Anyone can suffer from ingrown hairs on the neck but it’s most common with men due to this being a very common area for men to shave more than women. When the hairs on the neck are shaved, sometimes the short hairs can coil back into the skin, causing the hair to grow into the skin which causes a painful or irritable inflammation on the skin, also known as a red papule, or razor bump. Often times the razor bumps look like acne and many people actually think they have acne on their necks but more than likely the bumps are from shaving.
If you use a traditional, manual razor with shaving cream to shave your face, you may get a smooth, cleaner shave, but you will definitely get cuts as well, which can lead to those pesky razor bumps. Also, if you don’t change your manual razor regularly, germs and bacteria can start to build up on the blades as well. Though it’s not as clean of a shave with an electric razor, you will more than likely have less razor bumps because the electric razor will not cut your skin open. So trying an electric razor may be the trick…but if you refuse to switch, at lease dispose of your manual razor regularly!
The Mayo Clinic recommends trying to remove the ingrown hair by using either a sanitized needle or tweezers to free the tip from under the surface and then pulling the hair out with tweezers. Then cleanse the area with some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball after removing the hair to avoid any infections from occurring. If you can’t see a visible hair, don’t try this procedure because you’ll more than likely irritate the papule.
Try using a clean, never been used SOFT toothbrush, and gently massage the papules/razor bumps with the bristles of the brush. This may sound ridiculous but it actually can work to help bring the hair through the surface of the skin. It is very important to be very gentle on the area when applying the toothbrush method. You don’t want to irritate the skin any more than it already is.
It is recommended by the Mayo Clinic to make an appointment to see a dermatologist so he or she can prescribe an antibiotic or topical treatment to reduce the inflammation caused by bacteria and infection on your neck. It will help for a quicker recovery and give you some relief physically. Avoid wearing any clothing with an itchy collar while dealing with ingrown hairs as to not further irritate the area.
Follow these steps and your neck will thank you!
Keeping your shaving razor clean is something that you need to do on a daily basis, I personal learnt from an experience about that once as well. I didn`t really realize on how important it is to keep your razor clean because you don`t want to get any fresh cuts and everything on your skin.
Razor bumps suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!