Hello, my name is Dr. Stephen Mandy and I am a Dermatologist, associated with South beach Dermatology in Miami Beach, Florida. Let's talk about how to heal an ingrown hair. This is particularly bothersome to men from shaving on the neck and face area, it's also extremely bothersome to women who shave their legs and especially the bikini line which is a real troublemaker. For most people, once the hair is really ingrown, they wind up with something that feels like a cyst or a little marble, it can become very red and tender and painful. In the case that it becomes to that extent, the probably best thing to do is see your Dermatologist so that you can receive an injection of Cortisone which will quite down the inflammation due to the penetrated hair beneath the skin. In patients who have recurring problems with ingrown hairs, the most effective treatment is Laser Hair Removal. Most Dermatologists and some other outlets provide a means to have Laser Hair Removal, so that the hairs no longer need to be shaved, and then therefore, they don't ingrow. Ingrown hairs are almost always a result of shaving. They can occur without shaving in people who have extremely curly hair such as Afro-American skin, or people who have Mediterranean decent. But, most of the time it's a shaving related problem. As an over the counter prevention, following shaving it's very helpful for people who have this difficulty to wash with a Benzoyl Peroxide containing product such as PanOxyl Bar, using that each time they shave as an Antiseptic. There are also shaving techniques that can be learned, to help to prevent this by not shaving too close, shaving with the grain rather than against the grain, and those methods are mechanical but they are helpful. Depilatory Creams can be used and waxing tends to make this problem worse, which I'm sure my Spa colleagues would not like me to advertise, but the bottom line is they do tend to aggravate the problem. Shaving is better than waxing, laser hair is the best way to avoid the problem in the long run.
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