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Skin Check-In With Dr. Will: Is Laser Hair Removal the Best Way to Prevent Ingrown Hairs? Experts Weigh In
Welcome to your skin check-in with Life & Style’s resident health and beauty expert, Dr. Will Kirby, a celebrity dermatologist and Chief Medical Officer of LaserAway. Every week, he’ll be spilling his candid thoughts and professional advice on all things skin, beauty and wellness as it relates to you — and your favorite stars.
There are many ways to remove unwanted body and facial hair but shaving, plucking, threading, waxing and depilatory creams all can result in painful, itchy and leave unsightly ingrown hairs. Worst still, all those options are temporary — so, the problem just eventually repeats itself. In search for a solution, I reached out to experts to find out more about pesky ingrown hairs and to learn if laser hair removal is the best way to prevent them!
“An ingrown hair occurs when the hair grows back into the skin. This causes unwanted complications such as inflammation, pain, infection and darkening of the skin,” teaches aesthetic nurse practitioner Blossom Hashemi. “I absolutely recommend Laser Hair Removal as the ultimate way to combat the formation of ingrown hairs. It literally gets to the root of the problem! Laser hair removal selectively targets hair follicles to stop hairs from growing back in the first place. No hair growth means no ingrown hairs!”
“Sure, ingrown hairs are uncomfortable but can also lead to scarring, discoloration and even cysts! Laser hair removal is the most effective way to prevent ingrown hairs because it targets the source of the problem by damaging the hair follicle and inhibiting the follicle’s ability to produce hair,” notes aesthetic nurse Mitra Enders. “As a bonus, laser hair removal will leave you with soft and smooth skin, which means you can ditch the razor and cancel your waxing appointments for good!”
“Laser hair removal is the single best way to prevent ingrown hairs and provide relief from the itching, pain, and irritation that ingrown hairs can cause!” explains aesthetic nurse practitioner Sarah Higgins. “Laser hair removal destroys the hair follicle, preventing further hair growth. Literally getting rid of the ‘root’ of the ingrown hair problem!”
“Ingrown hairs are a common problem, particularly in areas of dense, coarse hair growth-like the bikini line!” says aesthetic nurse Corey Ordoyne. “Since this area is exposed in a bathing suit, people often pick at ingrowns as an attempt to resolve them, which in turn only increases redness, risk of infection and PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation)! In my opinion, the best permanent solution to a smooth, hair free-bikini line is laser hair removal with state-of-the-art technology that kills ingrown hairs at the root-like Cynosure’s dual wavelength Elite IQ. It takes about six to eight treatments spaced six to eight weeks apart, so I recommend starting now to achieve a beautiful bikini line-free of ingrowns, irritation and dark spots by next summer!”
“Laser Hair Removal treatments remove the vast, vast majority of hair present but if there are a few remaining hairs, they’ll be fewer, finer, and less dense,” finds aesthetic nurse Jessica Graybill. “After getting laser hair removal treatments, the coarse hairs that used to get ingrown and inflamed are literally non-existent, so you get smooth, soft, supple skin!”
“If you don’t grow your hair, you, of course, can’t get ingrown hair,” says aesthetic Chelsea Nathie. “So, yes, laser hair removal is the gold standard means by which you can prevent ingrown hair! The most common thing we hear from patients suffering from ingrown hair is that they wish they knew about laser hair removal treatments years ago!”
