Thread: Super sensitive skin!

Originally Posted by bromion

I wanted to post of photo of my neck this afternoon (taken 3pm today) after shaving with a nicely honed razor last night. I shaved last night around 2am.

Does this give any extra insight?

BTW, that was a hard picture to get : )

There are a couple linear scratches which seem to be due to scraping of the skin with your razor. There are also a number of small circular eroded areas 1 mm or so in diameter, which have a follicular pattern, that is, they follow a pattern of hair follicles. Towards the lower part of your neck, you have an intact pustule, you can see the white head of it, if you magnify the picture. So part of this appears to be technique, ie the scratches, but also part is folliculitis, induced by shaving. Pseudofolliculitis usually has more of a bumpy and less inflamed quality, but if you are shaving off the bumps completely each time you shave, it could give this appearance.

Its quite possible you might not be able to shave with a straight razor, have you tried using an electric for a short time and does this solve the problem? If you really want to continue straight razor shaving, here are a couple things to try.

1) bacteria can worsen folliculitis, so using an anti-bacterial wash such as benzoyl peroxide 5% once a day might help. Keep in mind you should do it at the opposite time of day that you shave, ie if you shave at night wash in morning, because the benzoyl peroxide, even though you wash it off, can be irritating on freshly shaven skin.

2) hydrocortisone 1% ointment you can get over the counter, and you can try applying that twice a day. This will calm down the irritation, and the ointment will provide a nice gentle way to replace lost oils on the skin which may be exacerbating the folliculitis. Also follicultis can cause itching so the hydrocortisone will help that too.

3) try shaving extra gently on your neck and try to get away with as little ATG action as possible.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Pete

I know there a some shavers getting good use out of Alum, but it does cause skin irritation to some people. To find out the culprit, my suggestion:
1. Quit XTG
2. Discontinue Alum.

If rash irritation goes away add one of the above back into your routine if you wish. If irritation returns, you found the culprit. If no irritation add the next.
I know many here use Alum on the face, but look at the link below and consider what is a well known fact.

http://www.prochemical.com/MaterialS...bling/Alum.pdf

Mike

Something you may not want to do but might work is to let you beard grow out for a while. However long you think is necessary to "reset". I have sensitive skin (chemically, not to abrasion/shaving though) but there was a day when I accidentally used a wrong angle on my upper lip and got like tons of weepers and ingrowns and it didn't really fix itself with my regular routine. So I let nature take its course, dutifully scrubbing the ingrowns out, antibacterial washes (as prescribed above) and let everything grow for a week, and when I started up again I was fine. Worth a shot? It seems like after 4 days its helping you, but after 4 days are you FULLY healed or mostly/tolerably healed?

Gentlemen,

I must thank Kingfish for posting the link to information about alum.

I finally gave up on using alum block after the shave because of the irritation it caused to my skin. Super witch hazel is just fine for me.

Regards,

Obie

YMMV, of course, but adding alum to my shave routine reduced razor burn, healed weepers quicker, and all around made my freshly shaved face feel much better. I'm sticking with it.

EDIT: and i'm sorry if somebody already mentioned this, but you really should rinse the alum off after about 30-60 seconds after shaving. It sounds like some guys left it on all day and I can understand how that would feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Alum doesn't seem to make much difference to me either way. Now I just use it on cuts and nicks, which unfortunately still happen sometimes! : )

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

but you really should rinse the alum off after about 30-60 seconds after shaving. It sounds like some guys left it on all day and I can understand how that would feel incredibly uncomfortable.

+1 on that. Any longer than a minute or so on me (I generally try and let it more or less dry having applied after a cold-rinse) would just plain hurt.

Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen,

I must thank Kingfish for posting the link to information about alum.

I finally gave up on using alum block after the shave because of the irritation it caused to my skin. Super witch hazel is just fine for me.

Regards,

Obie

Your most welcome Obie. I was suprised to see so many members using it on another post. Witch Hazel is my best friend too.

Mike

Just an update. For my last few shaves, I have tried not shaving WTG and starting with ATG. This seems to help some in my problem areas where WTG doesn't remove much hair anyway (like the neck). I will probably keep WTG for my cheeks and lip area but skip it for the rest.

I have read through this with interest. Your neck seems to be the issue. My neck was a tricky one as well. The shave oil may be what is causing the redness. Skip the Shave oil.

Do you stretch the area and shave lightly? Sometimes, I use more than a 30 degee pitch to shave certain areas of the neck and sometimes I go less than 30 degrees. I just listen to the razor as it cuts.

Do not let anything cool on your neck between passes and that includes the soap. Keep those pores open with warm - hot water between passes and perhaps adding a little more glycerin to your GQ soap may help.

I don't use the styptic pencil. A good cold water rise when I finish closes up all the pores and weepers. If a big weeper, I just use the TP seal it. This rarely happens.

I also use a facial cream for sensitive skin and water it down a little. I do have a whole house water filter, so I know the water does not provide additional challenges.

Tough one and good luck!

Pabster