UGH! I have no idea what is happening! I've been DE shaving for over two months now and have had no problems but over the course of the last week I have been getting what I hope are ingrown hairs in crazy amounts. It started after my third straight razor shave, i had razor burn and started with three ingrowns so I went back to the DE until they healed but I am still getting them. The only thing I changed was using a different soap and cream but I even went back to my old stuff and still developed two more! I've been VERY careful with angle and pressure over the last 3-4 shaves, no ATG passes, what the heck am I doing wrong and how do I get rid of these things?!
Hmmm that is weird.... The only thing that changed was straights... so I would guess it was because of the straight and how aggressive you were with it... I would say take a bit off shaving or DE if you need to be clean shavin. Do that until it hopefully clears up... That is all I can think of. And stick with the creams/soaps you know work Hope you get that all sorted out.
Frankly, I think I would go to the Dr. for a check-up, and ask him. Sores like that need to be checked out IMO. Years ago I was Blessed to get Pneumonia and placed in the Hosiptal, they discovered Leukemia in early stages and were able to put it in remission. This isn't ment to scare you, but something seems odd and needs looking into.
Dang. Well I guess that is one of the best cases of Pheumonia I have heard about. I would say get checked out if you want and or if it keeps it up. Has your skin changed as well? Ie more oily? dryer? or anything?
Not that i've noticed. Another thing I changed was my pre-shave prep. I was using THIS and now I wonder if the oil isnt to blame. I've been hit-and-miss with pre-shave oil (AOS) for a while but it did start around the same time. Maybe this isnt ingrowns at all but just my pores reacting to the oil? I will say if this doesnt heal up quick I'll be getting checked out. They look more like sores than they really are due to me scrubbing with soap and wash cloth to clean them/coax the hairs out. Gently scrubbing, but scrubbing all the same.
might be a reaction of some kind to that oil. I get something similar when I use certain aftershave balms. my skin reacts to something in the balm, and then I get nicks at the site of the reaction. If you can, you might quit shaving for a week and stick to soap and water on your face to let it heal up. then go back to the basic shave routine to see if the problem reoccurs or if it really was just the oil.
Ingrown hairs and blocked pores can cause an infection at varying levels of deph under the skin. Lets say the infection is quite deep. It may be that each time you shave it spreads some of the infective agebt aroubd your skin, spreading the infection to other areas. Yes, you wash with soap, but even a minute amount could do it. I used to get something similar when I used the five-bladed face mincers. Not shaving for a few days, exfoliating and washing each day did the job. Seeing your doc wont do any harm though. Hth.
I have found that changes in weather cause my face to do that as well. Dont know when this happens to you though.
This truly hasnt happened to me since puberty. I will get single pimples every now and then but nothing like this. The ingrowns are healing up nice but i am still breaking out in pimples! I stopped the oil cleansing, could witch hazel cause this? Am I "closing my pores" too much and causing them to clog? I havent read anyone have a reaction with it but I'm not sure what else it could be.
The OCM is all about drawing oil (& thus toxins) out of your skin. It's like a detox for your face. When you go through a detox there is a period of "cleansing" that you feel & possibly look worse before it gets better. I'd suggest stopping the OCM for a bit to let your face heal. Then I'd try it again to see if you get this same reaction. If the reaction occurs 3x then I'd say that's enough to drop it from your prep as the reaction is probably more than a detox.
Ok things to think about. Are you shaving and then going outside or to work right after? Has the weather been warmer than usual? Have your eating habits changed? Are you under unusual stress? Alot to think about but if you start here and start working your way back usually you can eliminate things that worked before this started happening? Have you cleaned your brush lately? Oh you might think this is crazy but are your towels and wash rags totally drying? If you get them wet and it smell like mildew or mold this will effect your face also? Last time this happened to me I had changed brands of witch hazel. Don't ask me why it happened but it did. Hope you find out what is going on. James
there is some good stuff here. a lot of these things are true but they have been true before without this kind of reaction. I do find your statement about changing witch hazel brands interesting. I really wonder if that could be it.
