Chronic ingrown hairs

[Elle-]

so i get chronic ingrown hairs, pretty much everywhere but my face. its the worst on my legs, arms, and butt cheeks. i want to shave all of these really bad, but everywhere i can find says not to, that will make it worse. what are my options?

[DragonflyGirl]

I get a pin and prick them out one by one. ?

[ToniTone]

Try to let them heal for a couple days. Might take about a week. A week of growing it out and being a teenage werewolf. After about a week the inflammation should be gone enough so you can clean shave. If not give it a couple more days. 

 

If you try popping a pustule and nothing comes out STOP! If you keep trying it will close and the hair will get stuck in there and make it worse. Give it a day or two. 

 

~Toni

[ToniTone]

Also, when washing your skin, particularly your face, hot water opens your pours, cold water closes them. Hot water opens the pores and makes hair removal a bit easier. Cold kinda sets the skin and smooths it. 

 

Washing your face with hot then cold water helps clean the pores out them firms the skin. 

 

~Toni

[Sarah-B]

Hello!

 

First post here: Sarah, 35, UK *waves*

I actually signed up to offer some hope. I too suffer from HORRIFIC ingrown hairs. I think its a redhead/curly hair thing.

 

I just have to touch my skin with a razor/wax/sugar/epilator/depilatory cream and a breakout is almost guaranteed within 24 hours, no matter how religious I am with my routine.

 

Add to that redheads cant use IPL and life is just a basket of roses. lol

 

It murders my confidence to the point that though I have been "out" and full time for years, Ive never had a date as a girl and Im hurtling towards 40 at lightspeed. So I really feel your pain Elle.

 

The one thing I have found that helps is either single blade "butterfly" razors and recently I bought a Gillette Skinguard razor which seems to do a really great job of keeping off the irritation. Did my bikini line with it a few days ago and still looking good!

The downside is you wont get a very very close shave, but the close shave IS the problem here IMHO. Unfortunately, it seems that for people like us the choice is

 

A: Slightly stubbly

B: The "lost a fight with a hive of bees" look.

 

I use only baby oil to shave. I switched to doing that some years ago and it made a big improvement but didnt solve the problem even 50%. Now I use the above razors it has gotten it down to about 70-80% solved. Butt and back of legs are still a problem though. Probably due to my sedentary job ? lots of heat and pressure over the day.

 

For that, roll-on deodorant WITH aluminum in it helps me. Dont know why, but I read somewhere strippers swear by this too. So good enough for me.

 

Also, if you go down the route of depilatory creams, do the same as if you were shaving. Wipe it off IN THE DIRECTION of the hair growth. Otherwise your going to push all that melted hair gunk back into your pores. Nicht gut.
 

So...... sorry, no magic bullets, but I hope theres something helpful in there for you. xxx

[KayC]

32 minutes ago, Sarah-B said:

I too suffer from HORRIFIC ingrown hairs.

 

On 6/4/2020 at 5:13 PM, Elle- said:

so i get chronic ingrown hairs, pretty much everywhere but my face. its the worst on my legs, arms, and butt cheeks.

Welcome Sarah!  and me too, Elle.  Its better now since I have been shaving regularly, but the pubic area and butt cheeks can still be a problem.
I use the 5-blade Schick razor with a sensitive skin shave lotion.  It reduces nicks and I get a close shave without having to press down (which I've heard is one of the contributors to ingrowns).
One thing I found that works for me (because I found it also worked to reduce face blemishes) is this specific Olay product.
https://www.olay.com/en-us/skin-care-products?sort=featured&page=5
I think its the beta-hydroxy acid ingredient that does wonders.

I put some on those problems areas right after I shave and I have not had any significant ingrowns for a while now.  (I am using a home IPL now so hopefully that will reduce shaving in the future)

Hope you can find something that works for you.  I hate ingrowns! ?

[Sarah-B]

Thank you Kay Im all over that Olay cream you mentioned. Will be checking that out for sure!

 

With the 5 blade razor thing - I hear conflicting things all the time about number of blades. But the basic takeaway I got from most places I read is more blades = closer shave but more potential irritation.

 

For example, if you use a butterfly razor and do the standard "down, sideways, up" technique, your only passing a blade over your skin 3 times. With a 5 blade razor, that would be 15 times! (5 blades x 3 strokes). Each time you pass a blade over your skin, your slightly abrading it. Causing little micro-cuts and scrapes.

Also, multiblade razors tend to pull the hair up slightly as each blade passes to get that super close shave. But the hair then falls back into the follicle and below the skinline. Resulting in ingrowns.

 

Ive never used a 5 blade, but I still have 3 blade safety razors for those awkward bits. Especially the dreaded testicle hair.  No way am I putting my butterfly blade anywhere near that! Just thinking about it made me cross my legs. Ive never cut myself with the butterfly blade, but Im always paranoid about it.

 

I used to use 3 blades also on le derriere (for those that dont know: thats French for bum), but saw a huge improvement when I was brave enough to take the butterfly down there. So from experience, less blades works best for me.

 

[Sarah-B]

Also, I second the get a home ILP device if your a good candidate for it. Im not, but I CAN use it on my chest because that hair is more on the brown/black side. And I dont regret the money I spent on it, even if I can only do a limited area.

[KayC]

On 8/30/2020 at 11:02 PM, Sarah-B said:

Also, I second the get a home ILP device if your a good candidate for it

I just purchased a good IPL (Braun) and after only 3 weeks I am already starting to get results ... of course I do have dark hair.  But I agree with the testicle hair part ... that's always like walking a tightrope ?  one slip and its curtains!

[Rowan.]

Hi Elle-,

 

My skin is an utter nightmare. It's extremely sensitive, and likes to get in-growns even when I do not shave. I'm so sorry that you get in-growns too ); It's no fun at all. I'll share my strategy in hopes that they may be of help.

 

1. As mentioned by Sarah-B above, I invested in a single-blade safety razor. I bought one recently for about 17 dollars. I also picked up about 50 replacement blades. All in all I am very happy with both purchases. I will never again use multi-blade razor below my neck ever again.

 

2. Take a few minutes before shaving to map out hair growth direction. I used to always shave up and down. On my legs, some hairs grow straight down while others grow at diagonal angles. Before I learned to do this I would just shave up and down but learned that it is best to shave in the direction that my hair grows. It might help to draw a picture of your legs (front, back, inside, outside) and then draw in little arrows to indicate growth direction. I find that drawing pictures really helps to cement new concepts in my mind.

 

3. I soak my legs in hot/warm (never cold) water for 15 minutes before the razor even touches my skin. I just set a timer on my phone, but on some music and zone out for a bit.

 

4. I coat my skin with baby oil. This helps the razor glide over the skin better.

 

5. Next I apply shaving cream. My favorite is EOS shea better lavender. This stuff just smells sooo good ?

 

6. I only shave in the direction of hair growth, never against it. I do not get a very close shave, but my skin responds better than if I were to shave in both directions.

 

7. After I've shaved everything, I drain the tub and use the shower head to spray my legs with cold water to shut the pores.

 

8. Next I apply 100% Witch Hazel to all shaved areas. I never buy/use Witch Hazel that contains alcohol.

 

9. Finally I pat dry and apply lotion.

 

For me this is a big process, but I've been getting good results so far. Only a couple of minor in-growns that went away quickly. I only shave once a week and exfoliate every other day. Also, it important to mention that I started shaving only up to my knee at first. Then I started adding 3 inches every week. So, I think it's better to say that my calves, shins, knees, and lower thighs are responding well to this process. My problem areas are my upper front and inner thigh, which I have yet to get too.

 

I hope that some of this information is helpful.

 

Best of luck to you <3