Help me sort out my atrocious legs

[DoJo]

I am hoping that the collective wisdom of MN can help me rescue my poor legs from their current dire state. A combination of eczema, heat rash and millions of ingrown hairs are contriving to make them permanently livid red, covered in angry spots, super sore and unfathomably unpleasant to look at. I would love any advice on how to tackle this and as it's partly a grooming problem, I thought someone here might be able to help.

To pre-empt some questions - I epilate when I can (shaving is almost impossible as it exacerbates my eczema) and use those sandpaper-style exfoliators as well to try and minimise the ingrown hairs, but to absolutely no avail. I would say that around 1/2 the hairs currently growing on my legs are ingrown, so even with the best will in the world, tweezing the little sods out is tricky. I moisturise regularly, don't use soap and only wear natural fabrics - all this just to keep me at the current level of discomfort! Any advice from those in the know would be much appreciated - I can't even grow out my leg hairs as they itch like crazy if they get over a certain length! Thanks!

How do you epilate? Waxing or tweezer? I suspect tweezer, and that the hair gets broken lengthwise .
If you are , stop messing with your legs, don' t touch them, especially because it is not sterile, and if you have skin issues, picking it, won't help.
In case you use epilady or similar, bin them! They are terrible for the skin, break the hair, and are known to cause massive ingrown hair.

Fix the eczema , so you can't then more easily tackle the hair issue. Diet has a massive influence on eczema. Watch some videos here nutritionfacts.org/topics/eczema/

Later, if you can afford it, I would recommend laser to get rid of the hair problem. Meanwhile, moisturise, moisturise and moisturise some more.

Thanks so much for your reply - it has confirmed my suspicion that I am basically doing EVERYTHING wrong!

1. Using an Epilady - clearly I am way behind on my research as I had no idea these were so universally regarded as awful! That's on its way to the scrap heap as we speak!

1. Diet-wise, I'm probably not doing too badly - I don't eat meat and do try to get my 7 portions a day, but could be more committed and would be more motivated on this front if the benefits were going to be so widespread!

1. I have had laser treatment in the past, probably more than 10 years ago when the technology may have been less effective, and while it may have reduced the overall hair total, I am nowhere near hair-free! I have been looking into home lasering as I think that is the only way I could afford it in the near future, so any recommendations on which options are most effective would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply - I have always suffered with skin issues, but they had really started to get me down, so it's good to have a plan at least!

There are several things that you can and must do, and it is mainly be gentle.
Don't scrub with those discs, but have a hot bath or long shower and then use a face cloth or a soft small towel and gently circle and rub the skin. You know how after a holiday you dry yourself and the towel turns brown because you are rubbing the tan away. It is a scrub. Doesn't need to be abrasive.
The hair is too soft and probably broken and that's why it doesn't pierce the skin, so plenty of hot rubbing and for a couple of times you will have to shave to cut away the top of the hair. Use a lot of shaving cream (not soap, not shower gel) to avoid irritating the skin and use a good razor, not a cheap one. Buy one for the face.
Resist breaking the skin with tweezer or needle and if you must, boil the needle to sterilise it . If you break or pierce the skin, not only are you leaving scars, but the scar tissue is harder and will block the hair.

So, hot bath, hot circling and gentle rubbing, moisturise, and put that epilady in a bin and the tweezer inside an envelope with a big marking "big mistake"
I am not so sure about the home laser. Sometimes the laser salon have special offers during the low season. A well done waxing is nice.

Good luck and come back to update

Interesting @KingIrving as I am having similar issues. Are you recommending I ditch my wet-and-dry (used wet) epilator completely? My leg hair is too fine and light for laser removal but I'm happy to wax if it sorts out the irritation.
(Strangely, my underarms are not bothered by epilation at all!)
I had awful red bumps, scratches and scars but getting out in the sun definitely helped calm things down.

Well, you don't have to ditch it but try pushing it at the back of the bottom drawer and try alternatives for a couples of weeks and see how your legs heal and then try waxing.
I don't know if you can find something similar to these two products in UK
www.moncoinsante.co.uk/septeal-solution-pour-application-locale-pierre-fabre-250-ml.html
www.soin-et-nature.com/en/disinfectants/15614-cyteal-antiseptic-foaming-solution-250ml.html
There are just antiseptic solutions , one you rinse , the other you apply, just to get rid of the bacterias.

The skin on your legs is certainly thicker and drier than the one on your armpits and certainly less picked at than the legs.
Sunlight can inactivate bacterias ( one of the many studies www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2663198/) , so leaving your legs in direct sunshine without burning can help.

Leave your legs alone is really the best thing. Don't use needle , tweezer , plenty of wet exfoliation.
you might have to consider shaving a couple of times because if the hair is too thin to pierce the skin it will curl under and that's when you get ingrown hair.

Maybe try ameliorate moisturiser which is good for problem skin and ingrown hairs. And switch to soap (bar or liquid) rather than shower gel.

Thanks KingIrving will do. I use KingofShaves aloe and tea tree shaving gel when I epilate but I'll check out the products you linked. I use plenty of moisturiser and I bought Kiels based on a MN recommendation which I like but it's pricy so I'll try out ameliorate bookgirl.
Shaving gave me lots of 'bumps' which I scratched.... (!) which is why I moved to wet epilation but I'll book a salon wax and go from there.

I used a home made crushed soluble aspirins and water mixture on my legs, which were in a similar state due to epilating. They are the devil’s work. The aspirin makes the top layer or skin peel, ie exfoliating, and it’s also an anti inflammatory. I also gave my legs a 3 month break from any kind of hair removal which was HELL because I hate the feel and hate the look, but it helped a lot. Then I shaved from then onwards (thing it sounds like that’s out for you). Any occasional ingrown hairs I get now - very mild - are treated with Ingrow Go which is basically a posher version of my home made aspirin solution.

About one million years ago I had terrible epilator related in grown hairs. I pulled, rubbed in grow go oil, exfoliated etc. They got infected, saw dermatologist.

Advice was bin eplillator and do not touch your legs till hairs grow out. Took about 6 month of 90 denier to fix.

OP try Korean exfoliating towels - as recommended in MN a while back. They are brilliant at gentle exfoliation. Very cheap too-

Top Quality Exfoliating Bath Washcloth (4 PCS - Large) / Made in Korea [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LYCWTWH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pCtEBb885PRG?tag=mumsnetforum-21X]]

This is interesting, I had no idea epilators were such a no go. Is that all epilators then? Should we only wax?

Never use epilators! They are awful for getting ingrown hairs. I moved away from epilators about 5 years ago and now I just use a razor (mens, they're cheaper and better) and I have no problem at all with my legs.

I used to get awfully dry skin, really bad eczema I have scars on my legs from when I scratched them that much, I started exfoliating with either a flannel or those exfoliating gloves you can get about twice a week in the shower, and I moisturize every morning, evening and whenever I get out the bath/shower. Use a really thick moisturiser I like the Palmers Butter formulas or Aveeno.

Have you seen a dermatologist? I'd suggest seeing your GP, find out if something can be done, and ask to be referred to an expert

I just wanted to say "thank you" for all the advice given on this thread. Just in time for winter tights and knee high boots I have lovely bump free, scratch free, scar free legs!
A combination of shaving rather than wet epilating (although I have reverted back once or twice), consistent exfoliation and consistent use of ameliorate (recommended above) or Nip&Fabs glycolic body cream (cheaper and nicer smell but not QUITE as effective). Happy.

Brilliant
I was going to say shave. I use the olay razors in the shower they are fab.

from the other side, since i switched to epilators i never get ingrown hairs on my legs but was getting them all the time with shaving and waxing

but id suggest putting it away for a bit, letting the hair grow in and keep moisturising