How to Use Needles & Tweezers to Pluck Out Ingrown Facial Hair

Shaving can cause ingrown facial hair.

Ingrown hairs can be an occasional inconvenience, or a painful and often recurring problem. Ingrown hairs occur more often in shaven areas like the face and groin, and people with naturally curly hair are at a higher risk. For persistent ingrown hair problems, consulting a dermatologist is the best solution---they usually provide a mild acid solution that dissolves the hard follicles around the ingrown hair. For the occasional ingrown facial hair, a warm cloth, a pair of tweezers and a needle can do the job.

Things You'll Need

• Tweezers
• Needle
• Rubbing alcohol
• Cotton swab
• Face soap
• Warm water

Instructions

1. Apply face soap and warm water to the ingrown hair area for 15 minutes to soften the skin and loosen the hair follicle.

2. Dip the needle and tweezers in rubbing alcohol and apply rubbing alcohol to the ingrown hair with the cotton swab.

3. Prick the skin of the ingrown hair with the needle if it is fully overgrown---this creates an opening to access the hair.

4. Slide the needle point under the hair and pull upwards gently to determine which end of the hair is attached to the follicle, and which end is ingrown.

5. Keep the needle under the hair strand, and pull gently up close to the ingrown part of the hair. Continue pulling up until a loop of hair is visible, big enough to catch with the tweezers.

6. Clamp the tweezers onto the hair and pull the remaining ingrown part out of the skin.

7. Clamp the tweezers close to the base of the hair and pull it out in a hard, swift motion.

8. Apply more rubbing alcohol to ensure the area is disinfected.

References

• Get Rid of Things: How to Get Rid of Ingrown Hair

Resources

• Skin Biology: How to Prevent Ingrown Hairs