Pop quiz! Do ingrown hairs…
A) Occur on lots of different body parts?
B) Sometime hurt a little?
C) Kinda kill your beach buzz?
D) Go away pretty quickly when you treat them?
Answer: All of the above! The good news: This will not affect your grade and you can easily nix an ingrown — wherever you spot one — with this guide.
IF YOU GET ONE ON YOUR BIKINI AREA…
First things first: Avoid wearing any undies that are lace or embellished (which can irritate the ingrown or push the hair in further) and opt for plain cotton pairs until it’s healed. If the hair is above the skin and reachable, sterilize a tweezer (use a cotton ball covered in rubbing alcohol), and pluck the hair. If it isn’t pluckable — don’t force it! Either way, treat the area with a chemical exfoliant like salicylic acid or alpha hydroxy acid. European Wax Center’s Smooth Me Ingrown Hair Wipes are a great fix since you don’t have to touch the ingrown with your fingers (which can possibly lead to infecting it).
IF YOU GET ONE ON YOUR LEGS…
Don’t squeeze it! Squeezing ingrowns anywhere on your bod is a no-no (since it can worsen or infect it), but your legs are the most visible of all the parts mentioned here and if you get post-inflammatory pigmentation, you may end up with a scar, says Dr. Neil Saddick, a derm in NYC. Tweeze out the culprit if you can with a sterilized tweezer (as explained above), apply some Polysporin, and leave it alone. Also, skip the skinny jeans, tights, and fitted yoga pants for a few days.
IF YOU GET ONE ON YOUR UNDERARM
Saddick suggests carefully shaving over the ingrown with a fresh razor, moving in the direction of your hair growth to get the pesky hair out of the way. Then, lightly exfoliate. Slone Mathieu, spa director and medical aesthetician at Dream Spa Medical in Massachusetts says that a gentle scrub or glycolic cleanser (we love Mario Badescu’s) will do the trick. Try to apply deodorant around (not on) the affected area since the chemicals that keep your pits dry may irritate the ingrown.
IF YOU GET ONE ON YOUR SCALP…
Gently wash your hair — making sure to massage your scalp — with tea tree shampoo (try Paul Mitchell’s)! Tea tree oil is nature’s salicyclic acid and has antiseptic properties, so it will gently exfoliate the ingrown and prevent it from getting infected. Be careful not to brush or apply product to the ingrown. If it doesn’t clear up in about a week, Saddick suggests seeing a derm.
Source: teenvougue.com