An ingrown hair is a hair that once grown, curls the opposite way and grows back into your skin. There is also another version of an ingrown hair where a hair does not grow out of the follicle but stays in your skin. It can lead to irritations and pain and hence the following steps can be taken to prevent and cure ingrown hair problems.

1) First things first. You should spot an ingrown hair. Any bump on the skin should not be taken as an ingrown hair. They appear most frequently on areas where you shave, such as the beard and legs and can cause skin itchiness. They should look and feel like a small pimple and they are sometimes filled with pus too. They appear most often just below the skin.

2) The next thing you should do after spotting an ingrown hair is to take a warm, moist cotton pad and apply it to the area where the ingrown hair is to make sure your skin is softened. Next, take a wet piece of cloth and put it in very warm water for sometime. After that, take it and put it on the area where the hair is. Once the cloth becomes cool again, take it and place it under warm water once more. Now you should see the ingrown hair embedded in the skin as this technique softens the ingrown hair and makes it come closer to the top. However, if you cannot see the hair, don’t worry; take the warm cotton pad and place it on the skin’s surface for longer. Now, if you still do not see the hair, the problem would be something else and get yourself a dermatologist to fix the problem.

3) The next step is to take a sterile needle or tweezers and gently pull the ingrown hair away from the skin. Make sure you do not dig into your skin to get the ingrown hair out as the warm pad should have already brought the hair to the surface. Also, try not to pluck the entire hair out of the skin, if you can just take the ingrown end out, then well and good. It can take quite some time to slowly bring the hair out, therefore be patient and avoid cutting your skin in the process.

4) After that is done, thoroughly clean the area around the ingrown hair with warm water and soap. This will prevent any infection but make sure you use a moisturizing soap, because soaps on dry skin and hair can cause the hair to become ingrown again. Either do this, or apply a body lotion or moisturizing cream after you have finished washing.

5) Finally, use an antiseptic around the area. This can prevent any infection from coming and acts as an extra protection. It can be applied using a cotton pad or cotton ball. Gently dab the affected area with the antiseptic filled cotton pad. That is it! Your ingrown hair menace should be no longer bothering you now!

More Tips to Remove Ingrown Hairs

1) Sterilization can be done by either boiling your equipment or cleaning them with alcohol. Do not use very strong products such as bleach because they can damage your skin. The strong products might contain harmful chemicals.

2) Since prevention is better than cure, try to wear loose clothes. Tight clothing is another reason why ingrown hairs come about. So clothing material and the style of dressing should be closely monitored.

3) If the problem persists, try chemical or laser hair removal therapies, which can be of extreme help in most cases.