Cease me if this sounds acquainted: You’re within the bathe and able to shave your legs, however you’ve absolutely forgotten to interchange your razor (once more). Then, out of the nook of your eye, you spy your accomplice’s razor gleaming at you—newer, cleaner, manner sharper than yours normally is. Your intestine tells you it’s in all probability a nasty concept to make use of it, however it’ll simply be this one time! So that you seize it and get to work.
For those who’ve accomplished this, both as soon as or a number of occasions (responsible!), it’s completely comprehensible. While you’re dwelling with somebody or staying at a accomplice’s place incessantly, it’s straightforward to justify “borrowing” every kind of hygiene merchandise, particularly if you happen to’re in a rush. However you actually shouldn’t share razors along with your accomplice—or anybody else, for that matter. “Sharing razors is a serious no-no from a dermatologist’s perspective,” Joyce Imahiyerobo-Ip, MD, a Boston-based dermatologist and the CEO of Vibrant Dermatology and Pores and skin Bar, tells SELF.
Shaving, even while you’re doing it gently, creates what Dr. Ip calls “delicate trauma” to the pores and skin. Minor scratches and tiny nicks attributable to the razor’s blades can function an entry level for doubtlessly dangerous micro organism, fungi, or viruses, which may in the end set off an an infection. A razor is usually a surprisingly fertile atmosphere for all types of germs. Give it some thought: Many razors have a number of blades (and thus extra floor space for organisms to reside on), lots of people don’t exchange their blades as typically as they need to, and razors are normally saved in a toilet, which has humid situations that many bugs thrive in.
Clearly, “it isn’t preferrred to get another person’s micro organism or viruses into your pores and skin,” Dr. Ip says. Relating to widespread pores and skin infections, micro organism could cause points like cellulitis, sure viruses can result in warts, and fungi are likely to unfold athlete’s foot and yeast infections, per the US Nationwide Library of Drugs. If that sounds fairly gross and form of unsettling, take a breather: The commonest facet impact of utilizing one other particular person’s razor is folliculitis, which is characterised by irritation of the hair follicles that may appear like small, reddened or infected pimples, set off itchy or tender pores and skin, or trigger a bumpy texture; it may be triggered by a pathogen that enters the pores and skin (mostly staph micro organism) or the friction of shaving itself.
“Bacterial folliculitis is extra doubtless if in case you have been sharing a razor,” Dr. Ip says. So if you happen to’re questioning why the spot you shaved now feels tough or appears to be like extra infected than typical, this could be a possible trigger. For those who expertise delicate irritation—say, reddened pores and skin, a bumpy texture, and itchiness—you may strive a drugstore remedy to assuage the world first, like an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment or a 1% hydrocortisone cream. It’s also possible to contemplate a protecting ointment like Vaseline ($4, Amazon) or CeraVe’s Therapeutic Ointment ($11, Ulta) to scale back irritation and preserve the pores and skin protected because it calms down; each of those choices work for almost anybody, even those that have delicate pores and skin. Dr. Ip additionally recommends Shea Moisture’s Restoring Cream ($11, Amazon), which accommodates antimicrobial tea tree oil and azelaic acid. (Simply word that some individuals discover these components to be irritating, so if you happen to’re involved about that, take a look at out a small quantity of product on an unaffected space of pores and skin to make sure you don’t react negatively to it.)