by Nicole Morgan

Created on: June 13, 2010

There is nothing more uncomfortable than an ingrown hair.  An ingrown hair will often look like a spot or pimple but be itchy and sometimes even painful if it has become infected.  Regardless of whereabouts on your body an ingrown is, there are a few simple steps you can take to remove the hair.

The first step you will need to take is to cleanse the skin surrounding the ingrown hair, whether it be your face, underarm, leg or even a more intimate area.  Use a mild cleanser to clean the skin surrounding the ingrown hair. Next, you’ll need to apply some heat to the area.  This can be done by taking a warm bath or shower.  Alternatively, take a flannel and soak it in hot water, rinse and apply the hot flannel to the ingrown hair for 5 minutes. This will soften your skin and helps the hair to come to the skin surface by relaxing the hair follicle.

You should be able to tell whether or not the area is infected.  If it is inflamed and uncomfortable, then you can safely assume that there is some infection.  If it is simply a bump on the surface of the skin, then exfoliate the area using a gentle exfoliant, rubbing it in circular motions with your fingertips.  If there is any chance that the area is infected then skip this step.

The next step is to remove the hair.  Try first using a cotton bud.  Holding the skin taut, wipe the cotton bud firmly in the opposite direction of the ingrown hair.  Hopefully, this will bring the hair to the surface.  If not, you will need to use some sanitised tweezers instead.  You can buy tweezers specifically for removing ingrown hairs and these will have a point to the ends of the tweezers.  Gently grab the hair and ease it to the surface of the skin.  Try not to remove the hair at the root as this can lead to another ingrown hair resulting from the same follicle.  Instead, bring the hair to the skin’s surface and shave down as required using a razor and shaving cream or gel.

Apply some antiseptic to the area to prevent further infection.  Tea tree oil is ideal for this as it can also prevent ingrown hairs if used regularly. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer ingrown hairs on a regular basis then there are products on the market that, with regular use, can minimise and even eliminate ingrown hairs. Another tip to reduce ingrown hairs is to make sure that you’re shaving correctly.  Exfoliate before shaving to bring hairs to the surface of the skin and make sure you always shave in the direction of hair growth and not against the grain.  By taking care when shaving, you can minimise unsightly and painful ingrown hairs and razor bumps leaving your skin silky smooth.

Learn more about this author, Nicole Morgan.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.