hair removal problems - HELP

Hi,

I am asian with dark hair and light skin. I have been having lots of problems with the hair on my legs.
So at first I just had a small amount of hair but lots of little black dots on my legs. It was ugly so i wanted to get rid of the hair and dots by picking them. picking the hair was ok but picking the black dots ended up in redness, but i found out that the black dots were actually just small pieces of hair under my skin that didn't grow out. So i went and bought some body scrub and got rid of all the dead skin and used cold water so all my hair follicides were standing. then i went and shaved instead of picking which took forever and didn't work. But now I have more hair than ever, and it's impossible to get a close shave cause i alway end up getting redness and even rasor bumps which doesn't cure for awhile. Instead of the black dots now i just have lots of big pores and short hair (they grow soooo slowly) and it looks 100 more obvious that before. Is there anything i can do to get rid of the hair beside laser hair removal? and if it is, is the procedure safe? any side effects? Or is there something i can use to make pores smaller and remove the hair, maybe a cream or ointment? Im just a college student and i want to avoid spending 1000 for laser hair removal, and not it's not just a problem of ugly legs, it's a problem of red, irriated, ugly legs with LOTS OF SHORT HAIR and HUGE pores. I really appreciate any help.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
You have open pores and ingrown hair after shaving. Folliculitis and ingrown hair are common even after shaving. If you still want to go in for Brazilian waxing ,then apply cold compresses(ice cubes wrapped in a towel) on the rash and take some antihistaminic like Benadryl or claritin. You can also apply calamine lotion on the rash. It will help in soothing the skin. A mild corticosteroid cream like dermacort will also help.

Also you can go in for laser hair removal which causes permanent reduction of hair and does not cause folliculitis also. Please consult a good cosmetologist/dermatologist for that. Laser treatment causes post inflammatory hypopigmentation, hence it is advisable to discuss the pros and cons with your dermatologist before going in for this.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.