What causes ingrown hair?

If you are someone who tries to combat five o’clock shadow with a very close shave, you may be paying the price in "razor bumps", or ingrown hair. This is especially true if your beard is curly.

An ingrown hair occurs when the sharp stub of a closely cut hair, trapped within the hair follicle, grows inward instead of towards the skin’s surface. A curly ingrown hair may penetrate an adjoining hair follicle, but either way, the ingrown hair will cause inflammation, resulting in red razor bumps, which can itch or become infected.

Women will also experience ingrown hair from shaving too closely.

How can you avoid ingrown hair?

First, teach your beard to grow out straight. This is a time-consuming project, but will get to the roots of your ingrown hair problem.

Limit yourself to shaving in only two directions; use downward strokes on the face, and, to avoid nicking, upward strokes on the neck. Avoid back-and-forth strokes. The results of your shave may suffer in the beginning, but you should eventually be rewarded with beard hairs marching in the same direction.

Women shaving their legs should use a downward stroke, following the natural growth pattern of leg hair.

Second, accept the fact that you might have to sacrifice freedom from five o’clock shadow for freedom from ingrown hair. You can alter the way you shave by not pulling on your skin, and using a single-blade razor without too much pressure.

Third, begin an exfoliating regimen. You can find facial scrubs which, with daily use, will remove layers of dead skin cells, lessening the likelihood that your hair follicles will become clogged and trap ingrown hair.

What if you already suffer from ingrown hair?

If you have an ingrown hair that you are simply finding intolerable, you might resort to tweezing it out. But this can be painful, and does not prevent the ingrown hair from reappearing. So start an ingrown hair prevention campaign.

If you have existing ingrown hair, gently scrub your beard for about two minutes in a circular motion with liquid soap on a soft brush. This will help loosen newly growing tips, remove dead skin cells, clear your hair follicles of debris, and soften your beard.

Choose a shaving cream which specifically mentions that it will lubricate your skin.

There are non-foam creams - foam will dry your skin and tighten your already inflamed hair follicles - for people with acne or sensitive skin. Again allow the cream to soften your beard for about two minutes.

Avoid any facial products which contain alcohol. Alcohol will exacerbate any existing ingrown hair by drying your skin so that the pores tighten, trapping the hair even more.

Salicylic acid, the base for aspirin, is the only ingredient known to effectively treat ingrown hair. Dermatologists recommend it in the form of an after-shave which will stay on your skin throughout the day, acting to exfoliate, moisturize, and prevent infection-causing bacteria buildup.

What are you waiting for? You can start uprooting your ingrown hair today!

Jason Ladock

Copyrighted material; do not reprint without permission.

 

View all articles by Jason Ladock