ingrowing hair... ouch

[Annpan]

Sorry for shareing guys, but this is usually quite an open forum




I have a sore on my inside leg, it looks like it might be an ingrowing hair (I used to suffer from them, but never this bad before) Basically, it is sooooo bad and sore and swollen that I can barely walk - It's on that bit of my leg where trousers always wear down.


Any ideas?

[Russian Doll]

i get ingrown hair boils on my nether regions...soak a cotton wool ball in salt water and bathe it...also tea tree cream works wonders

[mrsflibble]

yep teatree. if you can possibly stand it/see it then try and dig out the end of the hair using a sterile pin (hold over flame for 20 secs), grab and gently tug with a set of tweasers. if you can't see it or stand to do this yourself you may need help from a beloved.
hugs cos i know what you going through.

[Pilsbury]

I second the ' dig it out if possable'
I had alopicia for a few years and then it started to come back but I ended up with loads of ingrowing hairs, normally a good soak in a warm bath helps soften up the digging out bit and it is normaly painful but it clears up much faster.
Good luck with it.

[Martin]

I remember wayyyyyyyyyy back in the dark ages, a family favourite was a "Drawing ointment" - ideal for splinters, ingrown hairs, boils etc - you just whacked a lump of it on a dressing, and left it overnight, and nature did it's stuff.............I remember it smelt wonderful (of slippery elm), and worked really well!

[Thomzo]

Definitely tea tree. Tea tree oil cream, from health food stores, is brilliant.

Zoe

[ina]

Poor you all - I seem to have been very lucky in my life, I've never even heard of anything like that! Hope you get it sorted.

[Annpan]

I was just saying to OH how strange it is that people don't talk about this kind of thing.

When you get your first couple of ingrowing hairs you have no idea what they are, or how to deal with them... and because they look so discusting you are too embarrassed to show anyone.

I used to pick them out with a sterilised pin or tweezers, but I wasn't sure if that was the done thing... I'll try I will stick some teatree oil on there, I hope it helps.

Thanks guys

[ina]

Maybe have a stiff dram before you start on it?

[Annpan]

good plan ina

I have just removed the plaster that I had put over it to stop the friction.... ouch... plaster stuck on very sore skin.... ouch...

just found this info

Home remedies

Try a topical antibiotic cream with anesthetic for the pain. If that does not work, use the raw side of a potato peeling and tape it to the effected area. leave it on for 24hours and check it .starch it in the potato skin can help draw it out faster. the use of natural and effective products which protect the dermis after hair removal by soothing, moisturizing and regenerating the skin.

Make a paste (poultice) with clay and a few drops of eucalyptus oil to draw out the hair and disinfect the fluid that has accumulated to trap and contain the infection. Apply at night and cover with a sterilized band-aid. The next morning, gently wash off the clay. Do not scrub the bump and apply a small amount of eucalyptus oil to the bump and let air-dry.
After about three nightly clay applications, the tiny hair will emerge from the bump and some pus may be seen as it is drawn out of the hair follicle. If the bump does not respond to the treatment by the clay , then apply propolis liquid extract, or colloidal silver to the bump to aggressively drive down infection, which is causing the swelling.

I am going to try one, or more of these.


Now I just need to find a remedy for my very itchy chilblains...

Maybe more alcohol is my only hope

[ina]

Maybe more alcohol is my only hope

Sounds like you'd want to take a bath in it!

Where do you get clay from - I mean clay that's suitable for this kind of application?

[mrsflibble]

and the potato thing... i get mine where I pull the most hair (trichotillomaniac, working on it but it's a slow process) and it's not somewhere i can readily stick a plaster.....

[Milims]

Martin spoke of drawing ointment - when we have spelks etc we use a soap and sugar poultice. All you do is put some soap - the soap jelly stuff that collects on a wet bar of soap is good - onto the padded bit of a plaster or similar, sprinkle on some sugar and apply to the affected part. Usually you'll feel it pulsing very soon afterwards and by the morning (assuming you put it on before bed- which is a very goo dtime to do it!) the what ever is stuck in there will be drawn out.
Good luck and hope its lots better very soon

[snapdragon]

natural drawing matter - banana - yes honest - a small piece of the inside of the banana skin on a plaster (if possible, or a bandage? tubigrip?)

tried and tested I promise

[Annpan]

Update...

Tried to remove the hair last night, and I think I got something out, but it wasn't wirey, as I remember them to be in the old days - I must figure out what I have done to make the re-occur, since I haven't had them in this long.

Anyway I did get a small hair from the middle of the swelling - which was around 2 inches in diameter. Then I put some witch-hazel and tea tree oil on it. (found on internet that witch-hazel reduces swelling and tea tree is antiseptic.... it took me a long time to find out if it was safe to mix them without a seperate carrier)

Then I put a huge sticky plaster on it, and just now the swelling has reduced by so much that the sticky plaster is wrinkled and baggy on it... I can only assume that something I did helped.



It's still a little sore, but nothing like the agony of last night.

Thanks everyone

Where do you get clay from - I mean clay that's suitable for this kind of application?

It's called cosmetic clay, you can buy it online from the same places that sell soap making things... it is what is used to make make-up, and some other such things.