Hidradenitis Suppurativa Support Group

Hidradenitis suppurativa (hi-drad-uh-NIE-tis sup-yoo-ruh-TIE-vuh) is rare, long-term skin condition that features small, painful lumps under the skin. The disease manifests as clusters of chronic abscesses or boils, sometimes as large as baseballs, that are extremely painful to the touch and may persist for years with occasional to frequent periods of inflammation,...

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Laser hair removal

ariesgurl
ariesgurl
Sorry to post another thread about laser hair removal but this directed mainly to those who have had it done, are in the process of getting it done, or just know a lot about the process in general...

I'm considering getting it done if antibiotics don't work for me but I have never had much hair under my arms and now with the HS damage I only have a few thin strands of hair. The hair has stopped growing in most of the affected are, so my question is, would laser hair removal even work for me? I'm assuming if the hair isn't growing in the first place than the follicle must be dead already? Also, most of boils occur where I didn't have any obvious hair in the first place! I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for nothing! Any insight you guys may have would be appreciated!

Ariesgurl
antine
antine
I wish I could report amazing success from the laser hair removal. I had one treatment in November and one in December and am scheduled to return for hopefully a final treatment next week. I, also, don't have a lot of hair under my arms and I'm not confident that the hair is the cause of my HS. I went ahead because of my age - I'm 56. Laser hair removal doesn't work on grey hair lol! And I enjoy not needing to shave again no matter what!

I've had HS for over 35 years but only had underarm problems when I first was diagnosed for a year or so and now again during the past year. The rest of the time it was all "below the waist".

Bottom line - my breakouts are slightly less (25% better) than before the laser treatments. It's only been 3 months so I still hold out hope for increased benefits.

I'll write again if I have better news.
deleted_user
deleted_user
im on my 2nd treatment i also dont grow hair under my arms anyways but they said we should try it. first off its sooooo painful i cried the whole time and i have a very high pain tolerance and 2nd dont really see a difference maybe a little less breakouts than normal but they say the more treatments you get the better it becomes hope this helps and good luck
antine
antine
I hate to hear that you had a lot of pain with the laser hair removal. Did they use numbing gel first? They waited 30 minutes after the gel and it seemed like the only places it hurt was in the creases where I had folded my arms and I'm assuming the gel didn't work the full amount of time.

Did you shave right before you went? If there were any stray hairs that could also be painful. Hope it's much better next time.