by Omar Fercha, LAT, ATC

YOU DID IT! You reached the end of No Shave November and now it’s finally over. It’s finished! No longer do you have to listen to your spouse complain how different you look. No longer will you have to listen to comments about how good or bad your beard looks. Now all you have to do is get rid of it.

Here at Work Right, one of our pillars of injury prevention is RECOGNIZING HAZARDS. Taking a freshly sharpened razor to your ungroomed face screams HAZARDOUS!!! You don’t want to show up to work looking like you got in a fight with Freddy Kruger, so we wanted to share some of our injury prevention tips for shaving so that you stay PREPARED.

PRE-SHAVE BEFORE YOU SHAVE-SHAVE.

If you’re like me, it took you 2 weeks to grow a pretty decent beard. So after 4 weeks you can imagine what my face looked like. In order to get the best shave possible, I need to trim that puppy down. This reduces the chance of nicks and cuts because you will be working with less hair. This method takes a bit longer, BUT what you lose in speed you’ll gain in appearance. Remember the goal is to NOT look like someone cut your face up. Plus you’ll finally get to see what you would look like with a mustache, or mutton chops, or a mustache connecting to your sideburns.

USE THE FORCE…

By force, I mean prep your face prior to shaving so you will have to use as little force as needed to get a clean shave (although it would be cool to use the Force to shave hands-free… think of the other things you could get done!). Dry shaving will leave you susceptible to nicks and cuts especially if you are an against-the-grain type of shaver. The more hydrated your skin, the less force required. Plus, using shaving gel reduces the friction between your face and the blade allowing for a smooth glide NOT a jerky, bumpy ride.

AGAINST THE GRAIN OR WITH THE GRAIN, THAT IS THE QUESTION.

Go with the grain! The goal here is to remove the hair with as little irritation as possible. Shaving the same direction your hair grows is how we do that. This will reduce the chance for nicks and limit ingrown hairs. Sure, you get a closer shave going WITH the grain, but you can accomplish this by properly lathering your face prior to shaving (moisture=good) and by slowing down when you shave. Still can’t get that shave close enough? Try creating more skin tension in that area by using your off hand to pull the skin tight as you rotate your head away. This will connect more of your razor to your face for a closer shave!

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About Omar Fercha, LAT, ATC

Omar is a Portland, OR based Athletic Trainer with Work Right NW. He has 10+ years of experience working with youth to Division 1 athletes. Four years ago he brought that experience to the sidelines of the industrial athlete. In his free time you can find him hiking with his wife, dogs, and brand new baby.

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Be sure to check out our other blogs for further injury prevention education and tips from Work Right NW!