Pili multigemini, it's when multiple hairs compound in one follicle. Does anyone else have to deal with this? Around the bottom corners of my chin I typically get them, they get to be a real headache sometimes. They cause a bump almost like an ingrown hair that usually gets nicked pretty good once I nick it I usually hit the cut with a styptic and use sterilized tweezers to remove the hair that is typically as thick as 18-20 gauge wire. Bit of a ramble but was wondering if anyone had any tips on dealing with these nuisance hairs.
Wood hair
- Thread starter Bigpurpleseaturtle
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Weird that you should mention this. I get them in my SCALP from time to time, goes in streaks. Luckily I'm married, and my wife enjoys watching me squirm as she plucks them with tweezers! I can not imagine what I would do if she couldn't pluck them for me!
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That's gotta be miserable on your scalp. I was driven to post today, because the one I removed while shaving was truly a pain today, but I'm ve got nothing on one on your scalp
I get these whenever I use soaps that contain lanolin, although I am not 100% certain the lanolin is what is actually causing it for me. Took me forever to figure out, as it took several days for them to show up and start wrecking havoc, usually a week AFTER a shave. Have not seen one once I stopped using MWF or LEA Sensitive, which both contain lanolin. If one never shows up again, I think I have the culprit and won't have to worry about them anymore as they are a huge nuisance!
The way I dealt with them was by applying a healthy dose of Proraso Green pre-shave to the infected area and letting it sit for the whole day. I don't know what is so magical about that stuff, but it seems to help with everything. The tip of the tree-hair would usually break free from the skin after letting the PG sit on it for a while at which point I'd gently scrape at it with a fingernail which would usually make it pop right out with its crazy root as hard as a rock and large too, so gross. Then it leaves a bloody hole that needs to be treated and left to heal. I would use witch hazel to clean it and then a little more PG pre. No Neosporin, that just clogs the pore and makes it come back again, I know this by trial and error.
I am happy to report I have not have seen one of those for several months now!
The way I dealt with them was by applying a healthy dose of Proraso Green pre-shave to the infected area and letting it sit for the whole day. I don't know what is so magical about that stuff, but it seems to help with everything. The tip of the tree-hair would usually break free from the skin after letting the PG sit on it for a while at which point I'd gently scrape at it with a fingernail which would usually make it pop right out with its crazy root as hard as a rock and large too, so gross. Then it leaves a bloody hole that needs to be treated and left to heal. I would use witch hazel to clean it and then a little more PG pre. No Neosporin, that just clogs the pore and makes it come back again, I know this by trial and error.
I am happy to report I have not have seen one of those for several months now!
I get them occasionally, usually around my chin. Tweezers and they're gone. Strange, I know, but I get a weird satisfaction plucking them out.
I get them on my neck. When I get them, I tend to pull them with tweezers. Hurts, but it gets rid of them. 
I had one under my chin. I couldn’t get it open (scratching/scraping with tweezer) for the longest. Once I got it opened though, oh boy was that hair big.
Not really that big of a deal. Infection is the worst problem. Hate 'em though!
I have found a pretty good fix to what I think may have been my problem tho. As @BudgetShaverGuy has lanolin issues, I have sensitivity to something in hair gels, and I don't even use much product!
So I switched to some coconut oil, which at room temperature is kind of a solid. I just take about a quarter to a half teaspoon sized dollop and rub it into my scalp, concentrating on the ouchiest part. Today I also put about 3 drops of tea tree oil into it. Smells like a dead cat peed on my head for about 15 minutes. But now here I am 6ish hours later and the pain and smell are gone, and my hair laid down nice.
Hopefully my problem is solved!
Been getting these for a few years around chin, bottom jaw line, and neck. No pain plucking because there’s not much root. It’s a guilty pleasure. My largest one was about the thickness of a dime!
Please tell me it was the edge of the dime!
Talk about leaving a crater!
Lol! Yes, the thin edge of a dime. Still quite the huge follicle(s).
Remind me to tell you the sad story my great unkle told me years ago. About two brothers and one giant ingrown hair. And like 99% of my stories, this one is actually true.
I have the same issue. I have about 6 of these on my face around the mouth/chin, jawline and neck. I recall when I first discovered it. Kept pulling hairs out of one pore, repeatedly. I think it was 8 or 9 individual hairs.
This is not caused by any product or routine, the body just has hair follicles that produce multiple hairs in one. As for shaving and how it relates, I simply cannot perform an against the grain pass over these follicles. If I do, it’s almost a week of waiting for enough to grow under the skin that I might be able to go in and extract a hair or two. It’s not a guarantee I will get them all in one go either. I usually end up with a blemish for 3 plus weeks as a result. I’m sure it’s different for all of us, some better some worse. I am in a good place keeping my shaves to 2 passes only, and if these spots seem like they may be irritated, I try to give an extra day or so before attempting a shave to ensure what gets cut stays at the surface and not below.
This is not caused by any product or routine, the body just has hair follicles that produce multiple hairs in one. As for shaving and how it relates, I simply cannot perform an against the grain pass over these follicles. If I do, it’s almost a week of waiting for enough to grow under the skin that I might be able to go in and extract a hair or two. It’s not a guarantee I will get them all in one go either. I usually end up with a blemish for 3 plus weeks as a result. I’m sure it’s different for all of us, some better some worse. I am in a good place keeping my shaves to 2 passes only, and if these spots seem like they may be irritated, I try to give an extra day or so before attempting a shave to ensure what gets cut stays at the surface and not below.
Every year since I joined B&B, there's been at least one thread each year about Pili multigemini. Check out the search results.
I had no idea that it was so common. I've never experienced it, so I count myself lucky. But, reading these posts give me the shivers!
I had no idea that it was so common. I've never experienced it, so I count myself lucky. But, reading these posts give me the shivers!
Sometimes they manifest themselves as blackheads
+1! Yes indeed!
They're one of the reasons my facial hair is so coarse. I have them here and there on the rest of my body, thank goodness they're finer. When you start adding three or four thick hairs growing out of the same follicle it gets to be like trying to shave wire instead of hair. Every now and then one acts up but not as often since I ditched cartridge razors and the chemical laden canned shaving gel.
