The Beginning of an Ingrown Hair
Ingrown hairs, they are the absolute worst things to ever appear anywhere on your body. They are persistent hairs that present the world’s biggest epidemic for women who want a smooth bikini line. So how do these recurring bumps become a daily part of a woman’s life and daily struggle? The answer is quite simple. Ingrown hairs, both thick and tiny, naturally occur when a hair grows vertically or horizontally into the skin. This painful and often severely stubborn part of keeping you skin clear and smooth, is a common plight that every human has faced in their lifetime. Symptoms of ingrown hairs are pretty universal in their resulting of recurrent red and/or purple bumps, swollen pores, puffy sebaceous glands in the skin, and overall discomfort. These signs and stages of ingrown hairs can, believe it or not, be both prevented and treated. Below are some easy and applicable ways to treat and prevent any further appearances of ingrown hairs on your skin.
Ways to Prevent Ingrown Hairs
Preventing ingrown hairs is an intentional action. This requires stopping yourself from falling into everyday routines. Here are a couple ways of changing up your daily routines to help aid in prevention of those nasty ingrown hairs.
- Throw out any old razors. Shaving with a razor that is dull will cause skin to get caught in between the blades. Not hot. Instead invest in a rotable razor for a close shave that does not irritate your skin.
- Consider waxing, especially if you have naturally thick or curly hair! When you wax, will pull the hair right out of the follicle and will totally eliminate any chances of having ingrown hairs.
- TIP: If you do not want to shell out the money for a professional wax at a salon, try out at home waxing. Veet wax strips and others like that that can be found at the drug store, can be especially handy. Make sure to check out reviews online and get personal recommendations from your friends!
- Stay clear of tweezing. In theory, tweezing makes sense. But in reality, who wants to spend a good three hours meticulously tweezing every single hair on your leg. Not me! Another problem that arises with this technique, is that you might not tweeze your hair totally down, taking out the follicle. This in turn creates the possibility of ingrown hair instead of taking it away. Save yourself the time and hand cramps by staying clear of tweezing.
- Resist the urge to squeeze. That’s right. If you hear a tiny voice in your head telling you to squeeze and pull out your ingrown hair, resist! Squeezing out ingrown hairs yourself without the proper equipment can result in potential scarring and reoccurrence. I will repeat this once more, avoid any popping, plucking, or any other method of removing ingrown hairs. I repeat, do not pop or pluck.
- Apply sugar scrub, shea butter, or salicylic serum to your skin before shaving. These products will exfoliate, moisturize, and cleanse your shaved skin to prevent future ingrown hair breakouts. Even using a shampoo to help clean your hair and soften it before shaving, can aid a lot in the prevention and preventing of ingrown hair.
- Know when to get professional help. It may seem a bit embarrassing or over the top at first, but if you have tried all that you can in preventing ingrown hairs, and it does not work, seek professional guidance. Severe ingrown hairs can manifest themselves all over your body, from your underarm to your thigh to your tailbone to your calf. Anywhere is free game. If you are experiencing a more than normal amount of ingrown hairs, consider any surgery or treatment from medical professions. Surgical measures may be necessary to completely remove ingrown hairs surgically.
How to Treat Ingrown Hair
Want your ingrown hairs to vanish? Treating ingrown hairs is not like treating a wart, it is not a once and done thing. There are many different types of treatment for when you want to totally eradicate your chances of having ingrown hair. Some you can do at home, while others you need a professional to keep it under control. Some treating ideas to try include:
- Prescription Products. Going to see a specialist about chronic ingrown hair issues can result in a prescription medication. Taking this prescription product will aid in treating any current ingrown hairs and future ingrown hairs to come.
- Laser Hair Removal. Removing your hair altogether seems like a pretty straightforward process to preventing ingrown hair frequency. Although pricey, this treatment can be life changing for those who want smoother legs and never having ingrown hairs again.
- Toothpaste. You did not read that wrong. If your ingrown hairs are particularly pussy and ew, put some toothpaste on them. The toothpaste will help dry up the puss.
- TIP: If your ingrown hair area is particularly swollen, hold ice against it to reduce swelling.
- Epilator. Using an epilator is a true, serious transfollicular experience that aids in the topical relief of ingrown hairs. An epilator helps remove hairs electronically by pulling out multiple hairs at once. This is definitely the right tool for those who do not have the time to shave. An epilator will help stop ingrown hairs from growing by pulling them right out.
- Black Tea Bags. This home remedy helps reduce ingrown hairs that make the skin sore, red, and puffy. Black tea is not only a yummy and warm drink to have in all seasons of the year, but it also contains tannic acid which reduces redness and swelling in skin. Who knew? This it utilized in skin care in remedies that help to sooth the skin and reduce scarring.
- Benzoyl Peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide can be used as an acne cleanser and an ingrown hair magnet. Using this product will help the ingrown hair find its way to the surface to allow for it to break out and get out. This way, you will not be digging around and bleeding in pursuit of an ingrown hair. Simply put some of the rubbing solution on a towel and apply it to your legs. Stopping ingrown hairs and reducing scars from populating your legs has never been easier than using this easy and fast technique!
Helpful Videos
Ingrown hairs can be a super hard thing to understand, and sometimes a picture just does not do it justice. So, instead of just placing a bunch of disgusting pictures in this section, we have found some really great YouTube videos to help further your knowledge of ingrown hairs. This way, you will be able to take in more information with both the visual and auditory stimuli. So instead of solely relying on WebMD or Wiki How, check out a video or two about how to better take care of your skin and body.
This first video by Tabasum Mir is really helpful in explaining why tweezing and other methods are not helpful in aiding the healing of ingrown hairs. An additional bonus is that she offers an awesome home remedy to help by simply using aspirin. This video is extremely short and to the point, so if you are on a time crunch, it is perfect for you and your enlightenment on the subject of ingrown hairs.
This video is awesome because not only does she have an awesome accent, but she also gives real advice and real information about ingrown hairs! She shares awesome prevention tips that we have not touched on in this article and she also gives a great video representation of what to do and how to do it. This video will definitely keep your attention and start the wheels turning in your head on how you can implement her ideas into your own life.
Lastly, the thing that I find super great and helpful about this video, is that she gives a recipe for the body scrub that is really easy and user friendly. I also really like that she gives an idea of what your shaving routine should look like. Her experiential advice is also a lifesaver so make sure to pay attention and take notes! This video provides plenty of inspiration to help you make the choice to change up your skin care routine by implementing some of her ideas.
Hopefully by reading this article you were able to learn more about what is happening when you spot an ingrown hair after shaving. This knowledge will then help you advance in your shaving routine and help you understand how to effectively prevent ingrown hairs from appearing through a variety of techniques. These techniques can occur both at home and in a doctors office. If these prevention techniques do not work for you, hopefully some of the treatment ideas will aid in the disappearance of your ingrown hair. Comment down below which method you found most useful and the results you got from it! We would also love to hear about your own personal remedies that may not have been touched on in this article.
