How to Stop Ingrown Hairs & Razor Bumps from Waxing & Shaving | Treatments & Products

Today we will be discussing ingrown hair, the medical name is psedofollicultis . They are also known as shaving bumps, or razor bumps. You tend to get ingrown hair where hair tend to be thick, or coarse. Such as the under arm, pulpit region, bear area or legs. Psudofollicultis is due to inflammation of the hair follicle, or the skin around the hair follicle because of ingrown hair. There is no infection, it is the ingrown hair is causing the irritation and inflammation. The trigger for this is our hair removal practices: shaving, waxing, plucking, tweezing, Psedofollicultis is more common in skin of color because the tendency of curly hair.
How do you know you suffer from ingrown hair. Classically it will be a history of hair removal and develop a rash 2 or 3 days later, it is itchy, red and irritated. In skin of color, it will have dark bumps , sometimes it develop white head on them. When these rashes heals, sometimes you will left with welts and pustules, the firm lumps of skin, it might take months to heal. Because of that, some woman think they  have developed acne, or have infection in the area. In fact they have ingrowing hair. As that progresses, and the spot heals, sometimes you develop post inflammatory hyper pigmentation, in some woman, if the irritation is enough, you can develop scarring, or keloid scar. Ingrowing hair affect all ethnicities, it affects men more, for woman, all of factor add up together. Your hair texture, how curly your hair is will determine your hair's growth through the hair follicle, so have curly hair, you will more likely to have ingrown hair.

How to cure it?
1)Stop certain shaving, waxing,  plucking, tweezing practices: when you stop shaving for 30 days, and allow the hair to grow to about 10 mm, the problem tends to be stop on their own. It usually enough for the hair to extract itself from the skin.

2) Laser hair removal:it destroy the hair follicle and prevent the hair from growing back. Or it damage the hair follicle, when the hair grows back, it is weak, more like peach hair.

3) Depilatory cream: The word depilatory simply means ‘hair removal’. They work by breaking down the proteins within each hair until the hair is completely dissolved. Once the hair has been broken down, it can be wiped off the skin painlessly. The down side of this cream is that it can be really irritating to the skin. For darker skins, it will cause hyper pigmentation.

4) Home use IPL: the output is not as strong as the clinically used IPL, the results may vary.

Tips and Treats for Good shaving and waxing practices at home:
Shaving tips at home: before you shave, pre soak your skin in warm water, so the hair absorbs the water, the hair shaft is soft, when you shave, you will be creating a blunt edge instead of a sharp edge, so the hair is less likely to penetrate the skin, creating ingrown hair. Use a gentle saving cream or cleanser, it helps to reduce the friction and irritation, also reduce the chances of getting tiny cuts which can lead to hyper pigmentation. When you shave, don't stretch your skin as it could let hair to retract into the follicle which promote ingrown hair. After shaving, use a moisturizer or body oil with no perfume or alcohol.

Waxing tips at home: do it on dry skin, avoid moisturizer, so the wax can really grab onto the skin, apply perfume and alcohol free moisturizer afterward. Before waxing, you can take an antihistamines, 45 minutes prior, it is often used to relieve symptoms of allergies, such as hives, hay fever and bug bites, it can help you to relieve the itchiness you get after waxing.
Other at home treatment: use enzyme peeling gel with fruit enzymes such as papaya, pineapple, pumpkin;  or other chemical peels with salicylic acid, alpha hydroxyl acid, beta hydroxyl acid are good options. But do it 1 day prior to shaving or waxing.
Moisturizer with glycolic acid will help to reduce ingrown hair, but use them 2 days after shaving or waxing, because glycolic acid is chemical exfoliating, and shaving is mechanical exfoliating, you don't want to over irritate your skin.
If the ingrown hair is causing you a lot of inflammation or redness, use a topical hydrocortisone, a 1% weak steroid cream to calm the inflammation. Because ingrown hair affects the hair follicles, you can use acne treatment gel to clear inflammation, such as benzyl peroxide , it has really good antibacterial properties. Tretinoin, a vitamin A derivative can also be useful because it helps to get rid of the dead skin that is trapping the hair.
Recommended products for home care, all of these products are good for sensitive skin and ok to use in the pulpit areas as well.
 

Exfoliate regularly with gentle Enzyme Peeling Gel( but not on any open cuts or wounds)

Shave with Organic Jojoba Oil

Apply Hydrating Recovery Mask ( a cool and calm gel) after shaving or waxing

Moisturize with Organic Jojoba Oil