ingrown hairs caused by trimming chest hairs??? possible??

Hi,

I am brand new here and I am desperatly trying to find answers from anyone.

I have been trimming by chest hair with a trimmer for about 3-5 years with only a very slight acne once in a while(used to have back acne but it has dissappeared with Benzoyle Peroxide) now about 3 months ago about 5 days after trimming my chest hair, I started breaking out in patches of medium size red acne like bumps…i dont know if its acne or ingrown hairs…keep in mind i am NOT shaving but closesly trimming with a guard on #1…about a week passed and they were basically gone…trimmed again and again the same thing happened…they really dont have puss or a whitehead but like a reddish irration…not small like razor burn though…do people think this is ingrown hairs??? WHY would I NOT have this issue for all the years I have trimmed before?? I have not changed anything regarding creams or lotions…ANY ADVICE or thoughts is much appreciated!!!

are you doing this on wet hair? are you using a new blade? are you trimming another area with the same blade beforehand?

No dry hair…trimmer set at #1…and yes the trimmer is used for different shaving sometimes beforehand…like the head on the top of my head…someone said that ingrown hair could only be caused by shaving right down to the skin and the fact they go away they think its acne…thoughts??? thks:)

Hello.
That is true. It’s not possible to get ingrown hairs when you trim hair. You must either shave or pluck hairs to get ingrown hairs.
It could be that your skin is sensitive and that you have pressed the trimmer on your skin when trimming. I am undergoing hair removal treatment for my back and before the treatment starts the pracitioner trims down my hair very short and the first time she did it hars and “pressed” the machine on my skin and afterwards she said “Your skin is so sensitive, you are getting reddness and swelling” and the next time she did it more gentle and there were no problems.

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yes, you can’t get ingrowns from this because an ingrown hair is a hair that didn’t come out of the skin and is growing under the top skin layer. if you’re leaving some of the hair above the skin’s surface, it can’t be ingrown. i am thinking your skin might be getting irritated from bacteria from other areas that you are trimming with the same trimmer if you don’t wash it thouroughly before using it on this area. the hair on your head is exposed to a lot more bacteria, so some of that might be causing skin irritation.

yes, you can’t get ingrowns from this because an ingrown hair is a hair that didn’t come out of the skin and is growing under the top skin layer. if you’re leaving some of the hair above the skin’s surface, it can’t be ingrown. i am thinking your skin might be getting irritated from bacteria from other areas that you are trimming with the same trimmer if you don’t wash it thouroughly before using it on this area. the hair on your head is exposed to a lot more bacteria, so some of that might be causing skin irritation.

Never thought of that. That is the likely explanation. Head hair is very greasy unless you wash (and dry) it right before trimming. Clean the blades and the guard with 91% isopropyl alcohol right before using them.

RJC2001