Old razor bump scars?

[JGGatlin]

Greetings, gents. I am 34 years old and have been shaving since I was 13. I started with Gillette cartridge razors and would frequently end up with razor burn on a certain area of my neck. There was not a father figure in my life to show me how to shave properly so I just figured this was part of it. Through the years I tried many types of razors but would always nick myself once or twice in the same general area. In my last 20's, I gave up on blade razors and switched to a Norelco electric shaver. I had good results for several years but got tired of the charging and cleaning, etc.

In the last two years, I've switched back to a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo and modified my shaving technique with good results. I rarely get razor burn or nicks. But, if I do, they are always in that same problematic area as before.

Last week, I decided to try a DE safety razor. I bought an Edwin Jagger 89L and I'm starting out with some bic blades. I'm following what I understand to be proper technique, but, just as before, I am nicking the hell out of that one problematic area on my neck.

My question is this:

Could there be some scarring there from years of razor burn? I can't really tell by feeling or looking, but could there be some irregularity on the skin that is catching the razor blade and causing all this damage?

Any suggestions would be helpful!

Thanks in advance!
Garrett

 

[JaggerDragger]

Hi Garrett,

I cant say that I know anything about scarring, but I know that I have been dealing with a problem area on my neck lately for ingrowns and razor bumps. The things that have been working for me so far are:
Make sure that you prep well and focus on prepping the neck
Use no pressure with the blade at all
Map your hair growth especially on the area that you are getting irritation. When I tried this I found that my hair grows in a rainbow pattern on each side of my adams apple, and by altering my technique so that I am shaving with the grain (WTG) only in those areas for 1 or 2 passes only. If you dont get really close in that area leave it alone.

The first thing that I may suggest that you do is to not shave for a few days to let the area heal up and irritation bumps to subside. Letting the hair grow a few days will also let you clearly see the hair growth pattern.

If you want to try further methods of healing the neck you can search youtube for mantic59 and his video of dealing with ingrown hairs. He recommends crushing an asprin tablet with a spoon and making a paste with water to spread over the irritated area and letting it sit for 5 minutes.

I hope this helps and welcome aboard!

 

[Doppelgaenger]

Hey Garrett

First thing you need to learn is do not apply pressure. Once you realize just how feather light of a touch is needed to shave, you will have a lot less irritation and nicking, and it's something that comes with time only. I readily shave over pimples with my DE razor and very rarely do I break the skin there.

I have one problem area on my neck where the hairs grow pretty much parallel to the skin, it's so much so that I had to give up on using my braun electric shaver because it could never shave those hairs and after a week or so of shaving I'd end up with these long hairs down there and nothing anywhere else. The only way I can shave those hairs is with a blade, but because of the way they grow the folicles themselves are more like bumps.

I avoid shaving that area against the grain with my merkur because it will just nick it, but across the grain is okay. I would also advise you to pick up an adjustable razor like a gillette slim or a fatboy. So long as you can shave that area at all (with the grain) then you can probably dial the razor all the way up to 9 and go over it with the grain and get the vast majority of the growth, you may also be able to go across it and get even more. And if you're lucky you might be able to dial it down to 1 and go against the grain. Aggressive razors are good for problem areas like that, so long as you keep the pressure light, the extra blade exposure takes care of the rest.

 

[mblakele]

Welcome to B&B!

It takes time to nail down your technique. Keep working on prep, blade angle, and a light touch.

 

[JGGatlin]

Thanks for the info guys. I am applying ever-so-slight pressure. My hair grows sideways across my neck from the left to the right. It's the oddest thing. So I usually shave once down, and then again upwards so that's two passes across the grain. I read that the best way is to just use the weight of the razor. It seems that even that is too heavy. I'll try just barely touching the whiskers.

I am also reading that using an exfoliating scrub in the shower or even conditioner before shaving also works well. What do you think?

Garrett

 

[JaggerDragger]

Try to shave the area with the grain as it is supposed to be the mildest method for beard reduction.

I have used conditioner for beard prep with OK results. I was using exfoliating scrub before shaving and I read somewhere on here that the scrub may irritate your face, so now I just exfoliate when not shaving after.

And as always YMMV!