Laser Hair Removal to Eliminate Ingrown Hair

How Laser Hair Removal Get Rid of Ingrown Hair ?

Ingrown hairs… just the word makes us shudder. We wouldn’t wish the bumps and pain on our worst enemy! If you’re particularly unlucky, they can also leave behind dark marks or scars that are notoriously hard to fade. 

So what’s a guy or gal to do? We’ve got the rundown on ingrowns: How to recognize them, how to deal with them when they rear their bumpy head, and how to get rid of them forever with the help of laser hair removal. 

How Do I Know If I Have Ingrown Hair?

If you’ve removed your hair recently and now you have a bump or two, chances are it’s ingrown hair. Ingrown hairs can look like pimples, with redness and inflammation, but if they’re not inflamed they might just be skin-colored. Depending on how close it is to the surface, you may also be able to see your actual hair trapped under the skin. Ingrown hairs may show up as the hair starts to regrow, normally a couple of days after shaving or around a week after waxing. 

How to Deal With Ingrown Hairs

You expected smoothness, but all you see are razor bumps… What should you do? Here are our tips for treating ingrown hairs once they’ve already shown up. 

Soothe the Skin

If there is any redness or inflammation, focus on soothing the skin first. Apply moisturizer all over the area where you’ve removed the hair. Then, a bit of ice may help to quickly reduce the swelling. You can apply a topical steroid cream. If the redness and swelling are quite severe, your ingrown could be infected, so make sure to speak to a doctor. 

Exfoliate Well

Next, focus on helping the ingrown hair come out on its own with exfoliation. You can try using a physical scrub or a dry brush if your skin isn’t too irritated. If your skin is tender or inflamed, use a gentle chemical exfoliant with salicylic or lactic acid, although it may take longer for the ingrown hair to clear. You can also combine both chemical and physical exfoliation, which often gives faster results. 

Try a Warm Compress

If you’re determined to help the ingrown hair pop out ASAP, apply a warm compress to the area before physically exfoliating. You can soak a washcloth in warm water and then hold it over the ingrown hair for a minute or two.  

Trim the Hair, Don’t Tweeze

You might be tempted to use tweezers to extract the ingrown hair. Don’t do it – you might end up with an infection or scarring. Instead, take your time with exfoliation and warm compresses for a few days in a row. 

Once the hair finally breaks out on its own, trim it down. Don’t pull it out, since that increases your chances of experiencing another ingrown hair in the same spot. 

Why Laser Hair Removal is the Best Way to Get Rid of Ingrown Hairs

We’ve covered all of the things you can do to get rid of ingrown hairs in the short term, but wouldn’t you rather eliminate them completely for the rest of your life? 

As our founder and CEO Sevana Petrosian told IPSY in a recent article on razor bumps, laser hair removal can do wonders. The laser pinpoints and damages the hair follicle, which permanently reduces hair growth and gets rid of the fundamental cause of ingrown hairs. By ending the need for constant irritation from other hair removal methods, laser treatments also help the skin heal from any scarring or dark marks left behind by ingrowns. 

If you’re prone to ingrowns, and they keep showing up no matter how often you exfoliate or how careful you are when shaving, then you should definitely give lasers a try. We offer laser hair removal services at all SEV Laser locations across the United States, so go ahead and book an appointment.