By Mariela
June 20, 2023
7 minutes
Shaving can give your legs a perfect hairless body with a smooth texture and it feels good to have such flawless skin, right? But It also comes with a nightmare, the itching that you get after shaving your legs. It will make you want to scratch your legs and even worsen the condition.
Why does this happen every time you shave? Is it okay for your legs to feel itchy after shaving? What can be the possible solutions to this? Will you have to go through this every time you remove your hair? In this article, we’ll help you get out of this dilemma and enjoy smooth skin without the fear of itching.
Why Do My Legs Itch After Shaving?
There are a number of reasons that can make you feel itchy after shaving. Let’s discuss the most common ones below.
Shaving creams contain a number of chemicals that help the shaving process in different ways. Glycols and BHT ( Butylated Hydroxytoluene) are two of the chemicals that can irritate your skin and cause rashes.
Moreover, have you ever noticed any fragrances of different shaving creams? Yes, shaving creams also have fragrances that can act as allergens and cause skin irritation, headache, and even dizziness.
When you shave your legs, the razors cut your hair short which can possibly curve into your legs. Other than this, the pull caused by the razor can redirect the direction of your hair follicles into your skin. All these lead to ingrown hair in your skin that causes irritation and itchiness.
Among all the instructions written on the shaving creams, you must have read somewhere to moisturize your skin before shaving. Why is it an important instruction? Because, with dry skin, you have increased chances of razor burns, cuts, cracks, and itchiness after shaving.
Folliculitis is a skin condition that occurs when your hair follicles get infected with bacteria and inflammation occurs. This leads to the formation of tiny bumps on your skin and causes itchiness.
It happens when you wear tight clothes very often, sweat frequently, or share your razors with someone.
Not changing your razor frequently and using the same old razor over and over can also cause itchiness on your legs. The old uncleaned razors are a source of fungal and bacterial growth causing infectious.
Furthermore, the dull razors won’t cut your hair as per requirement leading to ingrown hair. If you have a habit of pressing your razor too hard against your body for it to work well, then it is also going to irritate your skin later.
Razor burns are one of the major reasons for leg itchiness after shaving. It is a painful, irritating condition caused by abrasions formed on your skin during shaving. The abrasions are a result of incorrect shaving methods, using a dull razor, or shaving on dry legs.
How to Stop Itching Caused by Shaving?
You are done with shaving and feeling itchy. How are you going to stop it? Let’s discuss this.
Cold compresses are the universal solution to most of our skin conditions. They help soothe your skin and give you relief from the irritating sensation. You can apply cold compresses in the form of ice packs, cold and damp cloths, or ice cubes.
When you apply the cold for 5 to 10 minutes, it numbs your body and suppresses the irritation.
The irritation after shaving your legs can subside within some hours but if you getting the same irritating, itchy feeling and it feels severe, you can go for applying topical anesthetics.
They target the free nerve endings blocking nerve conduction and temporarily lead to the loss of sensation in that area. Resultantly, you won’t feel any itchiness.
After you are done shaving your legs, your skin can face cuts, cracks, dryness, and itchiness. Shaving also disrupts your epidermis. So, it is best to apply a moisturizing lotion or cream to prevent dryness and cracks.
Additionally, moisturizing can help your skin to repair its barrier fast. You can use body lotions as a moisturizer. To know the top body lotions, click Best Body Lotions to Soothe Skin After Hair Removal.
In case of severe irritation, you can apply the prescription creams especially those containing hydrocortisone as their main ingredient. This will help reduce the swelling and irritation caused by shaving.
You can also contact your dermatologist to get a prescription cream according to your case.
Soothing gels are also available out there other than lotions, creams, and oils to calm down the irritating sensation the shaving can cause. For this purpose, the perfect soothing gel is the witch hazel or aloe vera gel. Aloe vera gel can help in soothing razor burns that mainly cause skin irritation.
How to Prevent Itching after Shaving?
Itchiness after shaving occurs in most of the cases but it is not a side effect that you cannot prevent. So, let’s look at some ways to stop the problem even before it’s spread.
As discussed earlier, dull or uncleaned razors can increase the risk of ingrown hair and folliculitis which leads to your legs feeling itchy. Therefore, to prevent this make sure that you are using a clean razor with a sharp blade.
Women mostly are unaware of razors, so if you are also one of them and can’t find one for you check out the Best Hair Removal Razors for Women .
When you wear tight clothes, this causes friction. The friction is a result of your body movement. As your body moves, your skin rubs against the hair. This changes the direction of your hair pushing them back into your hair follicles.
So, wearing tight leggings for a prolonged time period can lead to the presence of ingrown hair on your legs causing irritation. Hence, it is better to specifically wear loose clothes after shaving and generally avoid wearing tight clothes for a long time.
Dry shaving means you are shaving without any shaving lotion, cream, or any other lubricant. When there is not sufficient lubrication, there is an increased risk of cuts, abrasions, and razor burns.
Although dry shaving is faster if you don’t want your legs to itch, go for wet shaving.
Exfoliation is necessary before your shave. It is because it removes all the dead skin cells and unclogs your pores. It makes your skin clean and dirt-free thus making the shaving go smooth.
The smoother the process is, the minimum is the chance for your legs to get bruises and cuts on them.
Shower with warm water. Not hot, but warm water. It is due to the fact that hot water can drain the moisture out of the skin causing it to be dry. Furthermore, hot tubs have high chlorine content that can also cause your body to feel dry and itchy.
So, when you plan on shaving after taking a shower, especially take care of your water temperature.
Some Better Hair Removal Methods
Sometimes, it is difficult to learn proper shaving techniques or find a shaving cream that fits best with your skin. There are so many complications so why not try another method that is safer and better for removing your unwanted hair? Let’s take a look at what that method can be.
1. Waxing
Waxing is easier than shaving and requires less effort. You just need to put some wax on your legs and after some time remove it using the waxing strips. Wax also has decreased risk of chemical reactions.
Additionally, your body is going to be safe from any cuts that razors normally cause. So, if shaving is not for you, waxing can be.
2. IPL Hair Removal
IPL hair removal is not only safe but also provides you with long-lasting results. This means you can save yourself from shaving your legs every other day by using the IPL hair removal method.
A safe at-home device you can use is the Ulike Sapphire Air3 IPL Hair Removal Device which provides you with quick treatment in 7 minutes. You can see results in just 3 months by using this device. Moreover, its cooling technology will save you from all the pain.
3. Laser Hair Removal
Lastly, you can also go for Laser hair removal. It is not only safe but also allows you to enjoy hair-free, smooth, and clear skin for months to years. Although it is more expensive than shaving or other methods, it is worth trying as it has lesser side effects than shaving.
Conclusion
Shaving seems to be one of the easiest methods to remove hair on your legs. But, if we look at the darker side, it comes with most side effects and the most common is itchiness. It may be due to folliculitis, razor burns, bumps, or dull razors. So, it is best to moisturize your skin and apply cold compresses, or any soothing creams to get rid of itchiness.
You can also prevent it by using avoiding tight clothes, hot water showers, and shaving under hygienic conditions. Still, if you cannot get rid of this, you can replace the shaving with waxing, IPL hair removal, or laser hair removal.
