facial hair issue

Every once in a while I get what appears to be a hardened facial hair follicle and it wont want to come out. I'll get a a bump the size of a pencil eraser or so and it might take months for what ever it is to get pushed out. This is not a pimple, there is never any puss. I do not believe that this is an ingrown hair either as it's generally just a "bulb". The best way I can explain it is just a very small, rock hard base of a facial hair. It is usually very difficult to remove and, at times, hurts a bit when I pull it out of the skin. The problem is always that the hole that the hair protrudes through the skin is never big enough for the base of this thing to pass through so I usually end up having to do some minor surgery to get them out. I've never seen any other guy get these. What is it?

-river