If you're like me, you understand the pain of ingrown hairs: They look bad, itch and scratch, hurt, and are generally very annoying. I've read many articles and advice about how to treat and get rid of them, but many contradict each other or offer only a portion of what you need. That's why I've complied a few years of (painful) research and knowledge at your disposal. But before we get to how you can get rid of your ingrown hairs, let's first learn a bit about them.

What is an ingrown hair? Simply put, Ingrown hair is a condition where hair grows back into the skin. It is mainly caused by curly, thick hair, and can become worse due to improper shaving, dry skin, and lack of treatment after occurance.

The best strategy to get rid of them, is to combine several ways of prevention and treatment. These tips can be applied to all areas of the body. Let's get started!

So... How can you prevent Ingrown Hairs?

1. Prepare properly:

• Always prepare your face before shaving. Either apply a towel soaked with hot water to the area for a few minutes, shave after a hot shower, or use products specifically designed to soften hair prior to shaving.
• Right before shaving, lather your hair with gentle soap containing moisturizer. Rinse and repeat as many times as needed.
• Apply Pre-shave oil before applying gel/foam to further prevent bumps and bruises.
• Use shaving gels/foams that protect against bumps and bruises.
• Softly lift your hairs after applying the gel/foam. Repeat before each stroke of the blade.
• Disinfect the blade with alcohol or aftershave, and remove any access alcohol on the blade.

• Shave with the grain. Pick a direction and stick with it.
• Change razors when they become dull. Use a one or two blade razor. Less is more!
• Wash the razor every stroke and make sure it's clean.
• Forget electric razors - the cause the hairs to grow in different directions.

• Use products specifically designed for post-shaving ingrown hair treatment.
• Avoid using alcohol.
• Apply a gentle anti-bacterial soap if you have an infection.
• Moisturize the skin with a face cream.
• Antiseptics, such as peroxide and benzoyl peroxide (commonly used to treat acne), can help reduce the symptoms in severe cases by preventing infection.

• Keep skin as moist and clean as you can.
• Exfoliate the designated areas to remove dead skin covering the hairs. Areas with ingrown hairs should not be exfoliated.

Unfortunately, here it becomes a bit more complicated. It depends: to what lengths are you willing to go to get rid of ingrown hairs? Here's what you can do:

• Carefully pull out the ingrown hairs with special sterile tweezers specifically designed for this purpose. Press a hot towel against the area for a few minutes to bring the hair to the surface of the skin.
• Refraining from shaving for a while is a guaranteed and safe way to stop the hairs from growing inside the skin. Try shaving off a bit of your beard every few days with a Hair cutting machine.
• There are many products that claim to remove ingrown hairs, some promise more than they keep, especially if you have a stubborn case.

• If the area is infected - see a skin doctor.
• Use gentle, non-comedogenic products on the ingrown hair area: no alcohol, no aggressive scrubs etc. Even regular soaps can cause more inflammation.
• If you have very persistent ingrown hairs, try mixing and matching different products and techniques. You will eventually find what works for you.
• Remember! To beat the ingrown hairs you have to be consistent: If you see results don't stop treatment until there is nothing left to treat, and even then continue preventive treatment.
• One bad shave can set you back weeks. Keep using preventive treatment even if your skin clears.