Ingrown Nipple Hair? Here’s What You Can Do!
It is not uncommon for women to have hair on their breasts, especially the nipple area. However, especially when it was plucked or shaved, this hair can occasionally grow towards the inside, causing an ingrown hair. If this has happened to you, you need to take extra precautions, as ingrown nipple hair can get quite painful at times.
Generally speaking, ingrown hair occurs if a pore is clogged, so the hair can’t grow out of the hair follicle and curls up inside the follicle. If the hair is not plucked or shaved, this normally doesn’t happen. Some women, however, choose to get rid of the hair on their nipples due to aesthetic reasons. This is how the hair sometimes “gets stuck” inside the follicle, grows inwards and the follicle sometimes becomes inflamed.
There are many ways in which you can prevent and treat ingrown nipple hair. Also, there are lots of home remedies you may use, but there are certain situations in which you will need to visit the doctor or seek professional help.
Home Remedies for Treatment of Ingrown Hair
As hair grows out, the infection could cure itself. But this could take several days and since inflamed follicles can cause extreme discomfort, you might want to try one of the following remedies at home:
1. Use a Warm Compress
Take two to three cups of warm water and add two teaspoons of salt. Soak a soft, clean washcloth in the solution and then twist-drain. Gently compress on the ingrown hair. You have to do this a few times in a day. The warm water and salt solution can help the ingrown hair to slip out of the follicle.
However, this alone might not do the trick. If you have dry skin, once the water dries up, it would harden up the follicle once again and prevent the hair from slipping out. Alternatively, if you have oily skin, the pores could clog and lead to an infection.
Therefore, right after the hot compress, you may want to use a non-comedogenic lotion and moisturize the skin. Non-comedogenic lotions keep dry skin hydrated and prevent the pores from getting clogged on oily skin.
2. Natural Exfoliation
Another great home remedy for ingrown nipple hair is to exfoliate the skin. Exfoliation means to remove the dead skin cells. You can make a gentle exfoliator at home using sugar, salt and oil. If you have sensitive skin, you might want to skip the salt. Avoid using kosher salt at all costs as it can be too abrasive.
Simply take a teaspoon of sugar and salt each and mix it with an essential oil or a non-comedogenic. Use gentle strokes to exfoliate the area taking care not to press too hard. Do this at least once a day in circular motions and it will help free the hair.
Here are a few non-comedogenic oils you can use to make a natural exfoliator:
What NOT To Do To Treat Ingrown Nipple Hair
There are a bunch of home remedies floating around out there that may promise rapid results, but in actual they will make the condition worse. Let’s look at a few you should avoid:
1. Using Tweezers or a Needle to Try to Get the Hair Out
In addition to concerns around sterility of these methods, they are highly unsafe and can make matters worse. Typically, the ingrown hair is not infected, but if you try to pluck it out or even lift it with a needle or tweezers, it could result in scarring or even an infection. So if at all possible, you should not use tweezers or needles to try to get your ingrown hair out.
2. Squeezing or Popping the Bump
While it may appear like a regular pimple, ingrown nipple hair is quite different. If you attempt to squeeze or pop it in an attempt to free the hair, it can simply push the hair inwards and result in an infection.
Is There A Permanent Solution?
If you want to remove the hair around your nipples for aesthetic purposes, you might want to give waxing or simply trimming a shot. Since the skin around nipples is quite delicate, it is best to seek out a professional rather than doing it yourself. However, there are other permanent hair removal methods, like laser hair removal or electrolysis, which could provide a long-term solution, but are more expensive.
When Should You Consider Seeing A Doctor
If an ingrown nipple hair develops an infection, you should visit a doctor. In some cases, the ingrown hair could result in an inflamed follicle and may require a minor surgery to remove the puss. The doctor may even prescribe antibiotics or an anti-fungal ointment. It is also a good idea to see a doctor as there are many other conditions that mimic the symptoms of ingrown nipple hair. If the bumps do not disappear in a few days, then it could be something else.
Conclusion
Hair on the breast and around the nipples is quite normal and unless there is discomfort, you should consider not removing it. Many common hair removal techniques often result in an ingrown hair issue in women. If the hair around your nipples is thick, you are more prone to this condition.
If you want to remove the hair, there are permanent hair removal techniques you can resort to that may be expensive, but provide a sure shot solution without the adverse effects.
Quite often, an ingrown nipple hair problem can resolve itself. You can, however, also resort to home remedies to speed up the healing process. But if they do not work and the ingrown hair continues to be painful for you, the cause might be different, with symptoms similar to that of an inflamed follicle. This is when you should absolutely consider visiting a doctor and getting a thorough checkup.
