I notice that tiny pimples appear on my neck from time to time a few hours after shaving.I have encountered this problem many times in my shaving life. Sometimes, just a few hours after shaving I would feel itchiness in my neck area that would never seem to go away. These tiny white pimples would start surfacing. Unknowingly, I would scratch this region causing tiny drops of blood to form on my face.
Why am I developing white pimples on face after shaving? You can develop white pimples on your face after shaving due to razor burn. Razor burn is when you irritate the shaved area that has ingrown hairs. Bacteria enters into the follicles of the ingrown hairs causing the pimples.
The friction of the razor cuts into these follicles and bacteria or a fungus enters into the skin causing an infection. Pus will form underneath the skin causing white pimples to form.
Folliculitis
The white pimples are hair follicles that are filled with pus. An infection in a hair follicle is called folliculitis. A hair follicle is an opening in the skin when a hair surfaces. Fungus or bacteria can enter into the opening causing an infection.
Once you have this infection under the skin, it can become very itchy because of the development of pus. If you have this type of infection in the neck area or even on the face in general, shaving it can cause a lot of problems and shaving can spread the infection.
I have noticed that while I’m shaving, I’m not even aware of the fact that I have an ingrown whisker.
It’s very easy to cut into your swellen follicle causing it to bleed because it is protruding out further than the rest of the skin around it. Even if an individual pimple is tiny, it can cause a crusting of the surface of the follicle which is very unsightly.
How to treat these White Pimples on the Face
One treatment is to just simply leave it alone, and to avoid trying to wash off the infection as doing so can spread it. Some people will start to pick at the area because of the itchiness. This is one of the worst things that you can do because of the bacteria that might be underneath your fingernails.
Antibacterial Soap
You should clean the area using antibacterial soap. Add the soap to a warm face cloth that has been soaked in warm water. Now gently press the washcloth onto the infected area on your face and hold it in that area for 20 to 30 seconds. Ensure that you do not rub the area with the washcloth because it will just cause further irritation that will increase the level of itchiness. I recommend Defense soap which is available on Amazon.
It is advisable to clean this area twice per day in order to ensure that the surface of the skin has been cleansed of bacteria that might have been deposited onto your skin throughout the day.
Remember to wash your hands
This might sound obvious, but ensuring that you wash your hands well with soap and water will actually reduce your instances of this pimply condition. In order to time the washing of your hands, just silently sing happy birthday to yourself three times. Now you have the ok to shave your face.
Aloe Vera Treatment
If you’re looking for a more natural type of remedy for ridding yourself of the white bumps on your skin after shaving, Aloe Vera could be a good solution for you. Aloe Vera will cool, soothe and it will also moisturize at the same time.
Break open a Aloe Vera leaf and rub the pasty juice that is inside of the leaf onto your skin. Let the surface dry, which tends to take 20 to 30 minutes. It’s best to do this treatment twice a day. If you find that using this tactic is drying out your skin, just add a moisturizer, that doesn’t have any fragrance, to the area after each treatment. A great no scent moisturizer that I recommend is called the Ancient Greek Remedy is available on Amazon. Click here to see the current pricing.
Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil is another natural remedy that can be used on your itchy and pimple face. Tea Tree Oil is known for its antiseptic properties. It also has antibacterial properties that are amazing. I recommend the tea tree oil made by Sun Essential Oils, click here to see the current pricing on Amazon.
When you apply the oil, it opens up the follicles that house the ingrown hairs and it loosens hairs. This loosening of the hair is going to get rid of some of the redness and also the itchiness will slowly disappear over time.
Adding Salt to Your Skin
Another natural remedy is to add salt to the area. Simply add one tablespoon of salt into two glasses of water. Then soak a washcloth in the water and place the washcloth onto your skin. If this remedy doesn’t seem to do much for the infection or the itchiness, you can also try white vinegar.
How to Deal with the Itchiness
I personally know that the worst symptom of this ailment is the fact that you have constant itchiness. It feels as if you have numerous mosquito bites that are filled with poison. The more you scratch, the itchier you become. There are ways to deal directly with the itchiness and I will explain each in detail.
Hydrocortisone Cream
Hydrocortisone cream is one such remedy for itchiness. You can purchase this cream over the counter as long as its concentration is .5 or 1%. Any higher concentration requires a prescription. What’s good about this cream is that it deals directly with the swelling and it reduces pressure within the infected follicle. You can order this cream online on Amazon, click here to see the pricing on the Hydrocortisone cream manufactured by Vanicream.
The swelled follicle is what is causing the itchiness. This cream will also reduce the redness in the skin. The red skin is something that others will notice if they look at your skin after you’ve developed this type of infection.
Organic Oatmeal Mask
An organic solution to this problem involves oatmeal. Ensure that you buy organic oatmeal. Do not buy the typical oatmeal that you can purchase in a supermarket. There’s a chance that it’s going to be riddled with pesticides with could cause further problems for yourself if you were to apply it to your skin.
Simply cook the oatmeal by following instructions on the package and set it aside to let it cool. As long as it has the consistency of a thick paste, then it’s ready to be applied to your face. Apply it to the area of your face where the white bumps had appeared and even add it to a larger portion of your face since there’s a chance that you had unknowingly spread the bacteria or the fungus to other areas.
Now let the oatmeal dry. I have noticed that it takes about 20 to 30 minutes for it to dry being that my sister used to use an oatmeal mask on her face as a teenager because of her problems with pimples.
Now remove the oatmeal chunks and ensure that you apply a skin moisturizer to your skin since you face will become drier than usual. If you would like to purchase an oatmeal mud mask, I recommend the oatmeal mask available by Glamology, click here to see the current pricing on Amazon.
Word of Caution:
Even though it is possible that this condition could clear up on its own, if it hasn’t done so in 2 to 3 days, it might be a good idea to see a doctor. Since this condition is an actual infection, it could spread to the other parts of your body. If you start to develop a fever or if the area that is infected starts to feel warm, you should seek medical treatment to ensure that the infection has not spread throughout your body.
How to prevent White Pimples from Appearing Due to Shaving
Some people are genetically blessed and they never get ingrown hairs. And others, especially those of us with darker skin, they tend to have problems and with ingrown hairs appearing on their face after shaving. Nevertheless, as long as you constantly keep this area clean, you should be fine.
One great tip is to ensure that you use disposable blades so that you are ensuring that your blades are very sharp and that they are free from bacteria and possible fungal infections. If you were to use a dirty old blade on your face, it’s going to pull away at your skin, causing even further problems.
It is also advisable to avoid using hot tubs if you have the tendency to have ingrown hairs. The heat from the hot tub is going to open up your pores and the germs that tend to thrive in hot tubs will be able to enter your follicles very easily. Now the next time that you shave, you are going to be spreading this infection to other areas of your face.
I know that this problem is difficult to deal with because it can affect your personal appearance. As long as you ensure that you are washing our face properly, you are going to reduce the instances of this condition occurring.
Multi-Blade Razors
Another method to reduce the likelihood of these white bumps appearing is to avoid the use of the multi-blade razors. The first blade in the mult-blade razor stretches out the hair from the follicle and the remaining blades cut the hair. After all blades had been passed over a follicle, the remaining portion of the hair is released. If it is super short, it will enter into the follicle deeply. This hidden hair can easily cause hair to become ingrown.
What to Do in General
Just remember that you can’t cure this condition quickly or even overnight, it’s going to take persistence on your part. Nevertheless, I am pretty sure that you will be able to rid yourself of this condition if you stick with one of the above remedies.
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