Ingrown hairs are a common problem shared by many individuals who use razors to shave. These occur when razor blades cut the hairs so that they are extremely sharp at the ends. These hairs occasionally curl back towards the skin--particularly if you have curly hair--and can penetrate the skin, creating red, swelling bumps that are extremely sensitive and painful. When this happens, there are several things you can do to heal this minor condition.
Step 1
Gently pull the end of the hair that has curled into your skin back out. Do this slowly to avoid skin irritation. You can use your fingers to do this, or you can use tweezers. If you have tweezers, you might want to consider plucking the entire hair out, since there is the slight chance that your curled hair could become ingrown again.
Step 2
Exfoliate your skin with a loofah sponge, removing the dead skin cells that can trap ingrown hairs.
Step 3
Apply a topical acne medication to your ingrown hairs. These help relieve the irritated red bumps.
Step 4
Dab rubbing alcohol onto the ingrown hairs. This will hurt, but it will clean out the red bumps and minimize your risk of infection. Aftershave is also effective at cleaning the wound.
Step 5
Stop shaving if you are developing repeated ingrown hairs. If you don't shave, you can't develop ingrown hairs. Consider trimming but not shaving facial hair to reduce skin irritation.
Tips and Warnings
- Resist the impulse to pop a red bump if it becomes filled with pus. This will hurt, and it could damage your skin. If a bump develops pus it means it is infected, and you should visit a dermatologist before taking any action.
Things You'll Need
- Tweezers
- Loofah sponge
- Acne medication
- Rubbing alcohol
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