Basically I have never had acne or pimples. Ever since I have started shaving I have began to get these puss filled spots and they are completely destroying my confidence. I have tried everything from the acne.org regime but that doesn't seem to help as I don't believe acne is the problem here its the ingrown hairs. I have also tried an electric razor with shaving cream, a beard trimmer and also dry shaving but none of these seem to work. I have also tried salicylic acid ingrown hair treatment cream and have tried 2.5% benzoyl peroxide aswell. Sometimes after a while the begin to clear but then I have to shave again and then they just come back or sometimes the hairs on my face grow back quite quickly and im forced to shave again leading to a face covered in ingrown hairs. Im really a my wits end and am considering visiting a private dermatologist to see if they could help. Have also considered looking into laser hair removal as I believe that I could suffer with these for the rest of my life. I have very curly hair on top which supposedly leads to hair on the face etc to curl back and form a puss filled spot on the face. Any help is appreciated thanks
Same issue here. In fact I was exactly where you were. I have no acne but sometimes my face looks like I suffer from moderate to severe acne because of the ingrown hairs. I booked appointments to have all my facial hair removed, but my friends urged me that destroying a part of yourself might not be the healthiest thing. Permanent hair removal at your age is next to useless. When you're 25 you will see further beard development and it will require more treatments, plus its very expensive. If you're not dealing with acne now, wait till you start laser hair removal and your skin gets dry and breaks out. I now have created my own routine that helps me get a shave with minimal irritation. Stay away from all electric razors unless it's just for a trim.
This is what I do to eliminate the majority of ingrown hairs.
Trim down my beard to the lowest setting
Wash face with warm water in the shower
Apply sensitive shaving cream and let sit for 5 minutes
Shave with a Gillette fusion(cartridge should always be relatively fresh for people like us who suffer from infections)
Apply a toner such as tea tree oil along with jojoba oil at a concentration of 5% tea tree 95% jojoba
Steam any hairs that look they are curling back into the surface, spot treat with a higher percentage mix %10 tea tree 90% jojoba
Do not touch any of the infections, people say you can remove the hair from the folliclebut if it's not done by a dermatologist it usually leaves a nasty digging scar.
Apply ice when your face feels overwhelmed with irritation. It calms your skin and soothes the body.