Inward hair growth sucks, no ifs, ands, or buts. The good news? Removing ingrown hairs, aka razor bumps, can be a very quick, easy and painless process. While proper preparation before shaving or waxing can reduce the risk of inward hair growth – always use a clean razor and shaving cream; exfoliate before shaving; move the razor in the direction of the hair growth – the inflamed red spot will still pop out, even if you do everything right.
“Technically, our hair shouldn’t be shaved; it’s there for evolutionary reasons,” says Mona Gohara, M.D., clinical associate professor at Yale University. “So when you shave, it irritates the hair follicle, causing it to blister from inflammation, as a defense mechanism.”
To make the inevitable more bearable – and keep your skin healthy in the summer – Dr. Gohara is breaking down the best ways to remove ingrown hairs.
How to remove inward-growing hairs
Step 1: Exfoliate
Removing dead skin cells and keeping your skin smooth is the most important step in preventing and removing ingrown hairs. “You want to keep your hair follicles open so your hair has a clear path for growth,” says Dr. Gohara. “The first step is to use a physical exfoliator.”
Be sure to gently remove dead skin with a scrubbing glove or a gentle facial scrub each time you shower to prevent hair from growing inward or getting stuck in the follicle, she says. While body scrubs are fine for most skin, be sure to use something gentler to cleanse sensitive skin around the bikini line.
Step 2: Apply salicylic acid
“Once the hair grows inward, you need to treat it well, or you’ll make it worse by inflaming it,” explains Dr. Gohara. After gently massaging the lump with gloves or scrubbing it in the shower, towel-dry the area and then dab on a salicylic acid-based spot treatment morning and night. If inward growth is on your face or in your beard, stick to once-daily application. “Salicylic acid is very effective at breaking through and dissolving excess skin cells, and it usually doesn’t cause irritation,” she says. It usually takes three to five days of consistent application to break down inwardly growing hairs.
Step 3: Apply cortisone cream
After the salicylic acid has dried, you can “apply a little over-the-counter cortisone cream (opens in a new tab),” Dr. Gohara says. “Cortisone cream shrinks swollen skin by constricting blood vessels, so you’ll get some immediate relief from the pain and redness.” Apply a thin layer daily until the lump heals.
While these three steps should solve the problem, be sure to consult your dermatologist if your ingrown hairs don’t go away, feel extra painful or seem to get worse.
