Ingrown hairs can be one of the hazards of maintaining a neatly groomed bikini area. Whether you pluck, wax or shave your bikini area, there is a good chance that you'll end up dealing with an ingrown hair now and again. Even if you don't get ingrown hairs other places where you remove hair, the coarser, curlier hair in your bikini area is more likely to twist back into your skin, creating an ingrown hair.
Step 1
Exfoliate your bikini area on a regular basis. Exfoliating sloughs away dead skin cells that can cause ingrown hairs to develop.
Step 2
Use a lotion with glycolic acid or salicylic acid on your bikini area to moisturize and help promote the removal of dead skin cells that can trap ingrown hairs in place.
Step 3
Shave in the direction that your hair grows if you remove your bikini area hair with a razor; pull off wax opposite the direction your hair grows if you use wax to remove hair.
Step 4
Apply a cool compress to the area right after the hair removal to soothe your skin.
Step 5
Use a topical treatment designed especially for preventing and soothing ingrown hairs in the bikini area. You can find these kinds of treatments in the shaving aisles of your drugstore or ask your doctor about a prescription-strength version.
Step 6
Place a hot washcloth on existing ingrown hairs for about 10 minutes to soften your skin and loosen the hair. When it's loose, you can ease the hair out of your skin using tweezers or a sterile needle. Don't pull or pluck the hair.
Step 7
Consider letting hair grow if ingrown hairs are an ongoing problem. Letting ingrown hairs grow out is the best way to deal with them, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Tips and Warnings
- Laser hair removal permanently removes hair from a targeted area, erasing the potential for ingrown hairs. Laser hair removal can be expensive, but it may be worth considering if ingrown hairs are a persistent problem and you are committed to hair removal in your bikini area.
- Never pluck, squeeze or pick at ingrown hairs, warns "Cosmopolitan" magazine. Doing so puts you at risk for scarring and infection.
Member Comments