Condition

Ingrown Hairs

An ingrown hair is a hair that has curled back and grown into the skin instead of out of it, leaving a small sore bump. Most clear up on their own within a week or two.
At a Glance

An ingrown hair happens when a hair grows sideways or curls back into the skin instead of pushing out through the surface. The body reacts to it like a splinter, so you get a small red or dark bump, often with the hair visible as a dark loop just under the surface.

They turn up wherever you shave, wax or pluck — the face and neck, legs, bikini line, underarms. Curly hair gets them far more often, because it is already growing in a curve.

Most clear on their own within one to two weeks once the hair works its way out. The main thing that turns a minor bump into a problem is digging at it.

If you get them in crops every time you shave, that is razor bumps rather than the occasional ingrown hair, and it is worth reading that page instead.

Key Facts

How CommonVery common. Almost everyone who shaves, waxes or plucks gets one eventually.
Who Gets ItAnyone who removes hair. Far more often in people with tightly curled hair.
Chronic or CurableOne-off ingrown hairs clear up on their own. If they keep coming back in the same shaved area, that is razor bumps and it is managed differently.
Rx RequiredNo, for the usual single ingrown hair.
ContagiousNo.

Symptoms

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An ingrown hair is usually one small bump in an area you recently shaved, waxed or plucked, and you can often see the hair inside it.

What it looks and feels like

A small raised bump — red, pink, brown or darker than your skin, roughly the size of a pinhead to a pea.
A visible hair under the surface — a dark loop or line trapped just beneath the skin. This is what confirms it.
Tenderness or itching — mild, and worst in the first few days.
A small pus head — fairly common, and it is the body's reaction to the hair rather than proof of infection.
A dark mark afterwards — a flat brown or grey spot where the bump was, which fades over weeks to months.

Where it shows up

  • The beard area and neck, in people who shave their faces.
  • The bikini line and pubic area, which is the most common site after waxing or shaving.
  • Legs, underarms and the chest, anywhere hair is removed.
  • The buttocks and thighs, where friction from tight clothing plays a part.

How it looks on different skin tones

On brown and Black skin, ingrown hairs often look dark brown, purple or grey rather than red, so the bump can be easy to miss until it is sore. The dark mark left behind afterwards is also more noticeable and lasts longer — often several months. That mark is pigment from the inflammation, not a scar, and picking at the bump is what makes it darker and longer-lasting.

Light
Medium
Brown
Deep

A few other things look like a single ingrown hair. See Lookalikes near the bottom of this page.

Causes & Risk Factors

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A hair grows out of a follicle that runs at an angle through the skin. When the hair is cut, waxed or plucked, the new hair growing out has a sharp tip, and if anything blocks or deflects it, the tip can turn and push into the wall of the follicle or back into the surrounding skin. The body then treats the hair as a foreign object and surrounds it with inflammation, which is the bump you can see.

Curly hair is much more likely to do this, because it grows in a spiral and is already heading back towards the skin. Dead skin cells over the follicle opening make it more likely too, as does anything that flattens a hair against the skin — tight underwear, leggings or a snug collar. Shaving very close, plucking, and waxing all leave a hair that has to restart its journey out from below the surface, which is why the timing usually follows hair removal.

What Hurts and What Helps

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What Makes It Worse

  • Digging at it with tweezers or a needle you have not cleaned. This is the fastest route from a small bump to an infected one, and it is the main cause of the dark mark left behind.
  • Squeezing it like a spot. There is nothing in there to squeeze out except the hair.
  • Shaving over the bump. It reopens the skin and cuts the hair off again below the surface.
  • Shaving very close, against the grain, or with a dull blade.
  • Plucking and waxing, which remove the whole hair and leave the new one with a fine tapered tip that slides back into the skin easily.
  • Tight clothing over the area, especially on the bikini line and thighs, which presses hairs flat against the skin.

Daily Habits That Help

  • Leaving it alone. Most ingrown hairs release themselves within one to two weeks. Doing nothing is a real option and often the best one.
  • A warm compress a few times a day. Five to ten minutes softens the skin over the hair and helps it work its way out.
  • Stopping hair removal in that spot until it settles. A few days of not shaving does more than any product.
  • Freeing the loop rather than pulling the hair out. If the hair is clearly visible under the surface, a sterilised needle tip can lift the loop free — then leave the hair in place and let it grow. Plucking it out means the next one starts below the surface.
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  • A gentle chemical exfoliant two or three times a week on areas that get them often, which keeps dead skin from blocking the follicle.
  • Shaving with the grain, in one pass, with a lubricating gel and a sharp blade.
  • Loose clothing over the area while it settles.
  • Sun protection on the spot afterwards, because the dark mark left behind darkens further in sunlight.

Try at Home

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Most ingrown hairs need nothing but a warm compress and a few days without shaving. These are worth using if you get them often, to keep the follicle openings clear.

Limited evidence
A 2 percent liquid or pad used two or three times a week on the area keeps the follicle openings clear, so new hairs are less likely to get caught. Best used to prevent the next one rather than to fix the bump you have now.
Limited evidence
Loosens the top layer of skin so trapped hairs can break through instead of staying buried. Useful on the bikini line and legs if you get ingrown hairs regularly. Introduce it slowly, because freshly shaved skin stings.
Limited evidence
Worth using when a bump has developed a pus head or you are prone to them turning tender. It reduces skin bacteria. It does nothing to release the trapped hair.
Limited evidence
Takes the itch and swelling out of a sore bump for a few days. It is comfort rather than treatment, and it is not for repeated use in the same spot.

When to See a Dermatologist

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Most ingrown hairs never need an appointment. Go in if:

  • The bump is getting larger, hotter, more painful, or spreading redness outwards. That is an infection or a boil rather than a simple ingrown hair.
  • It has been there more than a few weeks without changing.
  • You get them in crops after every shave, which is razor bumps and has better long-term options.
  • Bumps are becoming firm and raised rather than flattening, which is early scarring.
  • They are recurring in the groin or underarm with tunnels or repeated boils, which may be hidradenitis suppurativa and is treated very differently.

What the visit gets you: the hair released properly and sterilely, an antibiotic if it is infected, a prescription retinoid if you get them constantly, and a conversation about laser hair removal if the same area keeps flaring.

Prescription Treatments

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Prescriptions are not usual for a one-off ingrown hair. They come in when the bump is infected, or when you are getting them constantly in the same area.

Moderate evidence
A prescription retinoid worth asking about only if you get ingrown hairs constantly in the same area. It thins the skin over the follicle so hairs can get out, and it also fades the dark marks left behind. Overkill for the occasional bump.
Moderate evidence
A prescription antibiotic gel for an ingrown hair that has become genuinely infected — hot, tender, spreading. Most ingrown hairs do not need it.

In-Office Treatments

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Only worth considering if the same area gets them again and again. There is one option that ends the problem rather than managing it.

Strong evidence
The only permanent answer, because it removes the hair that gets stuck. Worth it if the same area — usually the bikini line, neck or beard — gives you ingrown hairs constantly. Overkill for the occasional one. On darker skin it needs a long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser and an experienced operator.

What to Expect

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Step 1
The first few days

The bump is tender and may develop a small head. This is normal and not a reason to treat it.

Step 2
One to two weeks

The hair works its way free and the bump flattens on its own. Most ingrown hairs never get past this point.

Step 3
After it clears

A flat dark or pink mark is often left behind. It is pigment, not a scar, and it fades over several weeks to a few months.

Step 4
If you keep getting them

Getting one occasionally is normal. Getting a crop every time you shave is razor bumps, which has its own page and much better long-term answers, including laser hair removal.

Complications

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A single ingrown hair is harmless and usually sorts itself out.

  • Infection. Picking or digging lets bacteria in, turning the bump into a tender pustule or a boil that needs an antibiotic.
  • Dark marks. Flat brown or grey spots left where the bump was, more noticeable and longer-lasting on brown and Black skin. They fade over weeks to months.
  • Small scars. Uncommon from a single ingrown hair, and almost always the result of repeatedly digging at the same spot.
  • Raised, firm bumps. If ingrown hairs keep recurring in the same area, especially along the jaw or neck, the repeated inflammation can leave permanent raised lumps. That is the point to get it treated properly rather than keep managing it.

Lookalikes

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A few other things produce a single sore bump.

  • Razor bumps (pseudofolliculitis barbae) — the same mechanism, but as a recurring crop across a whole shaved area rather than the occasional one. If it happens every time you shave, read that page.
  • Folliculitis — an infected hair follicle. Several pus-topped spots appear together, often without a visible trapped hair, and they respond to an antibiotic.
  • A boil — a larger, deeper, much more painful lump that keeps growing over several days. An ingrown hair does not get bigger and hotter.
  • A pimple — in an area you do not remove hair from, and with no hair visible inside it.
  • An epidermoid cyst — a smooth, firm, movable lump under the skin that has been there for months and does not settle.
  • Hidradenitis suppurativa — repeated painful lumps and tunnels in the armpits, groin or under the breasts. Recurring "ingrown hairs" in those spots that never fully clear are worth getting looked at.
  • Molluscum contagiosum — small firm dome-shaped bumps with a dimple in the middle, in clusters, with no hair inside.
FAQ+
Should I pull an ingrown hair out?No. If the loop is clearly visible under the surface, you can lift it free with a sterilised needle tip and leave the hair attached. Plucking it out means the next hair starts from below the surface and is more likely to get stuck again.
How long does an ingrown hair last?Usually one to two weeks. If it has not changed in a month, get it looked at.
Can I pop it?There is nothing in there but a hair and some inflammation. Squeezing pushes bacteria deeper and is the main reason a small bump becomes an infected one.
What is the difference between an ingrown hair and razor bumps?The mechanism is the same. Ingrown hairs are the occasional single bump. Razor bumps are a recurring crop across the whole shaved area every time you shave.
Why do I get them in the bikini area?Coarser, curlier hair, hair removal that pulls the hair out completely, and tight clothing pressing new hairs flat against the skin. It is the single most common site.
Does exfoliating prevent them?A gentle chemical exfoliant two or three times a week helps by keeping dead skin from blocking the follicle. Scrubbing hard makes them worse.
Is waxing better or worse than shaving?Both cause them. Waxing removes the whole hair, so the new one grows back with a fine tapered tip that enters the skin easily. Shaving leaves a blunt tip below the surface. Neither is clearly safer.
Will laser hair removal stop them?Yes, permanently, because it removes the hair that causes them. It is worth it if you get them constantly. For an occasional one it is overkill.
Does it mean the area is dirty?No. It is about hair shape and the angle it grows at, not hygiene.
Can an ingrown hair get infected?Yes, usually after being picked or squeezed. Warm, spreading redness, increasing pain or a growing lump means it needs seeing.