Ingrown armpit hair, bump, lump or cyst can be painful especially if it gets infected. This article, will attempt to cover in details the symptoms of ingrown underarm hair, its cause and ways to get rid, treat, remove and home remedies.
Having strange bumps or lumps appearing on your armpit or face is not abnormal. The lumps on armpit are exactly pimples. Could they be ingrown hairs? Let’s found out in this post. Ingrown hairs can be referred to as hairs that have curled around and grown back into your kin instead of growing straight from it.
There are a time when dead skin can clog up a hair follicle that forces the hair inside it to grow sideways under the skin rather than outwards and upwards. Under the armpit, cutting armpit curly hair too closely will result in the sharpened end of the hair piercing in the skin causing an underarm ingrown hair.
Although ingrown hair underarm are usually not serious, you may find them to be irritating and embarrassing.
Read Also:
1. Ingrown Facial Hair: Bump, Infection, Cyst, Removal, Causes & Treatment
2. Infected Ingrown Hair: Causes, Pictuires, Symptoms, Cysts, Boil, Treat, Removal
Ingrown hair on armpit symptoms
Ingrown armpit hairs can be irritating and embarrassing. Can an ingrown hair can really hurt. They can develop into painful boil – like sores. The following are the symptoms of an ingrown armpit hair. They include:
Itchy armpit and pain
An ingrown armpit can be itchy and painful. Scratching the armpit skin can be due to itchy sensation. This can be due to irritation especially from shaving with a razor. Painful boils like sores can develop due to red raised red bumps or lumps in the armpit.
Underarm rash
A rash in armpit can develop due to an irritated skin arising from an ingrown hair in the armpit.
Small, pus- filled, blister –like lesion
An ingrown armpit hair just like any other ingrown hair on the skin will develop small, pus- filled, blister- like lesion or pustules. The pus develops as a result of accumulated dirt, sebum arising from clogged pores of the hair follicles.
Armpit lump or cyst
An ingrown in the armpit will appear as a lump or cyst. The lump is a result of hair trapped and growing inside the skin. An ingrown in the underarm can be painful if it develops into an infected cyst. Improper hair removal techniques may be the cause of ingrown hair cyst. You may shave, wax, tweeze but a lump nay still develop. This may irritate your skin and lead to pimples resulting to cysts.
Skin darkening
Ingrown underarm hair symptoms would result to hyperpigmentation. The area of the skin where the ingrown hair develops will turn to dark. This is as a result of hair growing back into the skin and getting trapped inside. Other than hair, pus, dirt and sebum are likely to collect as a bump.
Ingrown underarm hair causes
What are the causes of an ingrown armpit hair? A number of factors can cause an ingrown hair on your armpit. Poor shaving technique among other reasons can lead to ingrown underarm hair. Let’s look at each cause briefly. They include:
- Shaving technique or waxing underarm: poor shaving methods can be the cause of ingrown hair in your armpit. If you have a sensitive skin, you are likely to develop ingrown hairs. They will appear as razor bumps. Other hair removal techniques such as waxing can cause irritation of the hair follicles causing ingrown hairs.
- Clogged hair follicles in the armpit: this is one of the common reasons why you’re likely to develop ingrown underarm hair. Blocked hair follicles will cause new hair to grow inwards and back into the skin. They ingrown hair will appear as raised red bumps where dirt and sebum collect. It can be painful when infected.
- Tight clothing: tight clothing can lead to scratching your armpit. If you put on tight armpit clothes, you obstruct hair in your underarms to grow naturally. This can lead to scratching your underarm frequently irritating the skin.
- Curly Hair: it is probably one of the major reasons for ingrown hairs. This is commonly seen in people with thick or curly hair, typically the African- Americans, Latinos. This kind of hair tends to grow back and usually they have sharper edge. In the process cutting the skin and get trapped under the surface.
Images of ingrown hair under armpit
What does an ingrown armpit hair look like? Naturally, an ingrown hair will irritate the skin. It will produce a red raised bump or lump that may look like a little pimple. Ingrown armpit hair can at time form a painful boil like sore. Ingrown armpit hair can be itchy and difficult to deal with.
In men, ingrown hairs tend to develop as a group of bumps on the cheeks, chin or neck usually after shaving. The image inserted below is to give you a descriptive view of how ingrown armpit hair look like.
Ingrown armpit hair or lymph node – differences
An ingrown armpit hair and lymph nodes under arm are difference in one or many ways. A swelling in the armpit will develop when there’s infection on the skin. When lymph nodes swell in the armpit, it is because of irritation and bacterial infection that may occur when your shave hairs in your armpit. The hair that gets trapped in the skin can cause swelling in the armpits.
Ingrown hair armpit lump, bump or cyst
A strange bumps or lumps on armpit couldn’t be a pimple or hives. They could be ingrown hairs. Ingrown armpit hairs are hairs that have curled around and grown back into the skin rather than rising up from it. At time, dead skin can block up a hair follicle. This forces the hair inside in it to grown sideways under the skin, rather than upward and outward.
Sometimes when you cut naturally curly hair too close to the skin will result in the sharpened end of the hair piercing the skin causing ingrown hairs. As mentioned earlier in the post, ingrown hair irritates the skin. It ends up producing raised, red bumps, lumps or cyst that may resembles little pimple. An ingrown hair lump, bump or cyst can form a painful, boil like sore.
Infected ingrown armpit hair
An infected ingrown armpit hair is the result of a grown out hair that curls back into the skin and become infected or inflamed. Folliculitis is when there are recurrent cases of infected ingrown hair. Normally, new hair grows straight out of the hair follicles which are located in the skin. But sometimes, the hair grows abnormally and curls back under the skin surface.
Too many dead skin cells on the surface of the skin can be the cause of infection. The dead cells can eventually clog up hair follicles. Shaving and waxing your ingrown hair that tends to get trapped in the skin can results in infection. Infections are more likely to be common if the hair curl back into the skin when growing out after hair removal.
Infected ingrown armpit hair will start off as a red bump. You may see pus and the bump is likely to grow larger. The area of infection in the ingrown hair may also be irritated, swell, itch and feel warm to the touch.
Mild cases of infection may be removed by home remedies. Here’s how to remove an infected ingrown armpit hair.
- Wash the area
- Gently scrub the area to loosen the skin
- Apply tea tree oil. This helps to alleviate the infection and prevent it from getting worse
- Apply lotions to soothe the irritated skin
You can use over –the – counter medication such as hydrocortisone cream to relieve itching.
Ingrown armpit hair treatment
There are a number of ways of treating an ingrown armpit hair. They include:
1. Surgical methods
Surgery is one of the popular treatment methods for treating and removing ingrown hair in the armpit. Your doctor will perform a simple surgery using some sterile tools such as scalpel, needle, laser etc. if the ingrown hair is severe, the affected area is cleaned and antibiotics applied. Other surgical ways of removing ingrown hair include cryotherapy, electrolysis and laser therapy.
2. Medical drugs
Medications can also be used in treatment of ingrown underarm hair. They include: antiseptics, antibiotics, corticosteroids and retinoid.
Antiseptics and antibiotics
Antiseptics and antibiotics are used to destroy germs around the ingrown hairs. This is to prevent spreading of infection into deep layers of the skin and surrounding areas. These drugs can be taken orally or applied topically. Antiseptic jelly, liquid or cream can be applied where you have the ingrown hair.
Steroid medicines
Corticosteroids are used to help soothe itching, irritation and swelling of the skin.
Retinoids
Retinoids are also helpful but they don’t necessarily treat inflammation or infections. They may help to reduce wrinkles and pigments changes associated with ingrown hair.
Ingrown armpit hair removal
An ingrown underarm hair can be removed but first you should treat any inflammation and infection until it feels safe to pluck out the hair trapped inside the hair follicle. Here’s how to remove an ingrown hair in your armpit;
- Wash the area with a mild cleanser
- Lightly scrub the area to loosen the skin
- Apply a warm compress for about 10 minutes.
- Use a sterilized pin to pop the ingrown hair
- Use a sterilized tweezer to grab and pull out the ingrown hair
- Apply tea tree oil to help reduce infection
How to get rid of ingrown hair in armpit with natural home remedies
Other than medical treatment, there are simple but effective home remedies that can help get rid of ingrown armpit hair. They include:
1. Warm compress
This is a simple but effective home remedy. Applying a warm or hot compress on the affected are may help get rid of ingrown armpit hair.
What to do at home
- Wash the affected area with a mild cleanser
- Insert a piece of thin towel or piece of cloth in warm or hot water
- Squeeze the towel to remove excess water
- Gently press the towel on the ingrown armpit hair
- Do this for about 20 – 30 seconds
- Repeat the procedure two to three times a day until healing begins
2. Tea Tree Oil
This oil has both antimicrobial and antibacterial properties therefore effective to remove ingrown underarm hair. Here’s how to use it:
- Mix 1 part of tea tree oil n 4 parts of waters
- Dip a cotton ball in the mixture
- Apply it on the affected area and leave it for about 10 minutes
- Wash your skin with lukewarm water
3. Baking soda
Baking soda helps ease skin inflammation and infection associate with ingrown hair. Here’s how to use this remedy:
- Add one tablespoon of baking soda into a cup of water
- Stir well to make a paste
- Using cotton balls, apply the paste onto the affected skin
- Leave it for about 10 minutes
- Rinse it off with lukewarm water
- For effective results, do this a twice for a couple of days
4. Castor oil
Castor oil is also an effective home remedy to get rid of ingrown underarm hair. Here’s how to use this remedy:
- Add one tablespoon of castor oil into a cup of water
- Dip a cotton ball into the mixture
- Gently apply the oil – water mixture on the affected skin
- Leave it for about 10 minutes
- Rinse it off with lukewarm water
- Do this twice daily until healing begins
5. Remove dead skin cells (exfoliation)
Exfoliation or removing dead skin cells regularly may also help you to get rid of ingrown armpit hair. Exfoliation in your armpit can only be done when you do not have ingrown armpit hair. Products such as salicylic acids, benzoyl peroxide creams and non-greasy moisturizers should help you to exfoliate your underarm skin.
6. Sugar scrub
At home, you can make sugar scrub to help exfoliate the skin. Here’s how to make this home remedy:
- Mix 1 tablespoon of brown sugar with 2 tablespoon of olive oil
- Stir well
- Rub the paste gently but in a circular motion the past in the skin under your arms
- Leave the paste for about 10 minutes
- Rinse it off with lukewarm water
- Do this twice for a couple of days
7. Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is an efficient natural home remedy for inflammation and itchiness of skin.
How to use this remedy
- Extract fresh gel from aloe Vera plant
- Apply the gel on the ingrown armpit hair
- Allow it to stay for about 20 minutes
- Rinse it off with lukewarm water
- For good results, do this twice daily until healing begins
8. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is another home natural remedy for skin conditions. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and antimicrobial properties.
Here is how to make this remedy
- Mix 1 part of ACV in 4 parts of water
- Dip cotton wool into the mixture
- Apply on the affected area of the skin
- Let the skin absorb the mixture for about 10 minutes
- Rinse with lukewarm water
- For effective results, use this remedy twice daily
Sources and references:
- https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/ingrown-hair-causes-symptoms-treatment – 2-4
- https://medlicker.com/1300-ingrown-underarm-hair
- https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/problems/treat-underarm-ingrown-hairs2.htm
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ingrown-hair/symptoms-causes/syc-20373893
- https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/ingrown-hair-cyst – picture
- https://healthrave.org/hair/ingrown-armpit-hair-lump-how-to-get-rid-cyst-painful-underarm-hair/
- https://www.livestrong.com/article/154917-how-to-stop-ingrown-hairs-in-pubic-area/
