I Want You To Be Out Not In (Ingrowing Hair in General)

Member Name: wearsidelass

Product:	Ingrowing Hair in General
Date:	02/05/04 (24039 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Very painful if you suffer from this condition

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I had heard about the condition called ?ingrown hair? but, until a couple of years ago, had never really thought about it at all. Why should I? It had never affected me. It still has never affected me personally but has affected a loved one of mine. Before I tell you about the events leading up to the discovery of this condition, and the recuperation of my loved one, I think I should enlighten you as to some of the causes, and cures, of this condition.

From the information I have gleaned, this condition usually affects men more than women, I guess because men shave regularly (yes, I know ? so do we!).

What is ingrown hair?
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Ingrown hairs form when hairs grow back after shaving, electrolysis, waxing or any other kind of hair removal methods but then these hairs fail to grow out of the skin. so, in effect, the hairs curl over inside the follicles located under the skin (similar to a ?razor bump? hair curling above the skin). By doing this curling, the hair then creates a foreign body reaction in the hair follicle which then becomes inflamed and results in a rather horrible bump.

So, these ingrown hairs can occur in all the places that we shave/ wax etc:

arm pits
bikini lines
neck (mostly men! well, hopefully!)

It?s hard to believe but a lot of europeans suffer this ailment on a daily basis but it does mainly occur in men because they have to shave often. Every time a man shaves, he sharpens the ends of the follicles and when the facial hair begins to grown it bends and twists. eventually, the sharpened end of the hair can easily penetrate the skin next to the hair follicle. Most of you men out there will know the pain involved when you get these nasty razor bumps. The area not only becomes itchy but infected.

How can I get rid of ingrown hair?
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After shaving, men should use aftershave balm as this helps the skin to fight off various types of bacteria and allows the skin to heal. There are various creams on the market which can be applied; here are some of those remedies:

? Elicina ? natural product containing 7 of the most valued skin care ingredients ? powerful natural glycolic acid in combination with allantoin, proteins, natural antibiotics, elastin and collagen. All are biological ingredients that match up with your skin. Apparently, your skin recognises the ingredients the substances and uses them therefore boosting the skin?s ability to repair itself.
? Kalo Ingrown Hair treatment ? spray bottle
? Priva Shave ? for ingrown hairs, razor bumps and rashes.
? Ultra cream ? 3 in 1 product, pre-shave lubricant and skin conditioner
? Tend Skin ? they claim application of this product increases the fluid ingress into the skin which tends to squeeze the hair follicles which, in turn, decreases the diameter of the follicles so there?s less room in the interior of the follicles. Squeezing the follicles then forces the ingrown hairs to exit from the pores ie. above the surface of the skin.
? Ingrow Go ? ideal for men and women ?face, neck, bikini line, armpits etc.

If you have managed to grow a beard then this is one way in which to stop ingrown hairs as the hair is long and cannot grow back into the skin.

By using depilatories rather then shaving ? the tips of the hair are ?rounded? after using this form of hair removal which means that the hair is less likely to penetrate the side of the follicle.

MY PERSONAL STORY
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A couple of years ago, my dog Molly (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) started to gain weight, especially around her neck ar
ea and became very lethargic and moody. I thought she must be pregnant because my other dog, Ruben, had not been neutered and Molly had just finished her ?season?. Her collar became too small and I thought I should take her to the vets. Off we went, vet examined her and stated categorically that Molly wasn?t pregnant. She must be, why is she like this then? The vet said he couldn?t understand why and, as always, started stroking her little head cos he really loves my Molly. Then he said ?what?s this then Molly?? and he parted the hair on the left side of the top of her head. ?Oh, dear, is this what I think it is?? he said. ?What is it?? I said. He told me thought, but wasn?t sure because it was extremely rare, but he thought it was an ingrown hair. He got a magnifying glass and showed me. It looked like a tiny little spot. How he found it I don?t know cos I stroke her head often and couldn?t feel it. He told me he wasn?t worried about it cos he wasn?t totally sure it was an ingrown hair but he would check it in two weeks? time when I had to take Molly back for her injection.

A couple of days later, I returned home from work about 7pm as I had worked a little bit later and hubby had already left home to go to work (he was doing late shifts). I took one look at Molly and fear struck me. The left side of the top of her head had a massive great big lump on it ? about 2 inches high ? and she looked in sheer agony. I felt the lump and it was absolutely rock hard. I rang hubby and told him to get home pronto and how could he leave Molly in that condition. ?In what condition? he said. I told him. He told me that there was no lump on her head when he had left home at 5pm! So, in 2 hours a lump of 2 inches had suddenly appeared.

My vet was closed for the night so I rang the emergency vet and we
took her to him. He examined the lump and could see she was in the most dreadful pain. He tried to extract fluid from the lump but couldn?t ? all he could extract was blood ? so he gave her an antibiotic injection and told me to take her to my own vet first thing in the morning. Needless to say, I thought ?Sod work, Molly is more important? and was at the vets by 8.00 am next day by which time she had become really, really ill. The vet took one look at her and told me to leave her and he would operate that afternoon.

I went to work that morning but couldn?t concentrate, what if she died, I couldn?t forgive myself. How was I to know what was wrong with her when I thought she was pregnant. I rang the vet several times that day but was told she had her operation and I could collect her at 7pm that evening.

When my hubby and I went to collect her, we were taken in to see the vet first. He was so excited. Why was he excited, I thought. This is my dog he is excited about, what was wrong with her? He brought a plastic container over to us (you know, the ones that you pee in when going to the hospital/doctors). Inside looked like a mass of black gunge and hair. He opened the lid and the most foulest of smells came out from the container. It was indeed ingrowing hair. It must have been ingrowing for quite some time because there was a massive clump of hair which had grown in a circular movement.

He told us that he had to remove quite a large amount of Molly?s flesh/skin around the area of the ingrown hair to try and making absolutely certain that there weren't any other ingrowing hairs left and he had to pull her skin very tight over her head. He said he had only ever seen this condition once previous and that was when he was training to be a vet and he thought it was such an honour to operate on Molly! (My vet is in his 50
s). We were told that it may occur again or it could occur in another part of her body. No-one could be sure what would happen.

He brought Molly to us and she looked pitiful with half her head shaven, lots of stitches and a plastic dog collar on! We took her home and cared for her, had to force down the painkillers and antibiotics and, believe it or not, two days after her operation she was like a flea running about and enjoying life. The poor thing must have been in agony but I didn?t know until the latter stage. It took a while for her hair to grow back and even to this day, I watch her like a hawk for any signs that this may reoccur. Sometimes she scratches that particular part of her head and I am like a monkey checking her skin, not for fleas, but for any little tell-tale bumps cos she would be taken straight to the vets!

So, you see, ingrowing hairs can happen not only to us humans but to our beloved pets but they can?t tell us what is wrong. We have to keep our eyes open and check them.

I was lucky that my pet insurance paid for this treatment because otherwise it would have cost me approximately £350. So, all you pet owners, make sure you have adequate pet insurance to cover any sudden illnesses that may happen to your beloved pet.


FOR INFORMATIO N VISIT SOME OF THESE SITES:

http://www.mankind.co.uk/ProductDetail s.asp?ProductID=2186 1
http://www.garden.co.uk/tendskin/tendskin1.htm
http://www.body4real.com/indexS3.htm
http://www.elicinaeurope.com/ingrownhair.html

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