I've heard that, in addition to exfoliating (I use those rough exfoliation gloves), you can use a diaper rash cream on your freshly shaven/waxed/epilated skin. When shaving, make sure you change blades frequently (i.e., don't use old razor blades that are dulled and have a lot of accumulated bacteria).

I have the same problem, whether shaving, waxing or epilating. I get them on my calves sometimes as well. I use this body treatment that has salicylic acid to exfoliate and help get rid of the redness. It's helped a lot but I still get a few bumps.

I use green tea lotion every day after i shave, but I've also been shaving since I was 14. So I really don't even get the normal "breakout" that a lot of my friends gripe about. My skin is used to being shaved down there and on my legs pretty much bi weekly. That aside, I've heard others use green tea lotion and it helps also. But I only get an ingrown every once in awhile.

I make sure to shave with the direction of hair growth, or at an angle..basically just not straight against the way it grows. Then I always use nobumps rx on it afterwards, you can get that at Sally's. I also use monistat anti chafing gel. The combination of all this keeps ingrown hairs away.

The diaper rash cream works. I have a small tin of Penaten here that i use just a wee bit of after I shave. Works awesome as a zit cream also

I shave my pubic/bikini area with a razor. I go with the hair or sideways, but occasionally I'll go against the grain for a really close shave. After I shave I *always* put isopropyl alcohol on the shaved area (usually my mons and outer lips).

Isopropyl alcohol is the main ingredient in many "no bump" / "no razor burn" products and is exceptionally cheap. A bottle of the 70% solution runs about $1.00 or so at most pharmacy departments. Don't buy the 91% type...it's a bit too strong for skin use, and the scent is a lot more noticeable.

If you cut yourself, yeah, it'll burn if it gets on where you cut yourself. But I'd rather *know* about a cut and have it be disinfected than not know.

I don't experience ingrown hairs much at all. Drying throughly with a towel every day (whether you shave or not) helps keep the hair ends away from the skin's surface so they're less likely to get ingrown. Good luck!

Thanks for posting this question, cause I have wondered the same thing. I use the Emjoi that rips the hair out but get shocking ingrown hairs. They don't really hurt but they look NASTY!
I tried using the Emjoi going with the hair instead of against but it didn't seem to help at all - it just ended up missing hairs...lol.
I might get some alcohol and diaper rash cream to try them. Got nothing to lose here - apart from horrid looking bumps!

you can shave in direction of hair growth. though i dont think it will b as smooth. they make a cream you can buy at the store i think also

I get one every once in a while and I always remove the hair of course and soak with a hot washcloth. Then...I know it sounds weird...but I put a dab of tooth paste on the red spot. It will shrink the pore, reduce redness, and dry up that area. You can do this on your face too. It works wonders.

I get ingrown hairs every once in a while. Before, I tried everything to try to get rid of an ingrown hair, but the treatments just aggravated the ingrown hair, and made it worse. Now, if I have one, I just let it run its natural course, for it does go away eventually.

Wow, this was such a helpful thread. I get ingrown hairs all the time. Thanks!