Trying to get rid of ingrown hairs can be a difficult experience if you have them. These annoying issues are frequent for those with thick hair or who have recently shaved. Fortunately, there are several things you may do at home to reduce the likelihood of ingrown hairs occurring again. Make sure you’re starting with high-quality skin and hair care products. When the skin is dry or inflamed, hair grows back more slowly than usual and often curls in on itself rather than spreading straight out.
It’s also important to maintain your skin clean and exfoliate on a regular basis to reduce the risk of ingrown hairs caused by acne and other skin conditions. Professional laser hair removal is a long-term option that can reduce the amount of hair that grows back permanently. This works for all hair types, including the coarse and curly varieties that are more prone to ingrown hairs.
One of the most efficient methods of preventing ingrown hairs is laser hair removal. The follicle is destroyed by the laser, so the problem is solved at its source. Hence, it stops hair from forming and irritating your skin. It’s risk-free, requires little to no discomfort, and may last forever. Read on to learn more about how to remove dead hair follicles after laser/how to treat ingrown hair after laser.
Ingrown Hair And Laser Hair Removal
Ingrown hairs don’t seem to be anyone’s favorite topic to discuss. Therefore, you may not know how they form or ways to get rid of them. When they happen to you, there is no doubt you’ll want to react fast to manage pain and their appearance. Here is some information on what they are, and how you can remove them in no time flat with laser hair removal techniques.
Just What Is an Ingrown Hair?
An ingrown hair refers to a hair follicle that is unable to push through the skin. Dead skin, oils, and dirt clogs the area right above the hair follicle, causing hair to get stuck.
An ingrown hair ends up growing beneath the skin instead of pushing up and out like normal. Since the hair can’t grow up, it proceeds to grow sideways. As you might imagine, this is less than ideal and can cause some real problems.
Ingrown hairs happen more often to those with naturally curly hair or coarse hair. Sometimes, a hair will become trapped under the skin before it leaves the follicle, resulting in an ingrown hair. Other times, a hair will grow out of the follicle and curl back to reenter the skin.
How Do I Know If I Have Ingrown Hair?
Generally, you’ll see one or more little red raised bumps on your skin. They look like little pimples. You could also see something bigger that looks like a sore or boil. Your skin will often itch badly in that area, or it might be sensitive to touch and uncomfortable.
Ingrown hairs can happen anywhere on the body because our bodies are covered in hair. But areas that are shaved have a higher propensity. This is partly because these areas tend to have more short, curly and/or coarse hairs.
The most typical areas for ingrown hairs to occur are on the face, neck, armpits, back and chest, or in the pubic area.
Why Is It So Important to Remove Them?
There are numerous reasons why it’s important to get rid of ingrown hair, including infection. Ingrown hair pierces the skin, causing damage both above and beneath the surface. It is important to remove them before they get infected and cause health and additional skin problems.
Moreover, if you don’t remove them, ingrown hairs can lead to skin imperfections such as scars and discoloration. If you want your skin to look healthy and clear, removing ingrown hairs is essential. Otherwise, the appearance of your skin could change permanently.
Additional Medical Issues
There’s some evidence to suggest that ingrown hairs can lead to more serious conditions such as a pilonidal cyst.
Pilonidal cysts usually appear near the tailbone. They are pockets filled with dead skin cells and hair. Pilonidal cysts are painful and typically need to be surgically removed or drained. Unlike ingrown hairs, there is very little chance of pilonidal cysts going away on their own.
Why Laser Hair Removal is the Best Way to Get Rid of Ingrown Hairs
Laser hair removal is the best and only real effective choice for getting rid of ingrown hairs quickly. This is because laser hair removal goes straight to the source of the problem, the root or hair follicle. The laser hits the follicle directly, burning away the follicle’s ability to produce hair.
Once the follicle can no longer produce hair, an affected area will begin to heal. It’s important to remember that the problem with ingrown hairs isn’t just the one-time production of hair that pierces back into your skin causing irritation. The real issue is that the hair will keep coming back and continuing to grow while stuck underneath the dermis.
A hair follicle is like a weed that will grow until you stop it. By using laser hair removal, you’re stopping the hair follicle from producing hair now and in the future. This will put an end to irritation, pain, infection, and further damage to your skin.
Laser hair removal has the advantage of being able to eliminate hair on many parts of the body. All that’s needed is a line of sight so that the laser can connect to the root.
Considerations for Men vs. Women
Both men and women get ingrown hairs. The difference between the sexes is where ingrown hairs typically occur on the body. Here’s how gender affects ingrown hairs and laser hair removal.
Men
Due to hormones in the body, men usually have more facial hair. Shaving and trimming facial hair is highly correlated with ingrown hairs. But, keeping facial hair short and groomed is not the only precursor for an irritation. Growing out a beard or mustache can also leave you with hairs that don’t want to cooperate.
Men who shave their chest and back are likely to see instances of ingrown hairs in these areas as well.
Women
While ingrown hair on the face is less likely for women, it happens to the best of us. Typically, women tend to see ingrown hairs appear more on legs, underarms, and pubic areas.
For both men and women, wait a few minutes after shaving to do a thorough check of the area. Look for redness, bumps on the skin, or any sensitive spots. Always keep shaved areas clean and don’t forget to exfoliate to remove dead skin that builds up.
Many people have turned to waxing to prevent ingrown hairs. But, waxing only removes hair. It does not stop the hair from returning to cause more problems. Laser hair removal reduces hair growth in the treated area and thus stops further pain or unsightly scars.
How To Remove Dead Hair Follicles After Laser
While you shouldn’t be able to pull hair out forcefully, you’re free to cut or scrub the hair in order to speed up the shed process. Rub the treatment area with a circular motion with a loofah or gentle washcloth for removing dead hair.
Laser hair removal is a procedure that permits patients to temporarily put off the necessity to shave, wax or pluck unwanted hairs. The procedure makes use of strong light from the laser device to focus on the pigmentation in dark hair and lets the skin absorb the heat to kill hair follicles. However, it’s not permanent, and a new hair follicle will eventually grow.
After one session of laser treatment, your hair’s bulb is expected to break out over a seven to 30-day time span. At this point, bumps and redness could occur as your body pulls dead hair out of your hair follicle. Ingrown hairs could get stuck beneath the skin. People may believe that it’s hair growth, but it’s your body pushing hair upwards to the surface and pulling the hair away from your skin to remove it.
Some patients may be concerned because not all hairs within the treatment region were shed following the treatment. It is crucial to remember that every hair follicle may not necessarily have the same growth cycle as the hairs surrounding it. Lasers can kill hair only during the anagen stage. However, only about 15 percent of the hair will be present in this phase at the time of one laser session. That means that only 15 percent of hair follicles will be destroyed, and those hairs will fall off five to 14 days following treatment.
The growth cycle is the reason why it could take between 6 and 8 sessions before the hair follicles have been destroyed. Each treatment area has its own unique growth cycle, and hair growth in the upper lip can be four weeks, and the cycle for the legs can take between 8 and 10 weeks. A cosmetic surgeon would spread the time within your treatment schedule by six weeks to keep up the growth of hair.
Have you ever noticed red (sometimes painful) bumps on the skin, usually a few days after shaving? If you answered yes, you’ve most likely experienced ‘folliculitis’! Folliculitis is a skin condition caused by an inflammation of the hair follicle. It’s often confused with ingrown hairs and keratosis pilaris, however differs in cause & biology.
The most common areas to experience folliculitis is on the underarms, legs, pubic area, and arms. This is because the hair is generally thicker and therefore causes more irritation when the hair is removed. It’s a common occurance in both men & women, at any age. ‘Shaving bumps’ on the face, neck, and scalp are similar in appearance, however are referred to as ‘Pseudofolliculitis‘.
Folliculitis isn’t dangerous. However it can be extremely uncomfortable and embarrassing – especially if it’s on your arms or legs! Regardless of its appearance, we recommend treating it ASAP to prevent it from spreading and developing into a more severe infection.
Why am I getting folliculitis?
Folliculitis is caused by bacteria entering damaged follicles. Therefore it usually occurs after hair removal procedures. Regardless of whether you are waxing, shaving, or epilating, you’re still damaging the follicle. Consequently, you are still at risk of getting this bothersome condition.
Whilst not as common, it can also be caused by the friction of your clothing. If the friction is strong enough to damage your hair follicles, it can then cause the infection.
This skin condition is not usually contagious, however some forms of it can be. So we recommend avoiding skin to skin contact or sharing towels until it has completely cleared.
Try not to worry – mild cases will alleviate on their own!
How can I treat it?
There’s no such thing as ‘folliculitis removal’, however it will generally clear by itself (assuming you have a mild case). However if it’s developed into a severe condition, we recommend visiting your GP who will prescribe you with relevant medication.
To speed up recovery of mild cases and to prevent future folliculitis, Laser Hair Removal is the answer!
How?
The laser beam generated by the Candela GentleLase travels to the infected follicle, destroying the bacteria causing the skin condition. By destroying the bacteria, your symptoms should relieve within just a few days post-treatment!
Will it come back after laser hair removal treatments?
You’re likely to experience folliculitis even after laser treatments, if you do not complete your course of treatments. Laser hair removal (LHR) works by damaging your hair follicle until it is damaged enough to stop hair production. Although you’ll notice thinner regrowth after your first few treatments, it will return to its original state if left untreated.
The recommended course of treatments for each folliculitis-prone areas are:
- Pubic hair folliculitis (including folliculitis on anus) – 9-12 treatments
- Underarm folliculitis – 9-12 treatments
- Folliculitis on arms or legs – 6-9 treatments
- Folliculitis on face, neck, or cranium (scalp) – 20+ treatments
In your LHR consultation, your skin therapist will assess your suitability for treatment and explain the treatment process. If you’re not suitable for LHR, your therapist will provide alternative hair removal procedures and preventive measures.
How To Treat Ingrown Hair After Laser
Laser hair removal is a great treatment for unwanted hair, but it can also leave you with ingrown hairs. If you’ve ever suffered from ingrown hairs after laser hair removal, you know how annoying they can be.
But don’t worry, there are ways to reduce the risk of getting ingrown hairs after your next laser treatment.
Ingrown hairs occur when the hair follicle gets trapped in the skin and grows back under the surface of your skin instead of coming out of the top layer. This causes an inflammation and infection at the surface level, which looks like a pimple or cyst.
If left untreated, these bumps will last for weeks or even months before they eventually go away, but there are some steps you can take to speed up this process so you don’t have to suffer from them any longer than necessary.
Laser hair removal is a common procedure that can be very effective in reducing or eliminating unwanted hair. However, sometimes hair can grow back in the wrong direction and become ingrown. Ingrown hairs can lead to skin irritation, redness and bumps.
Here are some tips for treating ingrown hairs after laser hair removal:
Use a warm compress. Applying heat to the affected area will help open the follicle so it can release its contents. If you don’t have a warm compress handy, you can use a hot towel or even a hot shower for about five minutes to achieve the same effect.
Gently exfoliate the area with an exfoliating scrub containing salicylic acid or glycolic acid. These ingredients will help slough off dead skin cells and soften the follicle so that it releases its contents more easily.
Apply a topical antibiotic such as Bacitracin or Neosporin twice daily to prevent infection from developing around the ingrown hair shafts. This will also help prevent scarring from occurring if you have any open wounds on your skin at the time of treatment (which is unlikely).
Laser Hair Removal Treatments Aftercare.
- Don’t touch the area after your hair removal procedure with unclean hands. As folliculitis is a bacterial infection, it’s very important to keep your skin as clean as possible.
- Shower after the gym. Sweat build up may cause folliculitis if your sweat sits on the skin for too long.
- Avoid tight clothing. As mentioned above, the irritation of your tight clothing may damage your hair follicles.
- Shave less. Shaving is a common irritant to the skin, even if you don’t suffer from folliculitis. The less you shave, the better.
- Wash your clothes and bath towels frequently. Wearing clean clothes and using clean bath towels will help prevent any damaged follicles become infected.
- Use an antibacterial soap. Particularly within two weeks after any hair removal procedure (including shaving).
- Laser Hair Removal. Laser is the only hair removal method that will not only prevent but also treat folliculitis.
Where do I start?
If you’ve followed our recommendations and are still suffering from folliculitis, it’s time to have a chat with us!
Our skin therapists are available for skin consultations Tuesday-Saturday. In the consultation, we will assess your skin and discuss your current skin and hair regime. We will then be able to advise product and treatment recommendations to further assist your condition.
Hair didnt fall out after laser
Many people expect to see their hair fall out instantly following a laser hair removal session. But this is an untruth: unwanted hair will not fall out automatically the following morning after the laser hair removal treatment.
Why isn’t hair falling out following the laser removal process? In one treatment, the laser may only treat about 15% of the hair removed by itself, later on, approximately five days after the procedure. This process depends on the individual and their age and skin type hormones, as well as the natural processes for hair growth.
Understanding the Hair Growth Cycle
Before you can figure out the reason hair doesn’t fall out following laser hair removal, it’s essential to look at three major cycles of hair growth hair follicles experience:
Anagen: is also known as the growth cycle, and it’s the best phase that the laser treatment can be effective. Anagen is the stage when hair appears on the skin’s surface, which lets the laser stay in place and transfer heat down the hair strand and to the hair follicle.
Catagen: The catagen phase in the cycle of hair, happens the one that occurs before the hair is shed naturally and not due to the laser. In this stage, laser hair removal will not be as successful as hair is already dead and pushed out of the hair follicle.
Telogen: is the stage in which hair is not growing or developing beneath the skin. Also known as the resting phase, Telogen is not suitable for laser hair removal as there isn’t any hair showing on the skin’s surface.
Why Didn’t My Hair Fall Out After Laser Hair Removal?
Laser hair removal is a procedure that permits patients to temporarily put off the necessity to shave, wax or pluck unwanted hairs. The procedure makes use of strong light from the laser device to focus on the pigmentation in dark hair and lets the skin absorb the heat to kill hair follicles. However, it’s not permanent, and a new hair follicle will eventually grow.
After one session of laser treatment, your hair’s bulb is expected to break out over a seven to 30-day time span. At this point, bumps and redness could occur as your body pulls dead hair out of your hair follicle. Ingrown hairs could get stuck beneath the skin. People may believe that it’s hair growth, but it’s your body pushing hair upwards to the surface and pulling the hair away from your skin to remove it.
Some patients may be concerned because not all hairs within the treatment region were shed following the treatment. It is crucial to remember that every hair follicle may not necessarily have the same growth cycle as the hairs surrounding it. Lasers can kill hair only during the anagen stage. However, only about 15 percent of the hair will be present in this phase at the time of one laser session. That means that only 15 percent of hair follicles will be destroyed, and those hairs will fall off five to 14 days following treatment.
The growth cycle is the reason why it could take between 6 and 8 sessions before the hair follicles have been destroyed. Each treatment area has its own unique growth cycle, and hair growth in the upper lip can be four weeks, and the cycle for the legs can take between 8 and 10 weeks. A cosmetic surgeon would spread the time within your treatment schedule by six weeks to keep up the growth of hair.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Laser Hair Removal
If you’re concerned about your hair not dropping out, do not be worried. The rate of loss and regrowth is mainly dependent on the person; skin types, hormones, hair type, skin color, and treatment areas are just a few of the many circumstances that impact the process. While you wait, you should know the do’s and don’ts to be aware of:
Do not remove hair after the Laser Treatment
The most important thing to remember is to remain patient. Do not tweeze, wax, pick up, pluck, thread, or squeeze hair from your skin because this can eliminate the hair follicles targeted with the laser and cause skin irritation. It’s better to keep them in place until they are gone; when you go through the laser hair removal procedure, the dark and thick hairs will become thinner and easier to get rid of.
Exfoliate Frequently.
While you shouldn’t be able to pull hair out forcefully, you’re free to cut or scrub the hair in order to speed up the shed process. Rub the treatment area with a circular motion with a loofah or gentle washcloth for removing dead hair.
Don’t Miss the Next Treatment.
While unwanted hair may appear to be gone, however, they could have entered their telogen stage and hidden under the skin. Be sure to follow your treatment program and return to the clinic at the scheduled time. In the long run, waiting too long between hair cycles can result in you missing the growth of your hair.