Hi from AZ - folliculitis brought me here!

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

I appreciate your thoughtful reply - and your words are well taken.

You provide good perspective, especially regarding the staph and breeding grounds for bacteria depending on my shaving routine. To eliminate my variables initially, maybe it would be best to continue using my electric shaver (for now), but still make a few changes:
1 - Continue with a pre-shave facewash, which I was not doing prior to my recent change and resultant folliculitis.
2 - Continue shaving with the electric foil razor, BUT only go WTG and add a pre-shave lubricant like Williams or otherwise.
3 - Try a WitchHazel toner/astringent immediately after a shave (instead of just a rinse) as a way to limit bacterial proliferation during this important time period of skin vulnerability.
4 - Wait to moisturize and perform the rest of my skincare routine for ~1 hour like I had done previously which seemed to historically be the least irritating on my sensitive skin.

I could see where this takes me after the first few shaves and if I am still having issues I could strongly consider switching to a SE razor or true "wet shave" setup.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that, you seem to have things figured out, and well in hand. I think you will do fine with your strict shaving regimen. Some of us are just more prone to infection then others, and some of us have sensitive skin and are more prone to skin irritation, like me. I got a few really good recommendations from our resident @Chan Eil Whiskers, who I consider to be one of our forums experts on shaving products, including moisturizers, pre-shave soaps, and aftershave products.

He's got a post here that I will link you to that might also be beneficial to you, and you can also see my posts there, where I talk about what I purchased to help me in my shaving adventure. I too plan to stick with electric, I am not brave enough to jump into safety razors, and I am especially not brave enough to take a giant leap for mankind, into straight razors. lol

Two Years In, Could Use Feedback - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/two-years-in-could-use-feedback.620799/post-11677119

 

[razorboi]

The cardinal rule for you may be: don't abrade your skin.
You can achieve a closer shave with an electric by puffing out your cheeks and stretching your skin with your free hand, rather than pressing harder. If the Williams itself doesn't irritate you, it will significantly reduce abrasion from the electric.
I cannot recommend witch hazel. It could improve your condition, or make it worse.
There are many varieties of witch hazel, some with added scent and botanical ingredients, some designed specifically for acne, some without alcohol, etc.
Assuming you can find a witch hazel that doesn't itself irritate your skin, it may act in a counter-productive way. As an astringent, it quickly tightens skin and closes pores. If it traps bacteria in your pores, it could worsen your condition. Sometimes witch hazel gives initial improvement with acne only to later worsen the condition when the skin responds by increasing sebum production. Also, hyper-pigmentation can occur when the dry skin frustrates the proper healing of pimples. Finally, witch hazel, like an anti-bacterial topical, kills "friendly" bacteria at the same time, which can lead to other problems. Anti-bacterial face washes suffer from the same drawbacks.
You must use all you've learnt about your conditions, and cautiously try new therapies suggested by your dermatologist. Because of individual differences, finding a successful regimen is often a process of trial and error. If your dermatologist can't solve the problem, try a different dermatologist.

 

[labralterror]

The cardinal rule for you may be: don't abrade your skin.

Thank you.

That's been a struggle re Derm. I am in the medical field myself, so maybe i have a unique perspective, but in all my dealings with dermatologists regarding acne/sensitive skin issues, it never seems like there's much time or personal attention given in these instances. It feels more of an annoyance and a "problem" that isn't worth their time in solving. I have yet to come across a Derm that truly wants to help "figure it out"; but have instead had quite a few who would rather talk about which Rx strength Differin is best for any and all types of acne.

It's an ongoing struggle in this regard, and one that hasn't left me much faith in finding someone to help me on the journey. Alas, what I've probably learned more than anything is that it will truly be up to me to sift through the info at hand and my own research to help myself improve.

So I appreciate all the insight and opinions from you and others here.

 

[DG109]

Welcome.

I agree with @razorboi.

I have used a straight for 15 years or so.

About 18 months ago I had a very bad skin infection which I only resolved once I saw a dermatologist and went into long term treatment. As much as I love shaving I didn’t go near it until common sense and the dermatologist agreed it was ok to recommence.

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[ShaverAZ]

My Dad gave up blades for electric when I was around 5 years old. He had a bunch of razors, and seemed to like them. A few years ago he developed a skin infection requiring oral + topical treatment. Problem is, most people shave with the electric, then just put it back on the countertop until time for the next shave. Even if you brush out all the whiskers, there's still some cooties left behind that can cause skin eruptions. I shaved with a Norelco while taking a break from blades, and spent time rinsing, cleaning and disinfecting it after every shave. I never had any problems, but it was a lot of extra work. With DE shaving, you clean and rinse the razor & blade after every use - unless you're the kind of slob that lets crud & soapscum build up as it had on several razors I bought to refurbish.
I'd recommend getting a cheap razor. One of the cheapest that shaves like an expensive razor is a Schick Krona. They're easy to find on E-Bay or Etsy in the $12 range for one in good condition -- I have another one on the way to me to deliver in the mail I got for $18 - it also came with 6 other razors ...
The Krona pairs up with most blades really well, but a milder blade such as Astra Superior Platinums can't be beat. Get the razor and blades and just shave with canned foam for now - Barbasol is better than the Gillette canned goo, and is cheap. If you like the shave, you can progress to bowl, brush and artisan soap. I'd recommend 2 cheap synthetic brushes - they work great, and my favorite synthetic cost me $9. The reason for 2 brushes is so you can rotate them to allow a day for the last one used to completely dry. There are many unscented artisan soaps for sensitive skin that would be a good choice. Someone can go into the merits of different brands & tallow based soaps vs vegetable based. For a bowl, a wide, flat bottom coffee cup or bowl will work. Remember to go cheap so if it doesn't shave to your satisfaction you won't have much invested. You can upgrade later.

 

[Swingboy8]

I was shocked because it actually really helped my immediate and 24-hr post-shave irritation. HOWEVER, about 2-3 days later my chin area exploded in what I thought was acne but has since been confirmed to be bacterial folliculitis by the dermatologist

I'm at a crossroads of what to do, paralysis by analysis, and the fear of not wanting to make my folliculitis return/worsen and not wanting to worsen my acne program.

Thanks for reading this far. Any advice is welcomed. Appreciate you all.

Welcome to the forum, sir !

You seem to be in complete distress so i will try to help you as best as i can. But i'm not a native english speaker so don't be surprised if some sentences sound weird.

I have some humble knowledges in Alchemy and i think that it might help you.

First, i think that the most important thing is to heal you skin for good instead of treating it. There is a huge difference between these two terms.

--> Treating is to stay in superficial layers, healing is to go through apparences to find the real causes of the illness.

And conventional doctors only treat you but never heal you completely. They need you to stay sick because you are their salaries...

For the alchemists, the skin condition always reflects the condition of the internal body, it is not only a barrier that prevents germs to infect you, as conventional doctors say to their patients. It is also a mirror that show you what is going on inside your organism.

Look at the teenagers case, for instance : for a lot of them, this is a period of great & abrupt hormonal disruptions in their inner organism. And how does the skin reflect that ?

--> acne. Just like volcanos of the Earth surface, that's exactly the same !

But in your case, having acne at your age is not normal at all. I would recommend you, if you can, to ask for a blood analysis to your doctor and a check-up for these organs :

- pancreas
- liver
- stomach
- intestines

And before i recommend you some shaving tips, could you enumerate me your dietary regime, please ? In a very precise way.

 

[Lobster]

Hey @labralterror how are you doing with this? Did you get the problem sorted? My background is as a general physician with a special interest in dermatology and aesthetic medicine. I see lots of acne and it is something that has such an impact on my patients. I am sorry it is causing you such difficulties with your skin.

The first thing to say is that I can give you general advice, but I can’t see you nor examine your skin. I can’t follow your case up with you, nor can I take clinical responsibility for your care. I must advise you to see your own doctor for regular follow up until you have managed to get the problem fixed (and you can definitely get this fixed!).

The second thing to ask is: are you and your doctor confident this is acne? There are other conditions that are similar to acne but only affect your beard area. Notably folliculitis barbae and pseudofolliculitis barbae. I am sure your dermatologist will have considered these when making their diagnosis but it is useful to clarify.

As others have mentioned, and you have found through experience, shaving whilst suffering from the inflammatory papules and pustules brought on by acne will cause the propionibacterium that are responsible for acne to spread to sites of abrasion or fissures caused by shaving, giving you a rather extreme case of folliculitis. I would advise my patients to take a step back to using a beard trimmer and wearing a short beard whilst I get their acne under control and eliminate their inflammatory papules and pustules. Until this has been done any close wet shaving where you run the risk of cutting the skin will not only be extremely difficult - think of trying to mow a bumpy lawn or ice a cake which is uneven. More importantly it will also put you at risk of developing folliculitis again.

Once your acne has been treated adequately and you are happy there is no active inflammation then by all means get back into wet shaving, but I would strongly advise against it at this stage. I’ll let others here who are far more knowledgeable than me guide you on the shaving side of things once you’re ready to go!

 

[cryhavoc]

Welcome to B&B!

 

[cf1]

Welcome. If you decide to change your routine up - change 1 thing at a time. Educated trial and error. Good luck.

 

[luvmysuper]

This member has not logged in since 30 March 2022.

 

[Trollky]

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy the ride

Traditional DE shaving turned out to be the best thing for my skin. Throughout my 20's & 30's I suffered big time with acne and whiteheads. I tried everything to no avail so I thought why not give the old fashioned safety razor a try....

The first few weeks were not that great (in large part due to spotty and bumpy skin) but as soon as I learned how to build a slick lather and use a LIGHT touch with the razor, the quality of my shaves improved and so did my complexion.

Personally, the less I do to my face the better so I keep my shaves simple:

face lathering
performing a 2-pass shave (with the grain and across the grain)
rinsing my face thoroughly
patting my face dry
dabbing on a healthy squirt of alcohol based aftershave

For technique tips YouTube is a great resource.

Good luck