skin type. Some lasers operate at a wavelength that is faster and more effective on pale skin, but can burn and blister darker skin tones. 

Lasers with a longer wavelength are safer for darker skin, reducing the chance that the energy will be drawn to melanin in your skin instead of your hair. You should always speak up if you feel more than mild discomfort (most people compare laser pulses to being snapped lightly with a rubber band or feeling a superficial pin prick.) 

While laser hair removal is generally safe for individuals both with and without HS, some potential side effects include:

  • Temporary redness or swelling in treated areas — use soft gel cold packs and neutral topicals for relief.
  • Mild discomfort during sessions (but not pain.) We use cooling systems to blast your skin with cold air after every laser pulse for extra comfort.
  • In rare cases, hyperpigmentation (darkened skin) can appear after laser hair removal. This usually goes away on its own.

You shouldn’t have laser hair removal if you’re having an HS flare up. The best time for treatment is when you don’t have active infection or drainage.

Why Choose SEV Laser?

At SEV Laser, we understand the challenges faced by individuals with hidradenitis suppurativa. Our state-of-the-art technology and highly skilled laser technicians and nurses ensure safe and effective treatments tailored to all skin types. You can finally gain relief from chronic HS pain and inflammation, as well as renewed self confidence about your body. 

Take control of your skin health and reduce painful symptoms of hidradenitis suppurativa with laser hair removal. Schedule your consultation with SEV Laser today!