Using razors to shave hair from your skin isn’t without side effects. Shaving removes the top-most layer of your skin. While this normally results in redness on your skin, it can also open your skin up for infection. Shaving can also create sharp ends to your hairs and cause them to curl back. When this happens, the sharpened ends can sometimes pierce the skin, causing or exacerbating infection as well as extreme pain. But there are several things you can do to get rid of razor bumps.
Use a Warm Compresses
Apply a hot or warm washcloth to your skin as a warm compress. This will open up your skin, and the area around your follicles. Tight follicles can exacerbate razor bumps because there is less open space the follicle can use to heal itself. You can also apply tea tree oil or aloe vera to your skin, either mixed into the compress or applied directly after. This will help soothe the skin and help the healing process.
Apply Moisturizing Lotion
Razor bumps can be painful because of your skin’s sensitivity. Using a moisturizing lotion designed to treat sensitive skin can help soothe your skin while treating the inflammation and pain, gradually reducing the severity of your razor bumps. Some moisturizing lotions contain herbal remedies that may assist in treating razor bumps, like calendula or rose hip seed oil.
Stop Shaving
The best way to get rid of razor bumps is foolproof–if you stop shaving, you will remove the factor causing razor bumps, and your razor bumps will gradually disappear. Over time, skin irritations will heal over, infections will die off and ingrown hairs causing your bumps will work their way out of your skin. If your razor gives you chronic razor bumps, alternative hair-removal methods like depilatory creams, waxing or laser hair removal may be a better option.
Soft Washing
Razor bumps can be extremely painful and may be too sensitive to touch, but if you can bear the pain, Mayo Clinic recommends washing ingrown hair locations with a soft cloth or soft-bristled toothbrush. Rub in a circular motion for several minutes before shaving and going to bed.
Sterile Needle Removal
The fastest way to get rid of ingrown hairs–relieving razor bumps and sending them into remission–is by removing the hair from the skin. But you have to do this delicately. According to the Mayo Clinic, an effective treatment is slipping a sterile needle underneath the hair between where it is rooted in the skin and where it is piercing and causing a razor bump. Gently lift the needle to remove the ingrown hair from the razor bump.
