This subject has been covered before but I can't find it, so my apologies for bringing up an old subject. It will be useful information especially to new members anyway. Last week I had an ingrowing hair.:mad: I didn't recognise it at first and just thought it was a little pimple that wouldn't go away because I kept shaving it and making it bleed. I understand that wet shaving properly reduces the risk of getting an ingrowing hair but I not sure why it does so. Could someone explain why ingrowing hairs happen and how to avoid them. Also, what is the best way of dealing with them should you get one? Many thanks Kristian
If I understand the process correctly. Issac probably has a better handle on this but here goes. A hair follicle is a small duct or pore in the skin that, depending on the size, grows a certain type of hair. Arm hair differs from facial hair which differs from below the naval hair. The diameter of the pore constricts how the hair grows. The small the pore the stiffer and more rigid the hair. That being said, an ingrown hair is one that has either been pushed back into the pore or the pore is sufficiently clogged to not allow the hair to grow. This differs from a pimple or white head because those happen in non-hair growing pores. How to remove a hair that is embedded in a pore, no clue. Pick at it and get in infected I guess. I just mow them down. A good astringent will work too i guess. Also note that hair just does not exist. It is a chemical that the body produces that makes the hair. It is of a cottage cheese consistency and through what ever reaction takes place the hair is grown. I believe that hair is made of keratin or something like that. MHO
I had an ingrown on my lip for a few weeks. I thought I had freed the hair a few times but it kept coming back. I think it gets caught in the scar tissue. I finally freed the hair and apllied a facial lotion to the spot every few hours for a few days. The skin (scar tissue) was finally softened enough to let the hair grow in free. I have heard a warm towel will also soften the skin to free an ingrown.
I've heard of the warm towel treatment as well. Hasn't worked for me yet but I'm pretty impatient. Time seems to be the only thing that has worked. Your problem may be "overshaving".
Depending on how serious/ irritated the spot is, you might consider a shave holiday. I've taken breaks in the past after I nicked myself fairly badly, or after I got myself some serious razor burn. It's sometimes taken as long as 72 hours for the spot to heal enough to shave again. You also might consider shaving the spot very lightly or shaving around the spot, all while treating it with witch hazel or some such astringent. It all depends on how serious and where the ingrown hair is located.
a good shaving technique is very important to avoid an ingrown hair as well. I always suggest to a newbie to not try to shave too close at the beginning. I taught Armand, my brother-in-law how to use a DE the right way.
Stretching the skin and shaving too close will cause ingrowns as well as the reasons listed above. Some people get them from stretching the skin and others dont. Its when the hair cant grow above the skin. The best thing to do to get rid of them is to put on clearasil cream. Its the same stuff that all the big brands sell as fixes for ingrowns. It will dry it out and it'll come free. Also, if its big and bad enough, you can pop it and yank the hair right out. Just keep it clean so you dont get an infection.
Cold witch hazel should help after shaving as it helps to close the pores. I also heard that Tend Skin works, but never tried it. http://www.tendskin.com/tendskin.htm
as I said very many times, I CANNOT, just CANNOT stretch even lightly my skin. Nobody here can believe how much it hurts if I try. The pain is so intense, I feel like I'll fall down.
Well I took a shave vacation. I had 4 days off for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). I didn't shave saturday sunday or monday. I had the day off today too but couldn't help myself. I needed some menthol!!!! All signs of ingrown are gone.
I have been using a product by anthony logistics for ingrowns. Seems to be working, but I'm not stretching the skin as much as I was. I've really been watching blade angle ass well. The combo of all three has been treating me better.
I think AOS has an ingrown hair kit, has anyone ever tried it? I get them every so often and I just pull them out using tweezers and making sure I keep it clean.
http://www.theartofshaving.com/taos6/product.php?product=99004&group=20&trk=group If you'd like to spend 75$ to get rid of an ingrown, go for it. Anthony logistics also sells one for 26$. The best way to go about it IMHO is to use clearasil pimple cream. Use it for a couple days until the hair comes through and than tweez it out. All the other companies are selling glorified acid based products. The same thing as clearasil in a nut shell.
yea that is expensive.. I didnt know how much it was. I would rather use tweezers than spend 75 bucks
