Ingrown hair on your balls - causes, treatment, and prevention.

Ingrown hairs are a painful, frustrating nuisance no matter where they form. They irritate your skin, cause embarrassing bumps, and can lead to discomfort and incessant scratching.

Ingrown hair on balls can cause 10 times the frustration. Sack skin is super sensitive in comparison to other parts of your body. Plus, it’s far less socially acceptable to scratch away at your gonads than your upper body, legs, or face.

Thankfully, you don’t have to sit in agony as bumps pop up on your peanuts. With the right care routine, prevention practices, and grooming products, you can ensure all your ball hairs break on through to the other side.

Can you get ingrown hairs on your balls?

Yes, you can get ingrown hairs on your balls, and they’re often more painful, annoying, and difficult to deal with than those on other parts of your body. Even worse? For many men, their balls may be more prone to developing ingrowns than other places. 

Ingrowns are often a result of crinkly, coarse hair. When hair is thick and curly, it tends to twist back toward the follicle it grows from. It can then pierce into the skin near the root to cause an ingrown.

According to certain scientific reports, having curly hair increases the risk of developing ingrowns by up to 50%. While twisting, coarse hairs certainly raise the risk of ingrowns on your balls, they aren’t the root cause alone.

What causes ingrown hairs on the testicles?

Ingrown hairs can pop up anywhere on your body without any help from outside forces. At times, it can seem like there’s no logic or reason for where and why ingrowns occur. In reality, there are several key factors that significantly increase the chances of ingrowns showing up on your boys:

• Shaving too close – While we all dig a close, smooth shave, getting too close can increase the risk of ingrown hairs on your nads. After shaving, sharp-tipped hairs grow downward or parallel to your skin, eventually penetrating its surface a few millimeters away from the follicle. Unfortunately, these budding hairs don’t always burst through the skin, instead forming a painful ingrown beneath the surface. The more often (and closer) you shave, the more likely this is to happen.

• Using dull blades – Dull razor blades don’t so much slice off hairs as they do rip them out. They also don’t glide across your skin like their sharp counterparts, instead digging in to cause cuts and discomfort. Skin irritation, especially when it’s widespread and persistent, increases your chances of ingrowns by making it more difficult for hair to pierce your skin’s surface. 

• Skipping exfoliation before grooming – Exfoliation scrubs dirt off your skin and away from your pores. Oil, dead skin, and debris can all clog your pores, making it harder for hairs to poke through, as skin pores and hair follicles are one and the same. Exfoliating before other grooming practices, like shaving, keeps pores open and breathing.

• Wearing tight clothing – Tight underwear, shorts, or pants can increase friction in your groin area, leading to potential chafing and discomfort. Chafing is like clogged pores or irritated skin from close shaving: It makes it more difficult for hair to break through the surface, increasing your chances of ingrowns.

Knowing the root causes of ingrown hair on balls is half the battle. If you’re already squirming and itching, it’s crucial to understand how to find relief.

How to treat ingrown hairs on balls safely.

To safely care for ingrowns in the most sensitive of areas:

• Apply a warm compress – Soak a soft, clean cloth in warm water. Apply it gently to the area around the ingrown hair and hold it in place. The heat can soothe irritation and ease scrotal pain. Warm water also helps to hydrate and enlarge the hair shaft, making it easier for the stuck tip to pierce through and free up the pore.

• Avoid squeezing or digging at the area – While it’s tempting to poke and prod at ingrown hairs in an attempt to free them from their skin prison, it actually worsens the situation. In particular, squeezing and digging around ingrown hairs can cause cuts, which can in turn become permanent scars. Scarring and abrasion also make it more difficult for ingrown hairs to pierce your skin’s surface, lengthening your recovery time.

• Use a soothing moisturizer – As mentioned earlier, irritated skin increases your chances of ingrown hairs and prolongs their presence. Dryness is a major cause of dermal irritation and can contribute to those extra ingrowns. To avoid dry, cracking, and irritated skin, use a soothing ball moisturizer with ingredients like aloe to alleviate discomfort and prevent scratching, which can exacerbate ingrown areas.

While treating ingrown hairs on your balls is an essential part of keeping your groin well-groomed, most men would prefer not to get them in the first place. Well, with the right prevention strategies, you can do just that.

How to prevent ingrown hairs when grooming.

To keep your skin clear and help burgeoning hair buds break through its surface, incorporate the following best practices into your grooming routine:

• Trim your hair before you shave – When your ball hairs are bushy and long, manual razors tend to tug them out, rather than slice them off cleanly. This tugging causes unnecessary irritation, which can spur ingrowns to rear their ugly heads. To prevent this, go over the area with a quality groin trimmer before moving in with a manual razor.

• Shave with a clear gel – Using a clear gel, rather than a foaming spray or sudsy soap, lets you see your sack skin as you’re shaving. This helps you identify any cuts, abrasions, or irritation as you trim. If you notice any of these issues, take it as a sign to change up your shaving habits, use a newer razor, or switch to better grooming products.

• Use sharp, clean blades – Dull razor blades don’t slice hairs cleanly; they tug and tear, often ripping strands out right by their roots. Similarly, dirty blades are often covered in debris and bacteria, which can clog pores and lead to ingrowns. Sharp, clean manual razors are your best friend here: They minimize your chances of shaving irritation and maximize your potential for a clear, smooth scrotum.

• Moisturize after shaving – Shaving leaves your dangling duo desert dry. Dryness is another primary cause of skin irritation which, as we now know, contributes to the development of ingrown hairs. Use a soothing ball aftershave lotion to moisturize your member and avoid the pain of ingrowns.

Prevention practices are the key to ensuring a clean, ingrown-free set of stones. Regardless, many men make similar mistakes when it comes to caring for their cojones.

Common mistakes to avoid.

The most frequent mistakes men make that lead to ingrown hair on balls include:

• Using a face razor on your groin – Your balls aren’t your beard. As sensitive as your face may be, nads need extra special treatment that a standard face razor (manual or electric) simply can’t provide. A groin trimmer is smaller, safer, and more precise, allowing you to more closely follow the contours of your coin purse without worrying about cuts, missed spots, or irritation.

• Dry shaving – Dry shaving is a recipe for disaster anywhere on your body, but especially on your groin. Without lubrication from ball shaving gel, razors tug and tear their way through your skin, causing irritation and making it difficult for new hairs to break the surface.

• Picking at your bumps – Picking at ingrown hairs—especially when you try to dig them out and cause them to bleed—slows their healing progress. Open cuts from scratching are breeding grounds for bacteria and, if an infection does take hold, you may have bigger issues than a simple ingrown.

Another key mistake: Using harsh grooming solutions, rubbing face or body products on your sack, and trusting unproven men's care brands. Avoid irritation by sticking with grooming products catered specifically for men and their manhood: MANSCAPED®.

Trust the MANSCAPED® line of grooming products to keep ingrowns out.

Ingrown hair on balls can be a major pain. They’re itchy, irritating, and incredibly difficult to get rid of. Luckily, you can help your ball hairs grow where they belong—outside your sack skin—with the line of professional-grade grooming products from MANSCAPED®.

Shaving is a key cause of ingrown hairs. Too many men use dull, dirty razors, harsh soaps, and other unfit skincare products on their most sensitive areas. Instead of sticking with standard shaves and risking redness, try The Lawnmower® 5.0 Ultra. It offers an incredibly close cut, eliminates irritation, and features replaceable blades to stay sharp indefinitely.

The Lawn Mower gets your balls ready for the next step: The Crop Shaver®. This manual razor features a pivoting head with three precision blades to avoid nasty nicks and leave your skin smooth. Pair it with Power Shave Gel for the sleekest shave without so much as a tugged hair.

And, of course, no shave is complete without a moisturizing aftershave to keep you fresh and hydrated through the day. Crop Soother™️ is your go-to solution when you’re in need of that post-shave rejuvenation.

To prevent ingrown hairs, achieve the closest shave possible, and feel your best, use MANSCAPED® from head to balls.

Sources: 

National Library of Medicine. Pseudofolliculitis barbae; current treatment options. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6585396/. 

National Library of Medicine. Ingrowing Hair. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4902536/.