One tiny hair can cause major problems, and this is true when a hair is trapped in your skin. You may have extremely painful, red or itchy pimple-like growths in areas where you regularly shave. This may be simply a pimple or it could be an ingrown hair.
These growths tend to be more painful than regular outbreaks and can become infected more readily. That is one reason they should be treated promptly. If you wait, these ingrown hairs could go away by themselves, but others require exfoliation or actual removal with a pair of tweezers. It is important to take steps to avoid this from happening in the first place, such as exfoliating shaving areas regularly, using a sharp enough razor and shaving in the direction of hair growth. However, even taking these steps does not guarantee you won’t have an ingrown hair.
1. Wait a Week
At first glance, the easiest solution to an ingrown hair is to wait for it to go away on its own. Your body definitely doesn’t want this ingrown hair in its system and will find ways to try to force it out. However, this might not work, and the waiting can be difficult. Ingrown hairs can be itchy, painful and irritating.
In addition, while you are waiting for the ingrown hair to go away, it is important to avoid picking at it or shaving over it lest you pop it, make it bleed and run the risk of infection.
If you feel patient and can wait it out, it may be worth just waiting for the issue to resolve itself. In the meantime, you can use topical creams to relieve the pain, redness and hot sensation. Put a small bandage over it at night so you don’t scratch it while sleeping.