Ingrown Hair Tips & Remedies

Ingrown hairs are considered one of the hardest skin abnormalities to treat. They occur when shaved or rubbed off hair grows within the skin versus up through the hair follicle. There are many ways to get ingrown hairs, but very few things you can do to treat them. Ingrown hairs can cause redness, swelling, rashes, and in extreme cases, scarring. Unlike acne pimples, you can’t just pop ingrown hairs to make them disappear; you have to use extreme caution and care. We recommend that you design a comprehensive ingrown-hair regimen to treat the condition and improve the appearance of your skin.

First, you need to make sure that the products you are using to treat your ingrown hairs contain active ingredients. Salicylic acid has been clinically tested and proven to be the only dermatological ingredient that smoothes and soothes ingrown hairs. Furthermore, you should be using shaving creams that are specifically targeted for people with sensitive skin. Another idea to consider is avoiding products containing alcohol because it dries out your skin, closing your pores, and actually making ingrown hairs worse.

Next, make a point to exfoliate your skin; by doing so you buff away dead skin that can make getting to ingrown hairs difficult. Try using a daily scrub containing non-acnegenic ingredients or once again, salicylic acid. In addition, use a liquid cleanser on a gentle face brush and massage the skin with ingrown hair in a circular motion, which will clear your hair follicles, and allow hair to return to natural growing habits.

Finally, to remove ingrown hairs that already exist, take a pair of sterile tweezers, and very cautiously lift the ingrown hair up and out of the follicle. Refrain from actually “plucking” your ingrown hairs, however, because by doing so the incoming hair will grow in even deeper than before. To tip it all off, gently dab witch hazel to the infected area, which will reduce swelling, redness, and close the pore from outside dirt and grime.