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Ingrown Hairs

Ingrown hairs are a fairly common condition, associated not just with shaving but most hair removal methods. They are the cause for razor bumps, when the hair follicle becomes infected and causes a series of acne-like bumps on the skin where the area was recently shaved.

What are Ingrown Hairs?

A normal hair will grow from the follicle, break out through the skin and become an external hair that just sits there like a hair on your head, leg, arm, face or wherever. Some of these hairs are unwanted (where that might be is up to you) and are therefore removed via shaving, tweezing, waxing or various other hair removal methods.

Hair doesn’t give up easily, and it will just start a new hair and start growing again. Normally, they will break through the skin once again, and continue back to where they once were.

Every now and then, when the hair starts to grow back it will fail in its attempts to break through the skin. The hair follicle doesn’t understand this and will continue growing as it always has. As the hair is still under the skin and still growing, this leads to the hair becoming “ingrown”, hence the name.

How Do You Get Ingrown Hairs?

Generally, you do not need to worry about them if you don’t do any hair removal. Unfortunately, most people do some sort of hair removal, so they are at risk on some level. Fear not, as they are easy to avoid.

People with curly hairs are more at risk because the hair is more likely to curl and stay under the skin, rather than move straight out of the skin.

Hair removal methods fit into two distinct categories, both of which can cause the condition:

Depilation (removing a hair at skin level, leaving the root intact)

Shaving and Using a Depilatory Cream (chemical hair remover) both remove the hair from skin level, leaving the root of the hair intact. When the hair grows back, it merely grows back from just below the skin where it left off. Sometimes this hair can be cut too short (as is usual from shaving against the grain) and it has trouble breaking through the skin. Razor bumps are sure to follow as they form.

Epilation (removing a hair at the root)

Waxing, Tweezing, and Using an Epilator are when the hair has been completely pulled out of the follicle. This will take longer to grow in, but as it does it may face the classic challenge of breaking through the skin. If it doesn’t, ingrown hairs will appear.

They can also occur all by themselves where a hair begins to grow sideways and a build up of skin layers surround it. Also anything that can cause a hair to break, even something as simple as chafing pants or tight clothing.

How To Avoid Them

The best way to avoid them is to make sure that when you shave you have the best shaving technique you can. Take the proper care that you need to and make sure you have a good sharp razor.
Read here for How To Shave Your Face.

How To Get Rid Of Them

If you have a lot of patience or a great person to help you, you can use a set of tweezers to individually pluck each of the ingrown hairs out from the skin. You can either remove the hair fully, or just help it out from under the skin allowing it to continue growing.

An excellent set of tweezers are the Tweezerman Ingrown Hair Splinter Tweezers. These are specifically designed for fixing this problem and are excellent for the job. Follow the link to get your pair today!