I'm hoping to find someone on this board who may have had the same problem and knows what's going on. I've got a huge mess of ingrown hairs all throughout my beard - everywhere that hair grows there are bumps and pimples. The pimples break, then scab, and cause more irritation, which leads to more bumps/ingrown hairs! At least I think.
For a some back story on my beard: I am not new to growing a beard; I've been growing it on and off for around 9 years with no major problems until now. My skin has always been prone to dryness which would cause a lot of razor bumps/ingrown hairs when I would shave down to the skin, so I avoided it by just trimming very short (1mm) with clippers or growing and maintaining a beard.
Occassionally I would get a bad ingrown hair that would get out of control (probably partly my fault for picking it or plucking the hair), and a bald spot would form. So I would bite the bullet, and clip off the beard so I could treat the skin and get everything back to normal before growing my beard out again.
This winter (around January) was when I got this problem again (it seems to happen in the winter when the air is dry I guess), I trimmed it down, and managed it, but I think I grew it back a bit prematurely, because it flared up again. Problem was I started a new job, so I was embarrassed to get rid of the beard and expose the mess to others. Eventually, when it got worse, I bit the bullet and trimmed it off. I kept it short for weeks, cleaning my face regularily, exfoliating, moisterizing and making sure I got rid of dead/loose skin.
This wasn't working and the bumps were still there so I figured I would grow it out again - something I've heard suggested for ingrown hair treatment. That wasn't working and it just got more and more irritating and itchy all the time. The only relief seems to come from a good scrub and cleaning, but that also tends to open up the pimples and create more hard spots/scabs. There is also a spot under my soul patch where the skin seems dead [like a scab], and has an odd smell (like a wet dog) when I wash my face.
I've never had skin problems like pimples or eczema, just the dry skin mentioned above (never a big issue). I can only assume that this is something related to ingrown hairs, because the bumps/sores/redness stop short of my beard's hairline and never goes further. Now my beard is starting to get patchy as some bald spots are forming in more than one place.
Oh, I should mention, my hair is pretty straight, not curly.
I was hoping someone has experienced this, knows what it is and can tell me how they remedied it.
Should I stop touching it and keep growing? Bite the bullet, get over the embarrassement, and clip it off? Or is this a more serious problem that I should see a dermatologist about?
I really would like to keep the beard while treating if possible. I'm embarrassed to show whats underneath, and it may sound silly, but I've become known for having a nice beard - girls and guys always compliment me on it - and I would feel less appreciated without it.
Sorry for making this so long guys, any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
For a some back story on my beard: I am not new to growing a beard; I've been growing it on and off for around 9 years with no major problems until now. My skin has always been prone to dryness which would cause a lot of razor bumps/ingrown hairs when I would shave down to the skin, so I avoided it by just trimming very short (1mm) with clippers or growing and maintaining a beard.
Occassionally I would get a bad ingrown hair that would get out of control (probably partly my fault for picking it or plucking the hair), and a bald spot would form. So I would bite the bullet, and clip off the beard so I could treat the skin and get everything back to normal before growing my beard out again.
This winter (around January) was when I got this problem again (it seems to happen in the winter when the air is dry I guess), I trimmed it down, and managed it, but I think I grew it back a bit prematurely, because it flared up again. Problem was I started a new job, so I was embarrassed to get rid of the beard and expose the mess to others. Eventually, when it got worse, I bit the bullet and trimmed it off. I kept it short for weeks, cleaning my face regularily, exfoliating, moisterizing and making sure I got rid of dead/loose skin.
This wasn't working and the bumps were still there so I figured I would grow it out again - something I've heard suggested for ingrown hair treatment. That wasn't working and it just got more and more irritating and itchy all the time. The only relief seems to come from a good scrub and cleaning, but that also tends to open up the pimples and create more hard spots/scabs. There is also a spot under my soul patch where the skin seems dead [like a scab], and has an odd smell (like a wet dog) when I wash my face.
I've never had skin problems like pimples or eczema, just the dry skin mentioned above (never a big issue). I can only assume that this is something related to ingrown hairs, because the bumps/sores/redness stop short of my beard's hairline and never goes further. Now my beard is starting to get patchy as some bald spots are forming in more than one place.
Oh, I should mention, my hair is pretty straight, not curly.
I was hoping someone has experienced this, knows what it is and can tell me how they remedied it.
Should I stop touching it and keep growing? Bite the bullet, get over the embarrassement, and clip it off? Or is this a more serious problem that I should see a dermatologist about?
I really would like to keep the beard while treating if possible. I'm embarrassed to show whats underneath, and it may sound silly, but I've become known for having a nice beard - girls and guys always compliment me on it - and I would feel less appreciated without it.
Sorry for making this so long guys, any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
