Skin Care · Downtown Chicago
Treatment For Ingrown Hairs, Razor Bumps And Post-Shaving Dark Spots In Chicago
Recurring bumps, ingrown hairs, irritation, and dark spots after shaving or hair removal? Most people treat this as a shaving problem. They switch razors, try a new aftershave, exfoliate harder, and the bumps keep coming back along the same jawline, the same bikini line, the same patch on the back of the neck.
The razor is rarely the real cause. The hair is. A coarse or curly hair that grows back into the skin will keep doing that for as long as it keeps growing, which is why the lasting fix starts with the hair and then moves on to the skin it has marked.
The Right Order
We treat ingrown hairs, razor bumps and the discoloration they cause at our Old Town clinic at 1315 N Larrabee St. The order matters. If we lighten your dark marks while you are still shaving over the same follicles, new bumps will simply make new marks. So we reduce or remove the hair that is causing the trouble first, let the skin calm down, and then work on the pigmentation and texture left behind.
Because hair removal and skin care happen in the same clinic, with the same licensed staff, you get one plan instead of two separate providers who never talk to each other.
Know What You Are Looking At
These problems tend to show up together, but they are not the same thing, and each one responds to a different treatment.
A hair curls back and grows into the skin instead of out of it, or never makes it out of the follicle at all. The body treats it like a splinter, and you get a raised, sometimes painful bump, often with the hair visible just under the surface.
The rows of bumps that appear after shaving the beard, neck or bikini area. It is most common with coarse or tightly curled hair, because a freshly cut hair with a sharp tip bends back and pierces the skin as it grows. Closer shaves usually make it worse.
Red, tender bumps around the follicles after shaving, waxing or plucking. Sometimes it is simple irritation, and sometimes a follicle becomes inflamed or infected. Either way, repeated hair removal over the same area keeps it going.
Every inflamed bump tells your skin to make extra pigment, and that pigment can remain for months after the bump has healed. It is especially common on medium and deeper skin tones, and it stays visible even on days when the skin is clear.
Years of recurring ingrown hairs, picking and digging can leave small pitted scars, rough patches and uneven texture. This is a collagen problem rather than a pigment problem, so it needs a different kind of treatment.
Four Treatments, One Clinic
Two of these deal with the hair that causes the problem. The other two deal with the marks and texture it leaves behind.
Reduces suitable unwanted hair, helping address one of the main triggers behind recurring ingrown hairs, razor bumps, and follicular irritation.
If you no longer have to shave an area, the hair can no longer grow back into it. The laser sends energy into the pigment in the hair, the heat travels down to the follicle, and over a course of sessions the follicle produces fewer, finer hairs. Finer hair is also far less likely to curl back into the skin, so even the hair that remains causes fewer problems.
We use the Candela GentleMax Pro Plus, the same platform we use for laser hair removal in Chicago. Its built-in Dynamic Cooling Device protects the surface of the skin at every pulse, and it gives us settings that are safe for every skin type and hair texture, including the deeper skin tones and coarse, curly hair where razor bumps are most common.
Permanently removes individual unwanted hairs, including hairs that aren’t suitable for laser treatment.
Electrolysis is the only hair removal method the FDA recognizes as permanent. A fine probe follows the hair into the follicle, and a precise current destroys the growth cells, so that follicle stops producing hair for good. A follicle that no longer grows hair can no longer grow an ingrown one.
It works on every skin tone and every hair color, which makes it the right tool for the hairs laser leaves behind: gray, white, red and fine blond hairs, stray hairs that keep regrowing after a laser course, and small areas where a handful of follicles cause most of the bumps. Our licensed Illinois electrologists perform traditional electrolysis one follicle at a time, and we offer seven comfort options, from prescription numbing cream to ProNox nitrous oxide.
May help improve superficial dark marks and uneven-looking skin after active irritation is controlled.
A peel works on the top layers of the skin. We apply a solution that loosens the bonds holding dead, pigmented cells in place, so your skin sheds them faster and brings fresher skin up from underneath. Superficial peels use acids such as glycolic, lactic, salicylic or mandelic, and we choose the type and strength at your appointment based on your skin and what it has tolerated before.
For dark marks from ingrown hairs, peels are usually the workhorse. One peel rarely impresses anyone. A series usually does. If your marks are part of a wider discoloration concern, our pigmentation and dark spots page covers it in more detail.
For the first two or three days your skin may look slightly darker and feel tight, and then it flakes. That flaking is the treatment working, and picking at it is how new dark marks start.
May be considered when repeated ingrown hairs have also left uneven texture or scarring.
We use SkinPen, a medical-grade microneedling device with sterile single-use cartridges. Very fine needles create thousands of microscopic channels in the skin, and your body responds by producing new collagen and elastin, rebuilding the area more evenly over the following weeks. For pitted scars and rough patches from years of ingrown hairs, this is the treatment that goes after the texture itself.
SkinPen uses no heat and no chemicals, so it is suitable for all skin types and can be done year round. It also speeds up cell turnover, which can help fading dark marks along the way. Read more about microneedling in Chicago.
We can treat the unwanted hair first and then address the discoloration and texture it has left behind.
A Rough Guide
Most people with long-term ingrown hairs end up with a combination, and the order is almost always the same. Your consultation is where this gets specific.
| If Your Main Concern Is | We Usually Start With |
|---|---|
| New bumps every time you shave dark, coarse hair | A course of GentleMax Pro Plus laser |
| Bumps from gray, blond or red hair | Electrolysis |
| Stray hairs that keep ingrowing after laser | Electrolysis to finish the area |
| Bumps have stopped, but dark marks remain | A series of chemical peels |
| Pitted scars or rough, uneven texture | SkinPen microneedling |
You do not have to work any of this out on your own. At your consultation we look at the hair, the skin and the area, and tell you plainly which sequence will get you there for less.
Where It Happens
Ingrown hairs and razor bumps show up wherever hair is shaved or waxed regularly. We treat both men and women, and we have experience with transgender clients who shave daily and are dealing with bumps along the face and neck.
Your Appointment, Step By Step
If you have never been treated at our clinic, a consultation comes before your first appointment. You leave it with a plan and a timeline.
We look at the bumps, the hair causing them, your skin type, and any dark marks or scarring. We ask how you currently remove hair, how often, and what you have already tried.
Before a full laser treatment, we test a small area to see how your skin and hair respond. It is free and it tells us more than any amount of conversation.
Laser can take just a few minutes for a small area like the neck. Electrolysis is booked by time. Peels and microneedling follow once the skin has settled.
We go through aftercare with you before you leave, including what to avoid, what is normal, and when to book your next session.
Between Sessions
Dark marks get darker in the sun, and freshly treated skin is more sensitive to it. Daily SPF 30 or higher on any treated area is the single most useful thing you can do between visits, especially for pigmentation.
Stop picking, squeezing and digging at ingrown hairs. Every time you break the skin, you give it another reason to make pigment.
We send you home with specific product guidance for whichever treatment you had.
Realistic Expectations
Hair grows in cycles, and the laser can only reach hairs in their active growth stage, so laser sessions are spaced roughly six to eight weeks apart. Most people need a course rather than a single visit, and the number of bumps usually drops as the hair gets thinner and finer.
Electrolysis is permanent per follicle. Sessions get shorter as the area clears, and once a follicle is done, it is done.
Dark marks fade gradually. Peels work best as a series, and pigmentation that took months to build up usually takes months to clear.
SkinPen microneedling is typically done as four sessions over about four months, and collagen keeps rebuilding in the weeks after each one.
None of these are permanent, and all of them are worth mentioning at your consultation, since they can change which treatment we recommend and when.
Bumps that are very painful, filled with pus, spreading, or turning into firm raised scars (keloids) should be looked at by a dermatologist before any cosmetic treatment. The same goes for any spot you are not sure about.
If we think that is the right first step for you, we will tell you.
What It Costs
Pricing depends on which treatments you need and how large the area is, so we give you an exact quote at your consultation. The laser consultation, examination and test patch are free. A $25 deposit holds your appointment and is applied to your treatment.
For skin treatments, numbing cream, sterile single-use cartridges and post-treatment product are included in the session price.
We book through Vagaro, which offers Buy Now, Pay Later through Affirm, so you can spread the cost of a treatment plan over monthly payments. Applying takes a couple of minutes and does not affect your credit score, and the rates and terms come from Affirm rather than from us.
For Reference
Electrolysis and chemical peel sessions are quoted at your consultation, based on the area and how many sessions you need.
Answers
Anything we have not covered here, ask at your consultation, or call the clinic and we will talk it through.
The most lasting fix is removing the hair that keeps growing back into the skin. For dark, coarse hair, laser hair removal reduces most of it over a course of sessions. Electrolysis permanently removes individual hairs, including the gray, blond and red hairs laser cannot treat. Many clients use both.
It usually reduces them significantly. Razor bumps happen when shaved hair grows back into the skin. When laser thins the hair and makes it finer, there is less to shave and less hair able to curl back in, so the bumps tend to settle as the course goes on.
Yes. The Candela GentleMax Pro Plus has settings designed for deeper skin tones, and every client gets a free test patch before a full treatment.
Not directly. For electrolysis the hair needs to be visible above the surface, and we do not treat bumps that are inflamed. We let the skin calm down first, then treat the follicle once the hair has grown out.
First, stop the new bumps, otherwise new marks keep replacing the old ones. Then a series of chemical peels can help fade superficial dark marks, with daily sunscreen in between. If the area also has uneven texture, microneedling may be added.
It can help with pitted scars and rough texture by stimulating new collagen. It is done on calm skin, not over active bumps, and results build over several sessions.
Yes. Beard and neck razor bumps are one of the most common reasons men come to us. We also treat transgender clients dealing with bumps from daily shaving.
Most insurance companies consider it cosmetic and do not reimburse it. It is worth checking with your carrier. You can also split the cost into monthly payments through Affirm when you book with us.
Booking
You do not have to keep planning your week around shaving, or covering the same dark marks every morning. Book a consultation at our Old Town clinic, and we will look at your hair and skin and build a plan that deals with the hair first and the marks it left behind next.
Electrolysis 100% Permanent Hair Removal & Skin Care has been on N Larrabee St since 2016, with a 5.0 rating across 100 Google reviews, minutes from the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park and the Loop.
If you’ve never had electrolysis or laser hair removal at our location, we require a consultation before scheduling your first appointment.
For out-of-state clients, consultations can be conducted online.
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