An ingrown hair is one that’s grown back into your skin instead of rising up from it.

Sometimes, dead skin can clog a hair follicle. That forces the hair to grow sideways under your skin, rather than up and out. 

Often, an ingrown hair improves without treatment. You can avoid ingrown hair by not removing hair. If that’s not an option, you can use hair removal methods that lessen the risk of developing ingrown hairs.

Ingrown hairs most commonly appear in the beard area, including the chin and cheeks and, especially, the neck. They can appear on the scalp in those who shave their heads. Other common areas for ingrown hairs are the armpits, pubic area and legs.

When an ingrown hair develops, you may notice small, round bumps called papules, or small, pus-filled bumps called pustules. In some cases, the skin around the ingrown hair may become darker. This is known as hyperpigmentation.
You may also experience pain or itching around the area of the ingrown hair.

Certain people may be at a higher risk for ingrown hairs. For example, people with thick, curly hair tend to develop ingrown hairs more often than people with fine, thin hair. This is especially true with pubic hair, which tends to be coarser than hair on the head or the rest of the body.

Prevention

To help prevent ingrown hairs, avoid shaving, tweezing and waxing. If that’s not an option, use these tips to make ingrown hairs less likely:

• Wash your skin with warm water and a mild facial cleanser before shaving.
• Apply lubricating shaving cream or gel a few minutes before shaving to soften the hair. Or apply a warm compress.
• Use a sharp razor every time you shave
• Avoid close shaves.
• Don’t pull your skin taut while shaving.
• Shave in the direction of hair growth.
• Rinse the blade after each stroke.
• Rinse your skin and apply lotion after you shave.

The following hair removal methods also may help prevent ingrown hairs:

• Electric razor or clipper. With the razor, avoid the closest shave setting and hold the razor or clipper slightly away from your skin.
• Chemical hair remover. The chemicals in hair-removing products (depilatories) may irritate your skin, so test on a small area first.
• Exfoliation
  Dirt, oils, and dead skin cells can clog the hair follicles. Removing these can treat and help prevent ingrown hairs.

Exfoliation before shaving can help. Scrub the legs with an exfoliating body wash or use a loofah to help remove dirt and unclog pores.

Exfoliation also gently scrapes away the dead skin cells that accumulate on top of the skin. This layer of dead cells can trap new hairs inside the follicles, causing them to grow inward.

Also, gentle exfoliation is sometimes enough to pull ingrown hairs up and outside the skin, where they can grow correctly.

Here are some alternatives of exfoliating creams: