Ingrown's anyone??

[deadenddogs]

Hello, after about 6 months of DE shaving, I am feeling quite confident in my shaves, with the exception of one thing. Ingrown whiskers continue to show up about once a month. My only real option is to skip the ATG pass in hopes of eliminating this,which usually results in a less than great looking shave for me.

But my real question about ingrowns I can not find answers to. I am not talking about a whisker I can see below the surface of the skin. What I get normally swells up to about the size of a pea or peanut. It will get hard, and then eventually will seem to get a bit itchy. When I scratch it, of course it bleeds a bit and usually some white junk will come out. Evenutally, after a week or 2, a whisker will appear, which I will call "dead" for lack of a better term. If I leave it where it is, I will continue to have this swelling. If I use a tweezers to pluck it, it comes out with zero resistance, as if it isn't even connected to anything.

So the normal healing time from beginning to end is about 3 weeks to a month. That is just not acceptalbe. Is this what everyone calls an ingrown, or something else that I should see a skin doctor about??

It seems that even skipping the ATG pass I still get these. Though it's hard to tell, as it may take days for me to realize it's coming. Also will something like Bump Stop help with this??

Help. Help. Help.

 

[Mr Peat]

I would see a Dermotologist over that. I get ingrown hairs. They usually look like a small pimple for me with a little white head on it. I scratch the surface off so I can get the hair out. But if what you have happens to me, I'd be in because that doesn't sound good or pleasant.

But the ingrowns I get and haven't since I started the DE shaving the correct way, usually looked like they had 10 hairs together and feel like a piece of iron sliver of metal. Once I scratched the surface off, I'd either get it out right away or it took a couple of days. I even took one to a microscope I used in a Biochemistry experiment I was using one summer at the University. It was weird seeing it under the scope. LOL!!!

Probably just an ingrown and your skin doesn't like it. But if you have insurance, it doesn't hurt to get a Doctor's opinion on the matter.

 

[Jethro1984]

I have the same problem as Dogs. My ingrowns seems to be really brutal. It also doesn't help that I have oily skin and cystic acne that never quite cleared up from accutane years ago.

 

[techdog]

I get ingrown hairs as well, and only on my neck. However, they don't take as long to develop or heal as yours do. My ingrown hairs are visible within one day because the skin around the hair turns red. I get a few ingrown hairs every week even though I only shave WTG and XTG. I've yet to find a good solution to prevent the ingrown hairs other than only shaving WTG. Once I notice a hair is ingrown I use a pair of tweezers to pull it out. Letting the hair stay under the skin will only make things worse.

I would also appreciate the advice of others here. I haven't used any products, such as Bump Stop, to prevent the development of ingrown hairs and would like to know if it works for anyone.

 

[The Knize]

I was really plagued with ingrown hairs, so I grew a beard. Then someone suggested to me that proper use of a straight razor would cure the problem. I was incredulous, but it seems to have done exactly that for me. i would make sure to be fastidious in preparation including hot towels. After shaving I use an alum block and I let the alum stay on my face for a bit--say as long as it takes to brush my teeth--and I rinse off with bay rum and/or witch hazel. I generally rub in some moisterizer and throw on a hot towel. Then finish with some aftershave and/or balm and/or more moisterizer. Sure has worked for me and I certainly shave very close ATG, as well as XTG and with the grain. (Shave with the grain first, of course, then ATG only when the whiskers are cut shorter by WTG.)

Bump patrol and the like never did much to help me. If you get an ingrown hair you pretty much need to go in with a fine pair of tweezers and pull it out or it surely will create a painful bump. Ingrown hairs made me miserable. If shaving the way I do now did not cure the problem, I would grow a beard again, and I do not really like the look of a beard.

 

[M. McCord]

I get ingrown hairs as well, and only on my neck. However, they don't take as long to develop or heal as yours do. My ingrown hairs are visible within one day because the skin around the hair turns red. I get a few ingrown hairs every week even though I only shave WTG and XTG. I've yet to find a good solution to prevent the ingrown hairs other than only shaving WTG. Once I notice a hair is ingrown I use a pair of tweezers to pull it out.

This is exactly the situation I have. I've stopped trying ATG on my neck. Nowhere else do I have this problem. But I can get a reasonably close shave by going WTG then XTG.

My sister gave me a bottle of Tend Skin she got when she was in beauty school. I don't remember it helping much. But that was back in the days of canned goo and a Sensor.

 

[Clay]

I highly recommend Bump Stopper 2, Bump Patrol gel, Skin Tight, PFB Vanish, and Tend Skin products. They all work great, and will clear you up in a week or less if you follow the instructions.

Check out Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, or USA Drug and try a few out. My favorite is Bump Patrol Original Formula. It is fairly inexpensive and widely available.

http://www.bumppatrol.com/


Regards,

Clay

 

[mainaman]

I use straight razors only and so far I have not had ingrowns.

 

[No Pressure]

I highly recommend Bump Stopper 2, Bump Patrol gel, Skin Tight, PFB Vanish, and Tend Skin products. They all work great, and will clear you up in a week or less if you follow the instructions.

Check out Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, or USA Drug and try a few out. My favorite is Bump Patrol Original Formula. It is fairly inexpensive and widely available.

http://www.bumppatrol.com/


Regards,

Clay

Anthony Logistics also makes a very good product that works well. It's called "Ingrown Hair Treatment" and you can pick it up at Sephora or online. It is somewhat on the pricey side ($27 for 2.5 ounces), but you could go to their store and ask for some samples to try before you buy.

 

[Gogo]

Another member, AverageJoe suggested this to me and it has really worked a lot.

Right before you shave, wash your face with an antibacterial liquid soap like Dial. Squirt a tiny bit into the stream of water as you fill your sink so that the soap cleans the bowl a little bit. Rinse your razor in this water. It sounds fishy, but for me, it really worked! I noticed a difference in about 5 or 6 days.

Good luck!

 

[The Knize]

Another member, AverageJoe suggested this to me and it has really worked a lot.

Right before you shave, wash your face with an antibacterial liquid soap like Dial. Squirt a tiny bit into the stream of water as you fill your sink so that the soap cleans the bowl a little bit. Rinse your razor in this water. It sounds fishy, but for me, it really worked! I noticed a difference in about 5 or 6 days.

Good luck!

After thinking about this a bit more--a worthwhile thing to do as I know ingrown hairs are just miserable and some that get them get them far worse than I do--I think I may be able to put a finer point on what I said above. I think the key may be: 1) to really soften the hairs so they do not have the tensile strength to tend to curl back under the skin so much; but 2) perhaps more importantly, as AverageJoe via Gogo seems to indicate, to de-bacterialize the hair shaft so that if it does curl under it does not take bacteria with it and cause an infection.

In other words, prevention not cure. Again, I tried lots of products--of course this was mostly back in goo and Trac II days, mostly, but some all along--and went to a dermatologist and used the various things he prescribed, too--and basically found that nothing helped, at least as to ingrown hairs I already had, except digging them out one by one, and I suppose then applying antibiotic to the specific site. General overall skin applications did not seem to do anything for anything I already had. YMMV. Good luck.

I highly suspect that anyone that comes up with a topical application that really works for this will soon be rich, and beloved!

 

[deadenddogs]

I'll try the anti-bacterial soap routine and see how it works for a month. I admit, I like it becasue it's quick, easy, and cheap.

If that doesn't do it, I will start trying some of the bump stop solutions.

 

[www.irishbarber.com]

I highly recommend Bump Stopper 2, Bump Patrol gel, Skin Tight, PFB Vanish, and Tend Skin products. They all work great, and will clear you up in a week or less if you follow the instructions.

Check out Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, or USA Drug and try a few out. My favorite is Bump Patrol Original Formula. It is fairly inexpensive and widely available.

http://www.bumppatrol.com/

Hi there
Stay away from Tend Skin I heard bad reports about it.
Shaving with one blade system razors means that the hair is cut off cleanly on the surface of the skin .Razor Rash-Bumps are caused by ingrown hairs and they are caused a lot by shaving to close and against the grain of the growth for closer shaves. The multi blade systems will give a super close shave but unfortunately also all the problems that go with that i.e.; razor bumps, spots, redness, burning etc. Basically they wax the face by pulling the hair out cleanly from the root thus causing ingrown hair.
Ways to amend damage done by this method of shaving.
Shave after a shower because the steam will soften the beard and open the pores.
Always use a pre - shave product to prepare the skin before shaving.
Use a brush to apply shaving soap or cream to exfoliate and massage the skin loosening and unclogging pores.
This helps and will take take a while to see results but they will come with persistence

 

[TimmyBoston]

When you get one, don't tweeze it. Whenever I pluck an ingrown, it always grows back ingrown.

 

[rainman]

Ingrown's anyone??


No thanks.

 

[Wilpar76]

I would recommend seeing a dermatologist just to be safe. Ingrowns should not take 3-4 weeks to heal. One thing you may try is pulling the head of the hair out as soon as you start to see the stubble appear. That will keep you from completely plucking the hair, but it will also keep the hair from burrowing back into your face.

I get ingrowns. I get the bumps that as soon as you get hair out or cut it, it clears up the next day. I also get the kind that never break the surface of my face. They look like faint shadows under my skin. I get them really bad in one spot on my face. My wife usually plucks them for me. I have actually pulled out hairs that are 3/4 of an inch long but all I could see before they were removed was a faint sliver of a line.

A good face scrub has helped me decrease the number of both types of ingrowns. I lightly use a loofah on my face in the shower to help slough off the dead skin that traps the hairs. I also use the Nivea Men face scrub.

Hope it helps.

 

[BROWNS]

I'm not sure if you're familiar with Anthony Logistics for Men, but over the past couple weeks I've been using a few of their products and have been extremely happy so far. I don't have any experience with this particular product, but if my impressions of the products I have used are any implication of the others, their ingrown hair treatment may be worth looking into:

http://www.luxury4him.com/Anthony_Logistics_Ingrown_Hair_Treatment_p/al10024.htm

I've been considering trying it out myself, as I too deal with the occasional PITA ingrown hairs. Sounds like you may have some issues on top of the ingrown hairs, as the others suggested seeing a dermatologist probably wouldn't hurt!

All the best and good luck!

 

[Craig the barber]

Sounds like a a trip to the dermatologist would do you good. However, I've had a few clients with similiar issues. A straight razor or a razor with no more than 2-blades should do the trick. Then finish off with 3-in-1 post shave by lab series, it has worked wonders for me and my clients. Here's a review link - http://www.themensroom.com/shaving/razor-bumps%e2%80%a6problem-solved/

 

[SRock]

Sounds like a a trip to the dermatologist would do you good.

+1 Especially if you are getting swelling the size of a "pea".

 

[ProphetNoir]

I am going to add my voice to two choruses here.
See a dermatologist and try the Anthony Ingrown treatment.
Once the Dermatologist has had a chance to determine that it is shaving and not something more serious, let your beard grow and start from the beginning. You may still experience a random ingrown - I still get them on my neck once in a while - but with careful attention to each and every phase of your shave - prep, lather, blade & angle, and aftercare - you should be able to chart your improvement. We are all here because we like taking the world's sharpest edge to our faces. That's some seriously risky behaviour. It's gotta be done just right or else there will be consequences. Good luck and let us know how things progress.