Treating Folliculitis with Electrolysis/LHR

Hair Removal Methods
1

Hello all, I’m new to hair removal and this forum has become a very helpful source for information. I found the page while researching hair removal for recalcitrant bacterial folliculitis in the pubic area NOT caused by shaving/ingrowns. I’m hoping to get some advice on the following:

About me:
Male
Thick, dark black, curly/wiry pubic hair
Between type 1-2 skin on pubic area, between type 2-3 skin for the remainder of my body

Methods of treatment and their effectiveness:
Oral antibiotics - Great while on, comes back months after discontinuing
Topical antibiotics (Benzoyl peroxide, Clindamycin, Hibiclens, Bleach baths) - Largely Ineffective
Incomplete Accutane course: Slowed the return after an antibiotic course, but not as effective at treating the issue. Discontinued due to side effects
Lifestyle changes: Largely ineffective

I tried LHR (GentleLASE Plus) before Accutane but after antibiotics cleared the area completely of folliculitis. I experienced shedding after the appointment, but no long term reduction/removal of hair (given it was a single session).

Bottom line question: When it comes to as close as you can get to 100% permanent hair removal in a male’s pubic area, what is the best course of action? For example:

  1. Electrolysis all the way
  2. LHR followed up by Electrolysis
  3. LHR all the way

Time and money are fortunately not concerns, and although the fastest results possible are desired, I want to do this right. Thank you in advance to anyone willing to give input!

2

The first two options are the only ones that can deliver permanent hair removal because electrolysis is the only method that can do this. The choice is between starting with LHR or not. The purpose of doing LHR before electrolysis is to remove a bulk of the hair, which will bring down costs and the number of hours you spend in a clinic having treatment. However, because of hair growth cycles, starting with LHR will add about a year on to the total treatment time span.

If you only do electrolysis, this will cost more and you’ll spend more total hours removing hair. However, if you adhere to the treatment schedule, the total time span will be a year less than if you had done LHR.

If I were you, my decision would be based around the electrologist I work with. If she is highly skilled, works at a decent pace with great results, and can treat me regularly, I would skip LHR completely.

3

Why did you stop LHR after one session? LHR has a secondary benefit of treating folliculitis with heat. If the problem area is pubic hair above the shaft then you should respond well to LHR to get most of it removed. If problem areas are shaft, scrotal and inner groin areas, then laser does not perform there well. Of course electrolysis is your best for guaranteed results, granted you find an experienced electrologist willing to work on male privates and you having the patience to commit to at least 12-18 months of treatments.

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Thank you for the reply. I need to do my due diligence on what makes a good electrologist and try to find one near me. Would you care to share some surface level tips of what makes a good electrologist? So far I understand the “full clear” method to be top notch and to avoid practitioners who simply pluck the hairs.

5

I had to stop once I started Accutane. My fear with LHR would be faint hairs never getting fully removed/dormant hairs resurfacing x amount of time post finishing treatment. Thank you for the reply.

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Yes, all the usual stuff around not reusing probes, not plucking the hairs, not overtreating the follicle.

The best indicator for me is a history of treating many transgender clients with great results and several positive reviews. Transgender clients tend to get a lot of work done over a few areas on the body, they expect results, and they tend to recommend electrologists between each other. That’s why I consider it to be a good indicator of quality.

That doesn’t mean an electrologist lacks skill if they don’t have this experience - it’s just what I would consider to be a really strong indicator.

7

Would you happen to have a ballpark estimate as to how many months I should expect for electrolysis to clear the area? I greatly appreciate your inputs

8

No one can give you such estimates. Electrolysis is best measured by hours. It all depends on your hair density, on the size of area you want cleared, on skill and working speed of electrologist which varies from person to person. As hair growths in cycles, the general guide is to reach complete clearance of treatment area within every 6 weeks and by 18 months you should be finished or near completion. It may take 2 hours or may take 10+ hours to complete clearances considering all these variables.

9

I have been to a lot of electrologists and interviewed a lot. I have found I need to come up with a long list of questions and decide what is important to me. You need to know what type of electrolysis they do - thermolysis, blend, galvanic, multi-needle galvanic—and decide which one is the one you want. I wanted galvanic, but the only electrologist near me that does it I found worked very slowly, was not fun to be around, cancelled my appointments just because they didn’t feel like working, and refused to use magnification loups.

So, I found someone that does only thermolysis (not necessarily what I want), but is steady in seeing me every week, nice to be with for hours, and will work on me for 6-7 hours in one day. I need that because I have to travel a long distance to get to them. No one else has been willing to do that. And, I am seeing results. How much they charged, and the fact that they didn’t charge more for using a credit card, and several other factors also played into my decision to go to them.

I did laser before electrology this time, and I regret it. I was talked into it by that other electrologist because they didn’t want to do my entire body. But, I have experienced proximal hair growth now on my elbows and inner arms, and my new electrologist thinks, and I agree, that some of my hairs are now finer, thus harder to see and treat. And, my time for treatment will be prolonged.

I did not like the laser experience at all because I never felt cleared since you have to wait for the hair to grow out and fall out, and because I think the laser technician couldn’t see where they treated, so they would miss whole strips or sections. Whereas, with electrology, they know exactly what they have treated and the hair is gone that day.

I think it is very hard to know everything you need to about an electrologist until you’ve been to them, or been through a few. But, I would certainly interview at least 3 and have a list of questions before I would choose one.

Good luck!!!

10

Do you know what bacteria is affecting you? If you have recalcitrant bacterial folliculitis, it could be a gram negative bacteria, which is notoriously difficult to treat. I’ve struggled with gram negative folliculitis in the beard area and saw great results while on the appropriate antibiotics but it did come back after I stopped taking pills, and accutane helped but didn’t completely solve the problem… however, I did see fantastic improvement after seeking hair removal. I initially started electrolysis and, while that helped, it was too slow to make a significant impact on the bacterial folliculitis. I then decided to get laser hair removal on my entire beard area…. I noticed incredible improvement within a week of my first session. After my second session I considered myself 99% cured.

I would suggest getting a dermatologist to test bacteria and I highly recommend considering hair removal methods. For me, the faster methods provided the most relief

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I had culture done that came back as normal skin flora. My derm at the time chocked it up to being gram-negative but didn’t do any further testing to narrow it down. If I already know what antibiotics work, would testing really do anything for me? My understanding is no antibiotic, no matter how tailored to the strain/long the dose, will permanently remove such a “dug in” issue. Very interested to hear your thoughts on this. Thank you very much for the reply! It’s such a tough choice, I think I’ll have a sit down with techs in my area for both and try to make a decision off that.

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I just thought of these questions after I posted my previous response:
Do you have any concerns of hair regrowth in years time, and if so, what’s your plan to address it? How many total sessions have you done? Are you finished or do you get maintenance touchups?

Again, I appreciate everyone’s input on this thread.