How to Treat Razor Bumps and Prevent Future Irritation

Anyone who’s ever shaved a part of their body (that’s everyone, right?) will at one time or another have suffered from that pesky, irritating redness that sometimes occurs. Treating razor bumps and razor burn—or, ideally, preventing them from happening in the first place—is a key element of skin care.

Razor bumps, rash, and/or razor burn—let’s call it razor skin to include all the different types—isn’t just irritating and aesthetically displeasing; it can also have short and long-term implications. These include infection and premature aging, neither of which is a happy scenario.

Thankfully, there are a bunch of treatment and preventative measures for razor skin you can take to reduce the problem.

Defining Razor Bumps and Razor Burn

While often used interchangeably, they are two very different skin ailments.

1. Razor bumps: These are actually ingrowing hairs that occur as a result of shaving. They look exactly as the name suggests—small, raised red skin spots that, in some cases, can even look like an acne outbreak. They’re caused by the hairs curling inwards as they regrow, making the skin above rise up and become red and inflamed. This can happen to anyone, but can be more prominent if you have naturally curly hair. African Americans have a particularly high risk of this—those gorgeous curly locks on your head also mean the other hairs on your body will also naturally be curly. When this causes a severe razor bump rash, it’s a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, which will probably require dermatologist care.
2. Razor burn: This occurs almost immediately post-shave. While it can also cause red bumps, it’s usually defined by the skin itching, feeling tender, a hot or burning sensation, and global redness of the shaved area. It’s literally a reaction to the top layer of cells being disturbed, or even removed, through the act of drawing a razor blade over the skin.

Razor Bump and Razor Burn Remedies

While severe conditions might require professional intervention, there are plenty of razor bump and razor burn remedies you can do at home—both for prevention and treatment.

First off, let’s talk about treatment if you’re suffering.

• The numero uno advice is to give the area plenty of time to heal: In other words, DO NOT SHAVE again until the skin is back to normal—and then, only with careful preventative tactics (which we’ll discuss in a moment).
• Soothe the area: Itching, redness, and heat can effectively be reduced using cold compresses and by smoothing on natural, cooling compounds, like aloe or avocado oil. But, very importantly, you should only apply such products if there are no breaks in the skin.
• Treat dryness and irritation: By gently washing the skin and patting it dry. Then apply a good quality after-shaving product. There are loads of OTC options available, but take care not to use any that contain alcohol, as this will further irritate and dry the area. Good quality, natural moisturizers, like coconut oil, can be used instead.
• Reduce inflammation: The above steps will also help with this, but you can also purchase products that contain low levels of hydrocortisone, which can be effective. More natural methods include tea tree oil/water mix or witch hazel solutions.

Once the area has healed, it’s time to implement preventative measures.  For razor bumps, ingrown hair prevention is essential. Handily, the steps for reducing both razor bumps and razor burn are the same, and include:

• Reducing the number of times you shave per week.
• Not shaving against the hair—instead, switch to going with the natural growth.
• Exfoliate, exfoliate, and exfoliate some more, ideally two or three times each week.
• Use a sharp blade. While men are usually pretty good at regularly switching out their blades for their facial shave, it can be easy to keep using that razor that sits on the shower/bath shelf to shave your legs and other sensitive areas. Before you know it, it’s weeks (or months!) old and the dull blade causes damage with every shaving stroke.
• Use a good quality shaving lubricant. Both commercially produced shaving products and lathered-up, highly moisturizing soaps are a good choice.
• Avoid the temptation to pull the skin taut as you shave.
• Use short strokes and rinse the blade between each one.
• Consider swapping to a different method of hair removal if the problem continues.
• Gently compress the skin post-shave with a cooling flannel or compress.

Following the above advice should help reduce symptoms. However, if you notice any signs of skin infection, the problem becomes chronic, or it doesn’t start to improve within a reasonably short timescale, then you should seek professional attention.

At Bayou City, our dermatologists offer expert treatment and preventative measures for all types of skin sensitivities, including razor bumps and razor rash.

Visit Services | Bayou City Dermatology to find out more and call today to book an appointment.