Ingrown Hair - An Overview

Ingrown hair refers to a situation in which a part of the body hair which has been trimmed, shaved or tweezed grows back into the skin in a curled form. This sometimes causes painful and discomforting skin conditions such as swelling, bump formation and chronic pain in the area from where the hair was removed.

This condition is mostly common among people who have very tightly curled hair on their entire bodies. Among men the most affected areas are cheeks, chin and neck. Additionally they can also appear in cases of men who regularly shave their head. In case of women, ingrown hairs in common in areas like armpits, pubic region and legs.

The most common signs of this condition are enlisted below :

1. Small skin bumps (papules)
2. Small, pus-filled, blister-like lesions (pustules)
3. Hyperpigmentation (skin darkening)
4. Long lasting and chronic pain
5. Itching

Causes - Ingrown hair might also occur if you do the following activities:

1. Pulling your skin while shaving your body hair can give rise to ingrown hair. This in turn allows the shaved hair particles to penetrate back into the skin without growing outwards.
2. Tweezing of hair can also lead to the hair particles to grow inwards instead of growing outwards

Complications - Some common complications associated with this condition are:

1. Bacterial and fungal infections that usually happen from scratching of the affected area
2. Hyperpigmentation of the skin which involves an abrupt darkening of the skin areas
3. Permanent scarring of the tissue of the affecting skin

Medical Treatment

The doctor may recommend you medicinal treatment as per your condition. Here are some of the medicinal ways to provide relief to you:

• Drugs to remove dead skin cells. Retinoids may be applied to your skin, such as tretinoin (Renova, Retin-A, others), which will aid in clearing dead cells from your skin (exfoliation).
• Creams to reduce inflammation. The doctor may suggest a steroid cream.
• Creams or pills to control infection. For mild infections which are the result of scratching the affected area, the doctor may suggest an antibiotic ointment. In case of severe infection, you may be prescribed oral antibiotics.

Laser Hair Removal Treatment

It is a really effective treatment for getting rid of ingrown hair as it goes to the root of the problem and eradicates it. In this procedure, the laser energy is absorbed into the hair follicle disabling its ability to produce hair. Laser hair removal does require a series of treatments, typically at least 8 and facial hair may need maintenance treatments 1 to 2 times a year after completing a series just to keep the ingrowns at bay.