Red bumps on my neck

Hey guys,

I've been trying a few different blades out for a while (Astras, Derbys, Feathers and Dorcos) and I have found my blade. The Dorcos seem to give me the smoothest shave with the least irritation which is great as now i'm getting really good shaves and i can stop looking at blades. All the others just made my face and neck feel pretty raw and the shaves weren't particularly smooth either. An WTG, XTG and a small ATG for touch ups is now my method that is working pretty well except...

I've got a few red bumps on the base of my neck on both sides next to my wind pipe at about adams apple height. My beard is always really tricky to get at in that area as well as the contours of my neck and the direction of the growth make it really tough to get. I'm pretty sure it's irritation of some description but wouldn't have a clue how to make it stop. I've tried extra lather, witch hazel, after shave balms and none a really working. It's not sore or anything though and settles by around the next morning.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make it go away?

The only thing i can think of is that maybe it is some irritation from when i was trying other blades. Maybe i'll not shave for 3 days and see how that goes when i start shaving again.

Thanks for the help, if I get this sorted then I should be able to consistently get great shaves every day.

-Louis.

Short answer- the neck is the trickiest part to master. Proper angle, no pressure, and keep at it. Go WTG until the bumps go away, and don't be concerned with perfection until your skin is healthy. Better shaves will come. It takes awhile. And you don't want your lather too, too, thick; find the happy medium.

I used to get red bumps the first couple of weeks shaving. I found that if I left my face rest a day or two over the weekend then resumed shaving it helped. Good luck and keep at it.

See this thread for some good information on neck problems.

The cause of neck bumps is usually shaving those areas too aggressively. The first thing is to look at your lather. If in doubt as to the "strength" of the lather, add additional cream to thicken it up. Secondly, I would look at your passes in the irritated areas. It is possible that the hair at those points is growing in a different direction to the other areas. This would cause an "WTG" pass to actually end up being a XTG or ATG. Make sure that you are really doing WTG, XTG, and ATG on the neck. Lastly, I would look at your blade angle. You could be coming in too steep and that could be irritating your skin.

Welcome to the fold. Don't know what razor or cream but I wouldn't shave red, bumpy neck area till it heals. Then, only one or at most two light passes. Don't go ATG for now. Make sure area is well lathered and hydrated/slick. Never shave over unlathered areas. You might eventually consider a 39c slant on a barberpole. It provides the weight so there's no need for pressure, and slant is made for sensitive necks with 'tricky' areas. I find it a very safe, effective razor with BBS in fewer (two) passes.

Thanks for the tips guys. I wont shave this weekend, and then go easy on it from monday and see if it helps.

Thanks again.

I have found that poor lather (or not enough pre-shave oil) and too much pressure=bumps

Take it slow and you'll be there in no time