The last piece of the puzzle.....

[Gareth]

I first joined this forum back in 2007 because my shaves had become such a problem in terms of irritation, redness and ingrown hairs that I simply had to do something about it. Various web searches led me here and the rest is history. Things have vastly improved since then, and my shaves are not only much more enjoyable, but also result in far less irritation than before.

I've decided to post this because, whilst learning and sharing much over the last four years, I still to this day don't get entirely irritation free shaves. Generally speaking, the redness and irritation seems to be caused by shaving over ingrown hairs, nearly always around the adams apple.




Above is an image taken this evening of the area around my adams apple (centred). As you can see, there is some irritation and redness caused by a couple of ingrowns.

The hairs grow sideways from the adams apple and I currently shave one very light pass, WTG, using a BIC disposable. I've been using the BICs recently and have been getting some good results from them.

I'd really love to try to fix this last bit of the puzzle so any suggestions would be welcome. I find this area very difficult to shave (as many do), but at the moment, I just can't see where I'm going wrong.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Gareth

[Squire]

Gareth what you're doing seems intuitive and that's the approach I would take. If it didn't work I'd come at the whiskers from a different angle.

[Gareth]

Squire, well that's what I've found to be frustrating. As you said, it seems to be the intuitive approach - WTG, no pressure, fresh blade.

I should also mention that I shave immediately after showering and always spend at least 30 seconds prepping at the sink by splashing warm water on my neck before lathering. The blade is never more than three days old and I do gently stretch the skin from the opposite direction of growth to try to create as flat a surface as possible.

Gareth

[Squire]

Gareth I sometimes wonder if the stretching done by barbers isn't at least to partially compensate for their middle aged customers slightly sagging faces.

[Trumperman]

Gareth,

I believe my hairs grow the same way yours do in this area. I do a S-N pass and then a WTG pass at either side. No heavy pressure with the razor and keep a good layer of soap or cream on there. I re-lather between passes.


Regards,

Bill

[bernards66]

Gareth, Darned if I know...it sounds like you're doing everything 'right'. Have you tried doing the strokes in that area without the skin stretching? Just a thought. I go over the adam's apple area three times, twice N/S and once S/N and it doesn't seem to be a problem. If I ever get a razor bump it's most likely to be toward the sides of my neck, not in the middle. Fortunately, this is very rare if I use the kit that I normally use. Best of luck with this pesky dilemma.
Regards,
Gordon

[Craig_From_Cincy]

Hi Gareth,

Just a thought, but perhaps you should let your bumps and irritation heal completely before trying to get another close shave. Perhaps using the 'Bump Fighter' razors for a while might help-you'll avoid getting ingrowns with them. When I was newish to this forum I used to get horrible irritation and ingrowns. Shaving over the irritation and sores made it worse, I finally had to let it heal up completely before giving proper wetshaving another go. Just food for thought.

[Quarterstick]

I am somewhat new to this whole thing, so this is based on limited experience, but I do seem to suffer from a similar issue as you. However, I have made pretty good improvements recently.

Just a thought, but perhaps you should let your bumps and irritation heal completely before trying to get another close shave.

This was the starting place for me, getting things under control first. Shaving over them just continued the cycle. I found the tips from the good 'ol mantic59 "Shaving Tutor" videos to be very helpful in this endevor, particularly these two because they provide proactive tips to make things better.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mantic59#p/u/25/xJzk4QL6iME
http://www.youtube.com/user/mantic59#p/u/15/K58bekTP3nY

Also, the blades that I find give me the best shaves help a lot. As I try out new blades in the quest to find the best, this type of irritation will go downhill if I get blades that do not work well for me overall. Disposables of any kind, even the Bic, only exacerbate this issue for me.

I hope this helps and good luck.

[a-cut-above]

Gareth,
Unless the photo does not accurately depict what is happening on your neck, it appears that there is a linear band of irritation at about the level where one's neck starts widening before attaching between the shoulders. Could it be that your pressure changes or the angle doesn't change accurately as you "round" this normal curve in your neck? Is the razor is "bottoming out", or continuing to go straight down on the the curve of your neck, instead of "going with the curve"? It seems odd that the irritation is in a band at one level, hence my thoughts.

[Squire]

Maybe he's hexed.

[Gareth]

Gareth, Darned if I know...it sounds like you're doing everything 'right'. Have you tried doing the strokes in that area without the skin stretching? Just a thought.

Gordon, yeah I've tried without the skin stretching - actually makes things worse. It's really quite bizarre, and I'm struggling to work it out.

Hi Gareth,

Just a thought, but perhaps you should let your bumps and irritation heal completely before trying to get another close shave. Perhaps using the 'Bump Fighter' razors for a while might help-you'll avoid getting ingrowns with them.

I've heard about these razors, but they don't seem to be easy to get here in the UK. Do they really work as well as they claim?

Gareth,

I believe my hairs grow the same way yours do in this area. I do a S-N pass and then a WTG pass at either side. No heavy pressure with the razor and keep a good layer of soap or cream on there. I re-lather between passes.

Thanks Bill, I'll give that a go. You never know with these things.

Gareth,
Unless the photo does not accurately depict what is happening on your neck, it appears that there is a linear band of irritation at about the level where one's neck starts widening before attaching between the shoulders. Could it be that your pressure changes or the angle doesn't change accurately as you "round" this normal curve in your neck? Is the razor is "bottoming out", or continuing to go straight down on the the curve of your neck, instead of "going with the curve"? It seems odd that the irritation is in a band at one level, hence my thoughts.

Dave, yeah well spotted, it is a linear band across the bottom of my neck. I can't say I'm aware of changing the pressure, but maybe the angle isn't quite right as I move along my neck.

Thanks for all your suggestions so far guys.

Gareth

[a-cut-above]

Gareth,
Another thought. While faceturbating today, I felt a definite line of change in the direction beard growth on my neck in an area similar to the one in your photo. It might also be that you are unexpectedly running up against a transition to ATG whiskers.

[mikeny278]

The few things that helped me with this:

1) no skin stretching
2) alcohol-based aftershave
3) only lightly graze the area (I don't ever allow the razor head to touch skin), and be willing to accept subpar in the area
4) if do not get everything in 1-2 tries, and neck hairs are getting long, pluck the hair instead of possibly adding to the irritation through shaving...

[Jonnieboy61]

Gareth

If I'm honest I get this irritation from time to time, I put a lot of it down to the fact I shave every day and the skin isn't getting much rest. If it's really bad then I would cease to shave for a day or so to allow some recovery.

Alternatively, if I have to shave, then I find that if I use a much less dense lather on the second pass (50% Water, 50% cream) then only use the lightest of pressure, this allows my face to settle down quicker, YMMV.

The low/no Alcohol based A/S is also a great idea, as mentioned previously.

Happy shaving

All the best

[jww]

Lots of good discussion here .... and all good advise as well.

I would echo two points.

First - about letting your face rest. Personally, I rarely shave every day. When I do (client meetings, etc.) I worry only about appearance, and not whether I am pure BBS. The and particular attention to pressure. Hope you figure it out.

Second, I have developed my own no-pressure routine, and it seems to be the only sure way to avoid redness on a consistent basis (yes, I still do get minor irritation on occasion).

Sometimes I only do one pass for reasons of tidy appearance.

[ShadowsDad]

If it's truely an ingrown hair that takes about a week (minimum) to correct itself and it can be painful. It's caused by the hair being cut below the skin surface, getting tangled in the skin as it tries to grow out and backing up and growing below the skin. When I would get them and they would finally correct themselves the hair shaft would finally straighten out and be 1/8-3/16" long. Are you sure you are getting ingrowns or is that merely redness from irritation or bacteria?

The only real answer if it's ingrowns is to accept a not so close shave. Better skin lube products may also help.

If it's an ingrown it makes no difference if you let the skin rest or not since the razor can't get to it to damage it more. You can only create more of them. Too, if it's an ingrown, you'll be able to see the hair under the skin. It's possible to break the skin to release the hair, but everyone will tell you not to do that because of the possibiity of infection. So I won't tell you to do that either.

[marsos52]

back in the 70's I began shaving with DE razors becuase i had ingrowns so bad.

the DE razor helped so much but i still had areas with ingrowns and most were from under my jaw bone and the neck area.

here is what worked for me..

at first i was tweezing the ingrowns from under the skin line and then pulling them out. just to find they grew back as ingrowns again.

finally i started tweezing the ingrown hair out from under my skin and letting them grow a couple days. then i would shave them.

after a short time of doing this the hairs stopped growing under the skin surface. i bet it took me 6 months to a year before i got all the ingrowns
to become non-ingrowns. if you try this, be sure not to shave the hairs to close to the skin. so the hairs are always above the skin surface.

honestly, i havent had ingrowns since or bumps or thing issues since. and i shave as close as i possibly can. i love bbs

except for a few months ago i did find a ingrown. i was in shock.

marc

[brothers]

I rarely experience ingrown hairs, but when I do, at the first sign of irritation I soak an area of a dry washcloth with alcohol and clean the irritated area thoroughly, 2 or 3 times a day if I can remember to do it. after a day and a half with the alcohol, it's as good as new. Also, I don't apply any type of skin "glop" to it. Just let it hang out in the fresh air until the next time I remember to give it an alcohol bath.

[slackskin]

Gareth I sometimes wonder if the stretching done by barbers isn't at least to partially compensate for their middle aged customers slightly sagging faces.

Hey Squire, there was a reason I picked Slackskin for a user name!

Gareth, maybe there is an easier answer. As I understand it, you are using Bic disposables. Why not try a double edge? That seems pretty straightforward to me. Best of luck.

[dosco]

I usually get similar irritation in this part of my neck when wearing a tie.

No tie = no irritation.

Also I've noticed that the irritation tends to go away the more I wear a tie but lately I wear a tie maybe once every other week.

Once e irritation starts I get red bumps and pimples, and it goes away after a day or two of no tie wearing.