This troublesome condition is increasingly affecting men and women as we day by day feel the need to be a hair free nation.
An ingrown hair is when a hair becomes trapped in the skin and begins to grow inverted or sideways within the skin. Sometimes the hair follicle can also get infected and become pus filled, this is also known as folliculitis. In men, when they get ‘razor bumps’, it’s known as pseudofollicultis barbae.
Hair removing methods such as shaving or waxing are the main cause of this condition. There are many theories as to why this happens.
- Its believed that when waxing, as the hair is being pulled against the hair growth, this distorts the hair follicles and they begin to grow in another direction and is unable to find its pore to exit the skin.
- When waxing sometimes a layer of the epidermis can be removed in the process and therefore the skin rushes to repair itself and closes off the opening of the hair follicles. Then when the hair tries to grow through it becomes trapped.
- With people who have curly hair, most commonly in darker skin types, the hair curls back in before even leaving the skins surface.
- People with oily, or acne prone skin, the skin is too congested to allow the hair to grow through.
- Shaving with a dirty razor can infect the skin and block the pore not allowing the hair to exit the skin.
- Shaving with too much pressure, this can result in the hair being cut shorter than the surrounding skin so then its buried and then can’t find its ‘way out’.
Symptoms
Symtoms include,
- Swollen hair follicles, sometimes with clear/yellow puss inside.
- Itchyness/rash
- The affected area feeling hot/tender.
- A crust forming over the hair follicles.
- Hair that looks like it’s still there inspite of shaving (as it’s beneath the translucent layer of the skin.)
Treatments offered at the Angel Laser Clinic.
Laser Hair Removal
Using the Cynosure elite workstation we can effectively target the ROOT cause of the problem.
A Laser beam targets the hair follicle and destroys it, therefore eliminating any future ingrown hairs. Its proven to be highly successful for all skin typed but more so in darker skin types as we have noticed they tend to suffer from ingrown hairs and in more visible areas (like the face) more than others.
Its also very popular for men who find shaving very tedious and sometimes painfull afterwards due to shaving rash or ingrown hairs.
And lastly for women who spend a lot of money every month on waxing, then being left with awful ingrown hairs, this is the ideal solution as firstly the hair will be gone permenantly, this skin will feel and look smooth and bump/spot free, and also as with Laser Hair Removal, you don’t need to leave the hair to grow in between your sessions – you can shave as much as you like and come with no hair for your treatments!
Chemical Peels
For Patients who suffer from oily and congested skin, which causes the hairs to grow inwards, you can also consider having a course of chemical peels. In most cases a salicylic based peel is the best option as it reduces sebum production and also fights through spots, congestion and excess oil. It will effectively help to resurface the skin allowing the hairs to come through and help any blemished caused by ingrown hairs to diminish significantly. Although chemical peels are effective and can help with this condition we highly recommend to combine it with Laser hair removal treatment or consider it after the root cause has been dealt with using the laser.
If in doubt about what treatment is best for you, please feel free to contact us and book in for a free consultation and to discuss your concerns and design a treatment plan which can help you to achieve your desired outcome.