Hair Removal

Hair Removal

Minimizing the amount of hair available to get caught in the midline pores might be helpful. Any method that is not irritating to the skin is acceptable, including depilatory agents, shaving, clipping, or laser hair removal. However, this is not a perfect solution since hairs from anywhere on the body can find their way into the crease — not just the hairs growing locally. In fact, recent studies have shown that most of the hairs in pilonidal cysts come from the back of the head – not the hair on the buttocks and low back. After a cleft-lift, hair removal is no longer necessary because the cleft is flattened. But, if you are unable to have a cleft-lift this may be a reasonable way to slightly minimize symptoms until surgery is possible, but it should not be viewed as a long term solution to the problem.

I do not recommend having hair removal done after I perform a cleft-lift. I have not found it necessary to prevent recurrences. If, you feel you want to have laser hair removal anyway – I would wait at least 8 weeks after surgery. And, although we do not generally recommend hair removal as a solution to pilonidal disease, nor a necessity after cleft lift surgery, if you feel that you do want to do this, we don’t recommend shaving – but rather recommend using a clipper to keep the hairs short.