Ingrown hairs can happen to anyone, but they afflict black men and other individuals with very curly hair most frequently. Also called pseudofolliculitis, ingrown hairs lead to inflamed, irritated skin. While often a temporary issue, for some people they can become a chronic condition requiring constant care and preventative measures.
Significance
Ingrown hairs are a form of folliculitis, or inflammation of the hair follicles. They are a direct result of removing hair, such as by shaving or waxing, for example. The condition can occur whether you remove individual hairs at the root, such as through plucking with tweezers, or above the root, such as through cutting above the surface of the skin with a razor, says dermntnz.org.
Causes of Ingrown Hairs
Ingrown hairs result when individual hairs curve into either the skin or the wall of the follicle when they grow back following initial removal. The structure of your hair and the direction it grows in are two significant factors in ingrown hairs. People with curved hair follicles are more likely to develop ingrown hairs because follicles with that shape are responsible for producing tightly curled hair. Curved hair follicles also make it easier for hair to bend in a curved manner during regrowth, which facilitates curling back into the skin or follicle.
Symptoms of Ingrown Hairs
Signs that you have an ingrown hair include a small round bump called a papule, a small bump filled with pus called a pustule, darkened skin called hyperpigmentation, itching, pain and a visibly embedded hair. Such reactions are a typical inflammatory response to the embedded hair, which the skin considers a foreign body, just like any other irritant. Ingrown hairs usually appear on the legs or in the armpits and pubic area of women, and on the cheeks, chin and neck of men, notes the Mayo Clinic.
Treating Ingrown Hairs
Treating ingrown hairs and resulting skin inflammation may require you to stop removing hair through common methods, such as shaving or waxing. Laser hair removal is an option if removing hair is necessary because the procedure removes the entire hair follicle instead of just the hair. Doctors can also prescribe various medications to help control symptoms of ingrown hairs, including antibiotics to prevent infection from scratching, corticosteroids to reduce inflammation and retinoid creams to relieve hyperpigmentation, the Mayo Clinic says.
Preventing Ingrown Hairs
Preventing ingrown hairs can help you avoid possible complications related to inflamed skin, such as darkened skin, infection due to scratching and permanent scars. The easiest way to prevent ingrown hairs is to never remove hair. The next best method is to decrease the conditions that lead to ingrown hairs, such as by always wetting hair before shaving, not stretching skin during shaving and never shaving too closely.
Men who are at risk of developing ingrown hairs are more susceptible to pseudofolliculitis barbae, a condition sometimes called razor bumps, shaving bumps or shaving rash. They should also use a sharp single-blade razor to avoid cutting hair too short and press a cool towel against their skin after they finish shaving their face, dermnetnz.org says.
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