Shaving hair especially manually may irritate the hair follicles, causing inflammation known as folliculitis that appears as small swollen and tender bumps that look like acne. Technically, folliculitis is not considered acne per se, as the inflammation is centred around the hair follicles only, while in acne, the inflammation is centred around the pilosebaceous (oil) glands.
Folliculitis refers to a skin condition in which hair follicles become inflamed, commonly due to a bacterial or fungal infection. Folliculitis may present with small red bumps or whitish pimples around hair follicles.
You can prevent folliculitis as a result of shaving or minimise its symptoms:
- Shave less often.
- Wash your face with clean and warm water and antibacterial facewash before you shave.
- Use a clean towel and gently brush the areas to be shaved in a circular motion to raise embedded hairs.
- Use shaving lotion.
- Use clean and sharp blades.
- Rinse the blades with clean water after every stroke.
- Apply after-shave moisturiser.
