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Just pulled 9 ingrown hairs out!

For a while now (6+ months) I've had a small patch of hairs on the chin that just wouldn't get shaved close. I would end up hacking at it from multiple directions and ultimately would cut the living daylights out of my chin. Decided today to inspect closer with a magnifying mirror and actually found these to be a combination of ingrown and flat lying hairs. My hair is naturally curly so I opted to just remove them all, as even the flat hairs have the potential to eventually become ingrown.

I took the weekend off from shaving just to see if any of them would turn red i.e. become ingrown, and most did. I shaved as normal for a Tuesday with Arko soap, a semogue 1305 and a Fatip loaded with a fresh Astra SP. Result was a DFS everywhere else but "the nasties" remained, hence why I plucked!

In almost 20 years of wet shaving I've never had a problem with this many ingrown hairs (usually get one or two per month), and I've certainly not changed any aspect of my skincare routine enough to cause this . The only culprit I can think of is the wearing of a mask for 12-14 hours per day, but this is essential due to my job in healthcare. Don't get me wrong - I totally advocate the wearing of masks and obviously I am contractually obligated to wear one, but this is the only thing I can think of that might be affecting it.

Any of you guys in the same boat?


Thanks,

R
 
I’ve certainly experienced “maskne” or mask acne, and since I upgraded to n95 masks it’s gotten worse, and the very rare ingrown hair has become more common. Things that have helped both of these problems include washing my face before bed with a shave brush and mild face cleanser (to exfoliate and to lift hairs out of the skin) and also to wipe my face down with a round cotton pad with some witchhazel and a couple drops of tea tree oil after doing that.
 
I feel you. I used to pull out 5 or more ingrowns after each shave. That was a result of poor lather and technique and I only shaves Once or twice a week to let the irritation dissapear. I only shave my neck, sort of trimming my short beard/stubble so that my bumps don't stand out so much. Wearing a mask has worsened my acne significantly with which I struggled since I was a teen. Now I'm even more hesitant to shave my whole face.
 
Shaving with a straight razor using good technique should solve your ingrown problems.
with respect, I disagree, although I never used a straight. I fail to see how it would help in this situation (curly / parallel growing hair).
I'm in similar shoes as OP. I accepted the reality that the part right under my chin will never be BBS. My solution to avoid ingrown hairs is to not go ATG. I go XTG, and maybe an angle between XTG and ATG during the cleanup pass.
The other day I did an ATG pass on my neck, it went well, very clean (but still not BBS) chin. A day and a half later I felt several bumps/ingrows that I had to pull out. In the end it is not worth it. If your stubble grows parallel to your skin and is in fact strong, nothing you can do really. I am using the most aggressive DE razors, and the R41 gets the closest around/under my chin without going ATG. A hair behind are the Wunderbar and the RR Lupo 95. Everyone has to decide for themselves, but for me its not worth the pain.
 
with respect, I disagree, although I never used a straight. I fail to see how it would help in this situation (curly / parallel growing hair).
I'm in similar shoes as OP. I accepted the reality that the part right under my chin will never be BBS. My solution to avoid ingrown hairs is to not go ATG. I go XTG, and maybe an angle between XTG and ATG during the cleanup pass.
The other day I did an ATG pass on my neck, it went well, very clean (but still not BBS) chin. A day and a half later I felt several bumps/ingrows that I had to pull out. In the end it is not worth it. If your stubble grows parallel to your skin and is in fact strong, nothing you can do really. I am using the most aggressive DE razors, and the R41 gets the closest around/under my chin without going ATG. A hair behind are the Wunderbar and the RR Lupo 95. Everyone has to decide for themselves, but for me its not worth the pain.
My opinion is based purely on theory as of yet. I decided to try SR shaving in order to resolve my issues of bumps and ingrowns on my neck. I will start using the SR this weekend.

Eliminating the base plate of a safety razor, closed or open comb safety bar should in theory be useful. Also, you are in greater control of the shaving angle. Stretching the skin more when you are using a SR should account for something as well.

I noticed that different blades used in the same razor produce wide range of results after the shave regarding my ingrowns. Carbon steel straight razor should differ from a disposable, coated stainless steel blade.

Anyways, I'll try it out and find out if it works for me.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
This is what I put into my shaving routine about 8 months ago and maybe it will help some who suffer a few in grown hairs or red blemishes.
I'm a daily shaver and noticed that I would see a red blemish every once in a while and just thought it was a pimple and sort of ignore it but it sometimes was a ingrown hair and they are no fun as you are well aware of.
What I do (daily routine) is take a dedicated worn out tooth brush and after shaving is gently brush in different directions any red spots from shaving for a few seconds and then I use witch hazel to cleanse the beard skin(Alum is a alternative).
I have no issues with in grown hairs or pimples since then, some folks have to shave daily for their job and this might help some who are not over whelmed with in grown hairs.
The tooth brush kind of helps the hair stay at the surface and the witch hazel with 14% alcohol cleans any infections or other issues IMO.
Witch hazel is naturally good for the skin from my limited research and Alum is a potassium salt that should be rinsed off 30-60 seconds after applying also IMO. Prevention is the only way to deal with in grown hairs or grow a beard possibly would help or shave with a sharp blade the facial hairs 1 pass WTG
 
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Perhaps a trip to a reputable dermatologist is in order instead of getting advice here. Shaving by any method may only serve to exacerbate your issue.
 
Perhaps a trip to a reputable dermatologist is in order instead of getting advice here. Shaving by any method may only serve to exacerbate your issue.
Perhaps it is. Perhaps not. I have read about ingrown hairs or Pseudofolliculitis barbae quite a lot. It's not really defined as a clinical condition. Dermatologist will most likely do this:
freeing the hair using a sterile needle or blade (scalpel)
prescribing a steroid cream to help swelling and irritation
prescribing antibiotic cream or tablets to treat an infection
[1] source: NHS, available online at: <Ingrown hairs - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ingrown-hairs/>

In other words, treat your current bumps - infection and irritation. But will do nothing to help you to be able to shave everyday without getting ingrowns again. They will tell you to not use a razor, but to only trim the hair. Some may suggest laser hair removal (permanent). Oh, and if you're lucky and they are actually half solid, they will tell you everything you already know - single blade, hot water, exfoliation (physical or chemická - from salycilic acid to benzyl peroxide, hydration,...). They may run some deeper tests if they're like god tier, but then it's just pure chance if they will actually find out something useful, I mean more useful than the fact that my hair grows really flat and Has an inside curl while being thick as a wire.

Unfortunetaly I hate visiting doctors. Where I'm from you have to be there at 6am to write your name on a piece of paper which is supposed to determine the order of which patients are accepted into the doctor's Office. But then you have to wait for hours in Soviet era buildings in packed waiting rooms full of unplesant people, hear the doctor through the door how he's talking to his/her whoever for tens of minutes, taking brakes, watching people squeezing inside every time the nurse opens the doors and wreaking havoc, accept that if the nurse or doctor knows someone they will be accepted before their turn and probably spend an hour gossiping and sipping coffe. It's just a mess. Also I'm scared to death by needles. And I can't stand the sight of blood. (And I'm a 6'4", 230 pound guy...)

Oh but you can always spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to visit a private health center with a dermatologist which is located 250 miles away and their care is not covered by insurance. And even then there is slight chance of success. Minimal wage is 400$ around here and most people work 8-12hrs a day 22 days a month for it. If you make 1000$ you're upper class.

Soooo I see it in a way that I have a few bumps on my neck and Can still try a few things out before I will declare that I can't help myself.
 
indeed, take care with ingrown hairs.
in the extreme, bad infection can result.
our daughter had a painful experience with underarm shaving and a few ingrown hairs.
 
I mean more useful than the fact that my hair grows really flat and Has an inside curl while being thick as a wire.

I know what you mean, man. I have the same kind of hair and on top of that I don't have a grain - my hairs sprout out in every different direction and the directions aren't even the same way on both sides of my face. What that means is that I can't shave WTG, ATG or XTG because I don't have a grain. Shaving is the bane of my existence and I wish I could get every damn hair on my entire face permanently lasered off. Since that is impossible, however, I usually pull out about 200-300 hairs before each shave (by now, I know the ones that will ingrow).
 
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