Everyone is fond of flawless and silky skin without the annoying bumps. But ingrown hairs appear after the hair removal process and seem unpleasant. Do you want to say goodbye to these bumps and want to enjoy fresh skin? Then, go through our guide about what ingrown hairs are, their causes, how to fight ingrown hairs, and what's the best technique for ingrown hair therapy to experience a smooth hair removal without any risk of these bumps. Let's move towards the details.
What Is Ingrown Hair, and How Does It Cause
When a section of hair grows back into the skin, itresultss in an ingrown hair. Ingrown hair can grow back in curves into the skin rather than straight, even after hair removal, and leads to a small bump under the skin surface. An ingrown hair may appear as a tiny, often black spot under your skin. A bump may become larger in size or sometimes turn pink or red, if irritated. In this case, it can feel itchy and hurt when touched.
Causes of Ingrown Hair
Certain hair types, especially curly hair, are more likelyexperienceo be ingrown hair. The main reason is that air naturally curls right after it emerges from the follicle, resulting in growing back into the skin. Shaving, tweezing, and waxing inaccurately are the reasons for ingrown hair for all hair types.
Waxing demands a trained professional, as in case of not removing hair properly when shaved, it results in breakage, produces sharp tips which grow back into your skin and become ingrown.
Even though body hair is removed, still ingrown hair can happen, such as shaving, tweezing, waxing,g or applying hair removal cream makes hair grow back into the skin. Wearing tight clothes allows hair to grow back into your skin, leading to ingrown hair. It usually happens when hair is curly or coarse. The major habits that cause the growth of ingrown hair include squeezing skin while shaving, not applying shaving cream, shaving regularly, wearing tight clothes right after shaving, and shaving too closely.
Chin, cheeks, neck, legs, pubic area, armpits, and buttocks are usual areas for ingrown hair. Occasionally, an ingrown hair can become infected around the hair follicle, referred to as folliculitis. An ingrown hair may seem discoloured spot on your skin, like strand of hair appears after shaving, tweezing, and waxing.
Bonus: Use IPL Hair Removal to Avoid Ingrown Hair
Ingrown hairs form when hair grows back into the skin instead of outward, often because traditional methods like shaving and waxing leave sharp tips or irritate the follicle. These trapped hairs cause bumps, redness, and irritation.
JOVS IPL Hair Removal uses Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) to address the root cause of hair growth rather than just removing the hair at the surface. IPL emits broad-spectrum light that penetrates the skin and is specifically absorbed by the melanin (pigment) in the hair shaft. This light energy quickly converts into heat, which travels down to the hair root and disables key structures in the follicle, slowing and reducing hair regrowth over time.
Because hair grows back thinner, softer, and slower after IPL treatments, it’s much less likely to curl back into the skin and form ingrown hairs. With reduced hair density, you also shave less often — shaving being one of the main triggers of irritation that leads to ingrowns.
In summary, the IPL mechanism helps prevent ingrown hairs by weakening the follicle and slowing hair growth, so hairs grow back more gently instead of poking into surrounding skin. To optimize results, shave before treatment (avoiding waxing or plucking), exfoliate lightly between sessions, and keep skin moisturized for clearer, smoother results.
How to Fight Ingrown Hairs
Don't worry if you are suffering from irritating ingrown hairs, it can be treated with self-care and professional care. Let’s move towards the details about how to get rid of ingrown hair on the pubic area, face, cheeks, or elsewhere.
Self-Care
To cure this condition, it is recommended to stop shaving, waxing, and tweezing for at least 1 to 6 months, depending on the severity. Precaution is a must until ingrown hairs finish.
Soak the affected body part in warm water for a few minutes. A warm towel can also be applied there. To remove the dead skin cells, gentle exfoliation helps a lot. It blocks the ingrown hairfrom cominge outside the skin's surface. Applying a non-greasy moisturizing lotion/cream is another way to remove dead cells and repair dry skin.
In case the hair breaks through the skin's surface, pull it out gently with a pair of tweezers. Be noticed that it must be sterilized.
Visit to Dermatologist
If self-care methods don’t improve ingrown hairs, it’s best to see a dermatologist for proper treatment. Doctors usually adjust treatment based on severity.
For mild ingrown hairs, simple at-home care is often enough. Gentle exfoliation helps remove dead skin cells, while proper shaving techniques and regular moisturising reduce further irritation.
For moderate to severe cases, prescription treatments may be needed. Retinoid creams help speed up skin cell turnover, which clears blocked follicles and can also improve post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Mild steroid creams reduce redness, swelling, and itching. If there are signs of infection, antibiotic creams or oral antibiotics may be prescribed to control bacteria. In some cases, doctors may also recommend creams that slow hair regrowth, often combined with an effective long-term hair removal method to prevent recurrence.
In short, mild ingrown hairs can usually be managed with self-care, but persistent, inflamed, or infected cases should be treated under medical guidance.
Conclusion:
Ingrown hairs after hair removal become a barrier to achieving flawless skin. Self-care and a dermatologist's prescribed medications help to get rid of these bumps. The conventional hair removal methods like waxing, shaving, and tweezing need much effort and don't guarantee smooth skin. Now, technology has advanced, so it would be much better to opt for a hair removal device like JOVS Venus Pro II IPL Hair Removal, leaving no ingrown hairs and bbestowinga silky smooth skin for a longer time.
