Ingrown hairs

Tracing ingrown hairs back to how you remove hair

Ingrowns are closely tied to hair removal, so your practitioner asks whether you shave, wax or thread the area and looks at whether the hair there is coarse or curly. They check for hairs curled beneath the surface, redness that returns to the same spots and dark marks left once a bump settles, and they consider friction from tight clothing or a build-up of dead cells over the follicle.

Triple Wavelength LHR is the route most often discussed, because reducing hair in the area tends to reduce the ingrowns that shaving and waxing cause, and its three wavelengths address coarse and fine hair across a range of skin tones. Skin Lightening may be weighed for friction-related darkening, and Chemical Peels for rough texture. Between laser sessions, shaving is fine, but waxing, plucking and threading remove the hair the laser needs.

What happens when you come in?

Your first visit is a free consultation at the Aldergrove clinic. A practitioner looks at the area in good light, asks how long you have noticed it and what you have already tried, and checks anything that would affect which treatments are suitable: medication, recent sun exposure, previous treatments.

You then hear which of the options above suits your skin, what it realistically achieves, how many sessions it usually takes and what recovery looks like. If the honest answer is that none of them will give you what you want, or that something needs a doctor first, you will hear that instead.

Worth mentioning at your consultation

• When you first noticed it, and whether it has changed since
• Products and treatments you have already tried
• Any medication, supplements or diagnosed skin conditions
• Holidays, events or sun exposure you are planning around