Ingrown hair is not only painful but also leaves very ugly scars on the skin. Ingrown hairs cause ugly and painful little bumps on your skin as well. Why it happens is that Waxing will remove the hairs straight from the root, leaving the hair shaft empty for a while until a new fresh hair grows. When that hair grows sometimes it won’t grow straight and it meets the skin at the top of the pore instead of growing out through the open pore. It will carry on growing along the skin and can then become infected.
Another reason can be that the skin grows over the top of the pore, therefore not allowing the hair to grow through and out into the light. The hair continues to grow and has nowhere but into the skin to grow.
It's not just waxing that can cause in-growing hairs: it's shaving as well. The shaver skims over the surface of the skin cutting the hair: this can leave a very sharp pointed hair behind and that sharp hair now has the ability to cut right into the skin where it will happily continue to grow.
Preventing Ingrown Hair:
You can prevent ingrown hairs in the first place by exfoliating your skin before waxing/shaving and every time you shower. You can use a loofah or sponge, but if you have delicate skin the abrasion can hurt your skin. Body scrubs are available at online stores, drug stores and department stores in every price range. The only problem is that the less expensive scrubs tend to use abrasive ingredients. Whipping up an all-natural and mild scrub is a home remedy to prevent ingrown hairs and it only takes only a few minutes. You can make a body scrub by mixing sugar with equal parts liquid soap.
Preventing ingrown hairs after shaving:
After shaving, try using witch hazel (available at any health food store and some drug stores for a few dollars) to the skin. Applying an antiseptic can also help offset ingrown hairs by cleaning the area.
Getting rid of itchiness caused by ingrown hairs
If it's too late and you already have ingrown hairs, you can reduce any itchiness you have by pureeing half a cucumber and adding 1/3 cup of milk. Mix the mixture and store (covered) in the fridge for a few minutes until cold. Soak gauze or a cloth in the mixture and apply for a few minutes to the irritated areas, then rinse off. This will not make the ingrown hairs go away, but it will take away the itchiness and irritation for a few minutes.
Facial ingrown hairs
If the ingrown hair is on your face, you can wait a day or two and then look at the hair in direct sunlight with the help of a magnifying mirror. If you notice a bit of hair sticking out, it is possible to remove the hair by plucking it out. You will need to clean the area scrupulously before and after tweezing. Tweezing will hurt far more than it usually does, so don't bother if you have more than one ingrown hair on your face. Don't even think of trying to yank ingrown hairs on other parts of your body - you'll have a very hard time trying to see the hair properly. It is suggested that you leave the hair alone if at all possible, and only resort to pulling it in case of a dire emergency - like an important event. Pulling at an ingrown hair can cause an infection and may lead to scarring, so it is not a technique to be taken lightly.
Simple Homemade Tips for Getting Rid Of Ingrown Hair:· Using a hot compress against ingrown spots at least 10 minutes thrice daily for the purpose of soften the skin and improve the hair properly. This process is essential and shall not be missed.
· To prevent friction, it is recommended loose-fitting underwear and clothing to be worn at all time. Not tight underwear or undergarment is allowed until the bumps are gone.
· It is a good practice to exfoliate the location prior waxing. During this process, certain quantity of top layer dead skin cells that has the effect of trapping the hairs will be removed. Exfoliating treatment not limited to lotions, creams or body gels, a hard-type of washcloth or glove is used for this exfoliation purpose. It can be purchased at the beauty service counter or beauty salon at your city or department stores.
· Whenever performing the waxing process, make sure the roots of hairs to be pulled out completely. It is a wrong practice to allow the hair to be broken below the skin surface.
· Mix four to five table spoons of sugar with some drops of lemon juice, one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, half a teaspoon of cornstarch, two teaspoons of honey and heat the entire thing till it forms a sticky mass. Dust the painful area with cornstarch. Then spread the cooled mixture on the area and leave on for twenty minutes. When you wash this off with warm water you will notice that the red mumps have gone down. Your skin will also feel very soft.
· Just moisten the hair with warm water soaked cotton sponge. Press it upon the ingrown hair for 2 minutes. Take spirit and wipe the part of the ingrown hair then take a needle dipped in spirit and finely take the hair out and direct it towards the outer normal growth. Again wipe the part where ingrown hair was removed. If there is septic then dressing may be essential after removal of the hair.
Hope these tips and home remedies will help solve your problem regarding ingrown hair. Curly hairs are more prone to ingrown hair problem. Exfoliation is the best tip as far as my personal experience is concerned. Also keep your skin clean after and before waxing. Make sure all the waxing stuff is sterilized and hygienic. Always use fresh wax when you go to any beauty saloon.
