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I know this is not an uncommon problem cos I've seen it on plenty of guys but is there a good way of treating hair follicles that are prone to infection?
Washing properly is pretty obvious and scrubs don't work well with a beard so are there any better tips?
Currently I'm finding the best method for this is to pluck the little offenders. Would prefer to prevent damaged hairs appearing though.
Cheers mateys.
This can be a hassle. It's called folliculitis barbae.
One hair will happen to get cut too short while shaving and will become ingrown. There will be localized swelling which causes the sebaceous gland to become obstructed. This leads to infection.
Scrubbing the face makes this condition WORSE because of the local inflammation caused by the scrubbing.
The problem is that when one hair becomes infected and swollen, it causes the surrounding hairs to do the same. It ends up as a chain reaction.
The best treatment for mild cases is NOT to shave for awhile and let it calm down. Supplement this with twice daily facial cleansing with a good antibacterial soap. Remember to wash, not scrub. Finally, if severe enough, systemic antibiotics are warranted and necessitate a visit to your MD.
Hope this helps.
ToddB
Thanks Todd.
I'll ask him to ask his GP for advise on that aspect. In my fellahs case it's not the shorn hairs that have problems - it's the long ones that are part of his goatie. It's like the hairs have been in too long and start to rot (which may be in fact what is happening?). That's why the get plucked. These hairs also sometimes split right through into quarters. A bit weird but then I've never taken as much an interest in beards before I restyled his and now he gets nothing but compliments on it. :D
I have this problem from time to time myself, although thankfully, it hasn't happened in a while. Split hairs are very common in my beard, although I think what it really is is multiple hairs growing out of the same pore. Sometimes they will be mildly bonded to each other, sometimes not at all. Sometimes they split severely.
It's possible that such a hair splits before emerging. This can cause the hair to snag the skin. If the snag doesn't clear quickly, an infection can result from the hair backlog that results.
A similar situation happens with ingrown hairs, the main difference being that it is the tip of the hair causing the problem in the ingrown situation.
If it's always the same hair that is causing the problem, you can probably have it fixed with electrolysis. I have such a problem situation in my nose of all places! I'm not sure I want someone zapping the inside of my nose, but if the problem persists, I may not have a better choice.
For the snag issue, I think a good preventative measure is to massage the skin regularly. This is most effectively done with a scalp massager, although using the fingers will work as well.
If the problem is related to an oil blockage, massaging with a light oil may be more effective than using a detergent. The purpose of detergents is to get water to bond to oil, because water and oil normally do not bond to each other. I think cleaning with an oil in the first place is more effective for pores, because oils mix with other oils.