After shaving, short, sharp, and pointed hairs grow out from under the skin<\/strong>. These become ingrown hairs<\/strong> (also known as Pseudofolliculitis barbae<\/em><\/strong>) if they grow back into the skin, slightly penetrating the outer skin layer (epidermis). This happens close to the hair follicle, forming dimples, as seen in the figure below [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Ingrown hair scheme from Braunet<\/p>\n Hair can reenter the skin in 2 ways:<\/p>\n Round bumps and small blisters with pus (pustules) may appear at the ingrown site because the ingrown hair triggers the foreign body inflammatory response [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Ingrown hairs are most common in individuals of African ancestry <\/strong>(82% versus 18% in Caucasians). In fact, over 50% of men with African ancestry struggle with ingrown hairs [R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Bacterial infections sometimes occur, worsening inflammation and causing pustules. In these cases, an antibiotic cream <\/strong>may be useful (applied on pustules 1 to 2 times daily) [R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Rapid hair growth<\/strong> (body or facial) and curly hair<\/strong> are common risk factors for ingrown hairs. These may be influenced by genetics or hormonal disorders [R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Some people have genetic mutations <\/strong>in a gene for hair proteins (keratin) in follicles, <\/strong>which increases their risk of ingrown hairs [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n An occasional ingrown hair isn\u2019t a cause of alarm and is normally not treated. Talk to your doctor if ingrown hairs are a chronic condition in your case. They may prescribe medications<\/strong> such as [R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>]:<\/p>\n Numerous permanent hair-removal (depilation) procedures<\/strong> can also prevent or treat ingrown hairs, including [R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>]:<\/p>\n This list does not cover all possible side effects. Contact your doctor or pharmacist if you notice any other side effects. <\/em><\/p>\n Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. In the US, you may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at <\/em>www.fda.gov\/medwatch<\/em><\/a>. In Canada, you may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345.<\/em><\/p>\n The following strategies may reduce your likelihood of ingrown hairs. Discuss with your doctor which one may be preferable in your case.<\/p>\n The majority of studies were done on people of African descent, so the results may not be applicable to everyone.<\/p>\n Studies comparing single-blade versus multiple-blade razors, or electric versus manual razors, are lacking. Additionally, the best direction of shaving cannot be concluded from current research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Frequently associated with shaving, ingrown hairs occur when growing hairs curl back into the skin. This causes the formation of round bumps and pustules that may become infected. Major complications are rare, and ingrown hairs are treated in a variety of ways. Read on to learn more about how to avoid and treat ingrown hairs, and what can go wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14687,"featured_media":64863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[349],"tags":[279],"yst_prominent_words":[14399,2396,14397,18074,14406,14394,14395,14392,14393,14396,511,515,529,593,26363,14398,598,1637,14400,18073],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14687"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50417"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106515,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50417\/revisions\/106515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50417"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=50417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/06\/word-image-480x370.jpeg\")
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Infected Ingrown Hairs<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
Ingrown Hair Causes<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
Ingrown Hair Treatment<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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Treatment Side Effects<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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Ingrown Hair Prevention<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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Limitations and Caveats<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n