Red Skin Bump question time (Gross Pics)

Alright I've got an odd question/scenario here. I get these intense looking red bomb/blotch things on my neck no matter what I do. They are certainly not ingrown hairs, they never really get any better or worse or come to a white head or anything. The weirdest thing about it is that they really don't even hurt! I know what normal irritation feels like as a usually have to shave 6-7 times a weeks and get up absurdly early so I often do my passes pretty quickly and get a little irritation on my upper lip and jawline. Being way more careful lately has cure that however.

The question still stands though, what the heck are these odd painless red things? My iPhone pics aren't the best but they are a darkish red right after I shave and my face is still fresh but usually a couple hours afterwords they look a fairly dark purple. I'm not technically colored but I am more or less full Italian so I have a really dark complexion with (I'm not sure how to word this) african american characteristics. Meaning any scar tissue is purple and so on...

Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dustin

Hmm actually now that I look at my disgusting pics it's kinda obvious that I'm just irritating the heck out of my neck

I used to have similar issues on the lower left and right side of my neck line. What is the set up and prep you are using?

Despite it not being painful, to be honest, it looks like razor burn to me. I sometimes get a very similar reaction on the right lower part of my neck when I use my straight razor. When I use my DE, this doesn't happen. I attribute this to my technique being so much better with the DE than with the straight. And when I say so much better, I mean SOOOOOOOO much better. Also, one thing I have noticed is the hair follicles seem to be much closer together on my face and upper neck than on my lower neck where I will get this irritation on occasion with the straight.

Stick to one WTG pass on your neck if you can and try using witch hazel a couple of times a day (just generic, cheap stuff will do) and see what the situation's like in a week's time. I'd also suggest taking a day or two off and still applying witch hazel to aid the healing process - just looks like razor burn to me!

I got a weak solution of steroids from my doc that I use sometimes. It really helps.

looks like razor burn/ingrowns; try some calamine lotion @ night and make sure you moisturize in the morning once you wash it off.

I agree with the folks saying that this looks like a little bit of razor burn. As my beard grows well below my adams apple (right down to my collar bone), it's challenging sometimes to maintain a good razor to face angle as I get to the bottom of my stroke. If I'm not careful about stretching that skin by keeping my head tilted back as much as I can, I run the risk of irritation.

Regarding beard preparation, I recall reading a similar discussion which suggested that we don't often do much to prep our necks as well as higher parts of our face. What I took away from that was to more consciously apply soap and rinse my nick during my shower.

Hope this helps.

dan1 said:

I got a weak solution of steroids from my doc that I use sometimes. It really helps.

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Be careful with a steroid solution. Short term use is no problem, but steroids will thin the skin. This is dose dependent, but topical steroids will thin the skin with regular use.

Mantic discusses this topic in a video "caring for the neck".

As redrako says, we often wash/rinse face but miss a LOT of the neck area and the soap/cream/lather not properly rinsed away can block pores and irritate. He advocates WH or AS on a cotton pad and a generous cleansing of the neck area post a damned good rinse/wash cloth pass to make sure the area is cleared of any residual product.

Makes sense.

I've found aloe vera gel seems to work pretty good on that sort of irritation. Lilly of the Desert 99%. Usually less than $4 a tube.

Yes, you have razor burn. The most likely causes are incorrect blade angle and too much pressure on the blade. After you finish shaving wash off any lather with warm water and a wash cloth. Then splash cool water on your face followed by WH and ASB. At night before retiring put some moisturizer on to hasten repair of the skin and prepare for the next day's shave.

However, the first step is make sure you are using the right blade angle and no pressure on the blade. This post may help you. Also, take a look at this wiki. It may help you, also. And here is a good post that will help you on blade angle.

Dustin,
Some information on your setup and routine would help us give you good answers, but here's my experience regardless.
I have a very course beard and very soft, sensitive skin. Shaving was always a nightmare for me in high school with cartridge razors, because my neck ended up looking like yours, except very painful. I couldn't just grow a full beard either, because the course beard hear on my neck irritated my skin!
I used a safety razor for quite some time, and it got better. I always still had a few red bumps after shaving, but quite an improvement.

Since I've been using a straight razor I have not seen one red bump, and my skin always feels great, even if the shave wasn't perfect. If you haven't already, try a straight razor. Somehow it is much more forgiving on my skin than a safety or anything else.

In my experience, a couple days of not shaving and using one of the over-the-counter 1% hydrocortisone creams will help out a lot. What someone above said about steroid creams thinning the skin over time is correct though - don't start using it as your aftershave balm - just use them occasionally. I've never had any problem using it once or twice a day for a couple of days when I was new to DE shaving and had some simiar razor burn. The hydrocortisone will lessen the appearance of the irritation and fast forward the healing process somewhat. After things calm down a bit, map your beard growth and make sure that you're only shaving with the grain, using zero pressure and the correct angle. Try for an angle so shallow that you almost "miss" the hairs and don't quite touch the skin.

Also, if your beard is thick and tough, maybe you could try one of the generally sharper blades - Personna Meds or Labs, Feather, Gillette Bleue are a couple examples. Less tugging may lead to less irritation.

Good Luck!

-----------T_M

I had the same problem for many years. I call it "chicken neck". Mine got better as I switched from Mach III to Double Edged razors, and is better if I only use blades three times. Also as my technique gets better my situation has improved. I've been DE shaving for about a year now.

Thanks everybody! As far as my typical day its:

1. TOBS Sandalwood, Slim w/Astra's 3 Pass shave (2 WTG followed by 1 ATG) Sometimes one more XTG on my chin.
2. Hot rinse, cold rinse, witch hazel, then moisturizer. I'm not a huge fan of AS so usually stop with the balm
3. I typically already do a witch hazel splash before bed just to wash off the days grime and grease, then shave in the morning obviously.

I'm sure all of you are completely correct in a better neck prep prior to the shave.

It's just such a huge pain because I have a big 'ol adams apple and it's hard to describe but the hair on it truly grows at almost a 180 degree angle to the left. Anytime I've ever grown a beard it's literally like a cowlick on my neck (hence why I'm always clean shaven )

Either way, thanks everyone, I'll start working some of these tips into the routine.

Another crazy thought, what if I just dialed down the slim or used a less aggressive razor for a few days? Unfortunately I have to be clean shaven almost all week so letting my face rest isn't really an option. I've been throwing in an extra WH splash when I can and moisturizing often. This morning I tried to working heavily on blade angle, which definitely helped but It's not as close of a shave as I'd like.

I'll keep working on this I suppose

guitardustin said:

which definitely helped but It's not as close of a shave as I'd like.

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You're still in the 'trade off' stage - learn to accept a less than perfect shave in return for no irritation/redness/cuts.
Closeness will come as your technique gets better.

Go West Young Man said:

You're still in the 'trade off' stage - learn to accept a less than perfect shave in return for no irritation/redness/cuts.
Closeness will come as your technique gets better.

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For sure I think the next week I'll be avoiding a BBS on purpose, I'm quite a few hours after the morning shave now and my skin feels a lot better

Remember those OTHER acronyms - SAS and CCF. Socially Acceptable Shave and Close Comfortable Shave look to the outside world exactly the same as BBS, the only person who knows the difference is you.

OTOH, redness, cuts and irritation can seen miles away, no matter how close your shave is.