Those painful ingrown hairs and how to get rid of them

An ingrown hair occurs when the hair follicle growing towards the surface runs into a thick, dry wall and is unable to penetrate through. That hair will either grow sideways or curl up under the skin, resulting in an unsightly bump. That pore with the ingrown hair can become quite painful if it starts to get inflamed. It can take days, even weeks, for something like this to heal, and the worst thing you can do is to squeeze it, hoping to get that hair out. You could potentially damage the cells in that follicle, resulting in scar tissue that can leave permanent damage to that pore. The best way to control ingrown hairs is with regular exfoliation maintenance. I recommend a body salt or sugar scrub sold online or at your local PCC, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, or perhaps your drug store. Do not use a luffa or abrasive cloth. A scrub that is granular and combined with oils will gently and evenly remove the dead skin cells sitting at the surface of the skin. Apply in the shower after you have wet the skin, then gently rub in circular strokes for about a minute. This should leave your skin soft to the touch. After you have rinsed well and dried the skin, apply a hydrating and moisturizing body lotion twice a day to help keep the skin soft. This weekly procedure will help those stubborn hairs poke through the surface. After several months, your skin should look and feel healthier, and you should have fewer problems with ingrown hairs. If shaving and trimming are causing ingrown hairs to surface, consider removing the hairs by the root with a waxing procedure. Visit Simplymias.com for information on the benefits of waxing.

Painful Ingrown Hair