How To Get Rid Of Ingrown Armpit Hair?

March 26, 2018

Veronica Phan

How To Get Rid Of Ingrown Armpit Hair?

Table of Contents [ Hide ]

Introduction

We human being are mammals. Therefore, our body is full of hair but in the much less covering density comparing to our ancestor. Every part of our body is covered with hair but in the different amount of hair.

But not all of the body part highly welcome hair. Especially the appearing parts such as armpit, arm, leg. Among that, armpit hair is the most bothersome as it is the most common shaving place. But what is the relationship between shaving armpit hair with “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair?”. Let’s find out now.  

Armpit hair is considered as an obstacle for the tank top, swimsuit or any sleeveless shirt. Although there is a rising trend nowadays of dying armpit hair or natural armpit hair, most people do not want to show up the “dark side” of your body. So we pay more attention to shaving armpit hair.

Soon after shaving and waxing armpit hair, you notice a pimple under the armpit which is reddish and cause itching feeling. But it does not seem to pop and go away as a normal pimple. It is even not a hive. It is absolute that you have ingrown armpit hair.

Is it a bad thing if you have ingrown hair cyst under the armpit? Why do you have ingrown armpit hair? Why should you know how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair? All of these wonders will be revealed now.

Furthermore, if you would like to find more information about ingrown hair cyst, we highly recommend you to read ALL FACTS ABOUT INGROWN HAIR CYST: SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, AND TREATMENT.

What is an ingrown hair cyst?

Ingrown hair is known as the curly hair not penetrating the dermis layer then start growing sideways in the skin. The ingrown hair tends to occur more commonly in people who have curly and coarse hair. Moreover, people who wax and shave their hair frequently are more prone to have an ingrown hair cyst.  
As time gone, the hair accompanying with dead cells, residue sebum excreted from the hair follicles create an ingrown hair cyst. However, the hair in this cyst still continue to grow but in the wrong direction, not upward and outward but under the skin [1].

Why do you have ingrown hair cyst?

Anyone can get an ingrown hair cyst. But there are some factors which make people more prone to have ingrown hair cyst. Basically, there are two major causes for ingrown hair cyst: constant and changeable causes.

Constant factors

Constant factors are unchangeable characteristics that make you more prone to have ingrown armpit hair than usual. These include your natural hair, sex hormones, and your ethnic groups. Let’s find out what subjects are more prone to have ingrown hair cyst before moving to “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”.

Natural curly hair

Logically, curly and coarse hair is the most common type of hair which causes ingrown hair cyst. Because the hair will develop in the wrong direction, penetrating the dermis layer and cause ingrown hair cyst. Especially after shaving and waxing hair, the curly hair has more chance to bend back and create a new ingrown hair cyst.

How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair.
Curly hair can cause ingrown hair cyst.

That’s why the common place for waxing and shaving hair is leg and armpit can easily get ingrown hair which leads us to edit a new article “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”.

Sex hormones

Excessive hair growth is considered as another cause of ingrown hair cyst. Therefore, many factors determine the density and development of hair can have the impact on ingrown hair formation.
Among that, people who have a high amount of sex hormones should get used to ingrown hair cyst because sex hormones increase the high possibility of having excessive hair growth [2].

Ethnic group

According to the study, a numerous African- Americans have thick and curly hair. And as a result, they are more likely to have ingrown hair cyst. Moreover, this kind of ingrown hair cyst is so typical that it is called pseudofolliculitis [2].
This special ingrown hair cyst is also known as “razor bump” which tends to appear in the beard area, especially after shaving, waxing, or tweezing annoying hair. The hair after that is sharper and easily break the skin layer to create the ingrown hair cyst.

Changeable factors

As mentioned before, ingrown hair cyst tends to appear more in the people who shave, wax and tweeze hair too often. But do you know how exactly these much changeable cause of ingrown hair cyst? Commonly, inappropriate hair removal is considered as the most common cause of having ingrown hair cyst.

Shaving mostly removes the outstanding of the hair, not the hair bulb which means the hair bulb stands in the position of the hair follicle. Razor bump also appears as a result and cause ingrown hair cyst. But remember that it is a changeable factor of ingrown hair which means changing your way to shave can decrease the risk of having ingrown hair cyst.

Waxing can remove the hair bulb, that’s true. However, it happens in case the waxing mixture can afford the length of hair. Therefore, if you wax more than 3 times a week, the hair is too short for the next waxing progress that it might be broken and ripped. This damage tends to change the direction of the hair and triggers a new ingrown hair cyst formation.
Tweezing sometimes leaves the hair bulb in the hair follicle and causes ingrown hair cyst, also.

What is the common place for an ingrown hair?

Because the common cause of ingrown hair cyst is wrong hair removal method, the popular place for ingrown hair cyst is where you shave, wax, and tweeze hair the most frequently.

Face

Ingrown beard hair annoys the men mostly because just the masculine gender has developing beard hair in their face. Moreover, the ingrown beard hair is usually misunderstood as a pimple, which makes the treatment, as well as the answer for “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair? become challenging.

How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair
Shaving beard can cause ingrown hair cyst

Or else, you can read DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CYST AND PIMPLE for more information and knowledge of how to recognize ingrown hair cyst and find a suitable treatment.

Leg

Girls are usually fond of waxing hair in the leg; therefore, ingrown hair tends to appear more in the leg area.

Armpit

Armpit is considered as the most common place of hair shaving and waxing. You sure don’t want to show off your dark armpit area, especially while wearing a tank top or any sleeveless shirt.
Maybe you are not the leg shaving type, but you sure all shave and wax armpit hair for a bright summer. And as mentioned before, the more you shave and wax hair, the more chance for ingrown hair cyst to develop. Ingrown armpit hair tends to appear more often and easily comparing to other places.
In addition, the friction while you move your arms and your shirt against skin or irritation from deodorants and any other products can make your bump condition worse. Pain is usually mentioned in the symptoms of ingrown armpit hair.
Because of this reason, the need to answer “how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”, as well as find a solution for an ingrown armpit hair, increases recently. So let’s read all the content below and find out how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair.

How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair?

Although ingrown hair cyst is not included in the severe case if the infection does not occur, it can cause some bothersome problem such as itching feeling, pain and small, solid bump. Whenever you move your arm, pain appears more frequently just because of this bump. So the question is “how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”.
Some of you might wonder what “Do ingrown hairs go away on their own?”, it is just about the time if ingrown hair can disappear, so you can wait for that moment. We suggest you read THE TRUTH TO HOW LONG DO INGROWN HAIR LAST to know how long exactly you have to wait.
But the fact that the ingrown hairs do not go away on their own which makes you find another method to get rid of ingrown hair. Or in case you want to know more about this topic, why don’t you read DO INGROWN HAIRS GO AWAY ON THEIR OWN? for more information?
Ingrown armpit hair is just hair, so all you have to do is to remove hair from the hair follicle right away. But the problem appears when the hair is embedded so deeply, the attempt to use a tweezer to pull out the hair can cause more infection and irritation. This explains why you should read “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair” to pull out ingrown hair correctly and safely.
Here is the detailed guideline for “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”. let’s read 2 methods used to extract hair bulb from an ingrown hair cyst the most effectively.

Method 1: Use the tweezer to get rid of ingrown armpit hair

Why is tweezer mentioned here while it is considered to create infection and damage to the ingrown armpit hair? The importance of this method is the way you take out ingrown hair and the way you treat to prevent infection.

Step 1

The first step of using tweezer in “how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair” is exfoliation. Exfoliation helps remove all the dirt, residue sebum, and dead cells effectively. Moreover, exfoliation is especially helpful in both treating and preventing ingrown armpit hair.
Exfoliation with salt or the mixture of olive oil and sugar is highly recommended. Or you can use exfoliating gloves. Exfoliate the ingrown armpit hair area twice a day can prevent the more worsening condition and help clears your hair follicle for the next step

Step 2

Heat compress is useful for opening the clogged pore which means ingrown armpit hair here. Dip the washcloth in hot water and apply it to the ingrown hair in your armpit. Then wait for a few minutes.
The skin around the affected area is also softer which makes the pulling out process easier. When the washcloth cools down, dip it in the hot water and repeat the process again. Do not try to penetrate the skin for ingrown hair end out of the skin and apply this method.
After several times, if you can the hair bulb of the ingrown armpit hair, move to the next step. If not, we highly recommend you to have a visit to the professionals because it indicates an abnormal condition of your skin.

Step 3

Use the clean tweezer to pull out the ingrown hair. Do not squeeze the head of ingrown hair cyst because it can leak the liquid and not help out with the embedded hair. In case you are wondering about the cyst with no head, read HOW TO DRAIN A CYST WITH NO HEAD for more information.

Step 4

Moisturizer and nutrition are necessary for the recovery of ingrown armpit hair extraction. Moreover, using some ointment which is rich in antiseptic and anti-inflammatory substances can prevent inflammation and infection remarkably.
The most common ointment for ingrown armpit hair damage is tea tree oil, lemon essential oil. Apply an amount of essential oil motivates the restoration of skin, especially after using tweezer as a method of “how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”.
Moreover, there are several essential oils for ingrown hair recommended for you in ALL THE BEST ESSENTIAL OILS FOR INGROWN HAIR ARE HERE FOR YOU. Read and find out the best essential oil for the tweezer using this method in “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair”.

Method 2: Acne Medication

As mentioned before, an ingrown hair cyst appears as a pimple; therefore, using acne medication containing benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid twice a day can help the cyst accompanying with an ingrown hair out of your skin.
Along with daily exfoliation, ingrown armpit hair will go away in the short time, and if the exfoliation doesn’t work out, try the tweezer to pull out the ingrown hair cyst. This method is easy but requires much more time for you to wait for the ingrown hair cyst coming out from the skin.

Moreover, there are several over-the-counter medications you can apply to reduce the symptoms of ingrown armpit hair.

Steroid topical cream is usually used to reduce the inflammation and swelling of ingrown armpit hair. As mentioned before, ingrown armpit hair can cause pain and itching feeling because of the friction whenever you move your arm. Use steroid cream is a useful method to delay uncomfortable feeling till you get rid of ingrown armpit hair.

Infection is considered as the most severe complication of ingrown armpit hair. Antibiotic cream is popular in treating ingrown armpit hair, too. Just apply the antibiotic cream directly on the affected area to prevent infection, as well as the inflammation of ingrown armpit hair.

Method 3: Egg membrane

Egg white contains 90% water and 10% of protein which creates a perfect solution works as gelatin. We can use this characteristic in removing ingrown hair cyst, as well. The material is just a raw egg. Get the egg membrane with egg white and apply it directly on the ingrown armpit hair.

How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair
Egg membrane

The egg membrane dries out after 10 minutes and becomes a complete DIY adhesive tape. Remove the egg membrane and you can see the hair bulb is about to leave your stuck hair follicle. At that time, use a clean tweezer to get rid of ingrown armpit hair.

What can you do to avoid ingrown hair?

Because the ingrown hair cyst can develop from improper shaving and waxing method, learning how to shave and wax your armpit hair is necessary for preventing the ingrown hair cyst. So that you don’t have to find the article “How to get rid of ingrown armpit hair” again.
You can follow these tips every time you shave to avoid the ingrown armpit hair formation:
Exfoliation before every time you shave so that the sebum, dead cells will not move to the hair follicles which are left with hair bulbs after shaving.
Apply the warm water before shaving and use the lubricating gel.
Remember to shave in the same direction for hair not to bend back and create ingrown armpit hair.
Apply a cool cloth to your skin to avoid irritation.

Conclusion

Hopefully, after this article, you know how to get rid of ingrown armpit hair, as well as how to prevent the formation of ingrown armpit hair.
If you find this information helpful, don’t forget to LIKE and SHARE this article!

Leave us comments if you have any question, we are pleased to help!

Related Post

0

Shares