Dermatologists Explain How to Treat Strawberry Legs the Right Way

From Good Housekeeping

It’s finally bare limb season! If you like to be fuzz-free, it’s time to break out the waxing kit, or just whip out your razor and mow a swath through the overgrown lawn that covers your legs.

But wait—why is your skin covered in little red or dark dots that may feel rough when you run your fingers over them? Looks like you’ve got a case of “strawberry legs.”

What are strawberry legs?

“'Strawberry legs' is a term used to describe the appearance of accentuation of the hair follicles on the legs that can resemble the dots on the outside of a strawberry,” says Naissan O. Wesley, M.D., FACMS, a dermatologist in Beverly Hills. The follicles may just look irritated, or they may also feel bumpy.

What causes strawberry legs?

Strawberry legs are caused by one of a few of conditions, all of which inflame your hair follicles: Keratosis pilaris (KP), folliculitis, and ingrown hairs.

• Keratosis pilaris: “Keratosis pilaris is where keratin (a protein which normally sheds from the skin daily), gets trapped and plugs a hair follicle,” says Dr. Wesley, causing little bumps that may get inflamed. This can happen anywhere that hair sprouts (it’s common on the backs of the arms, the butt, the back, and occasionally even the face), but is more noticeable on your legs, she says, because the skin there can get dry, and that’s where we more frequently annoy the follicles by removing hair. KP runs in families, and people who have it tend to also have sensitive, eczema-prone skin.

• Folliculitis: Folliculitis can also cause strawberry legs, says Rachel Nazarian, M.D., a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City. That’s when some kind of bacteria or fungus gets into your follicle (in this case on your legs), causing a little red bump, or maybe a whitehead around where the hair pops up. Friction (like where your clothes rub against your skin) or harsh chemicals can sometimes also cause folliculitis. “Both conditions are very common, and not dangerous, but can be occasionally itchy or painful,” says Dr. Nazarian.

• Ingrown hairs: If you’ve ever had these—they’re common on the bikini area and legs, especially after waxing or shaving—you know they can sometimes be painful. “Ingrown hairs are common, especially where there is coarse curly hair, and may also cause hair follicle bumps,” Dr. Wesley adds.

How to treat strawberry legs:

There are a few things you can to clear up strawberry legs, some of which depends on what’s causing them.

If it’s KP, let’s start with what you don’t do: “The most common mistake I see my patients making is trying to 'scrub' the bumps off, or using a rough loofah to exfoliate the bumps away,” says Dr. Nazarian. “Although this technique will work temporarily by dislodging the keratin plugs, rough exfoliation will inflame the skin and hair more, ultimately causing increasing redness and making the condition even more noticeable.”

Instead, you want to wash with a gentle cleanser and then use a cream or a lotion containing salicylic ­­acid, which will dissolve the keratin plugs without irritating your skin, says Dr. Nazarian, who likes Dove Beauty Bar and Cerave SA Lotion. You have to keep it up, however, because your skin continually sheds keratin. “Once you discontinue treatment the bumps will reappear,” she says, but points out that the KP tends to get better as you get older.

As for folliculitis, shaving smarter can keep you from irritating the hair follicles, says Dr. Wesley. “For folliculitis, changing razors regularly and not using a dull razor is important,” she says. “I also find that shaving daily or every other day helps.” Why? More frequent shaving helps to exfoliate, preventing dead skin and what not from clogging follicles and pores. Also, “When we wait longer between shaving sessions, the hairs are often longer and coarser, thus the skin tends to be more irritated after shaving,” she says. That’s because when your hair is longer and thicker, you may have to drag the razor over your skin again and again, which can irritate it.

With both KP and folliculitis, keeping skin moist is key (Dr. Wesley likes Arbonne’s Coconut Body Butter or lotion). And if you’re sensitive to sodium lauryl sulfate, a lathering agent which may irritate some people’s skin, try shaving with a product that doesn’t contain SLS, but still lathers up, such as Arbonne’s concentrated shower gel.

Lastly, you’ll want to make sure your follicles can breathe and are not irritated by friction, which can make both ingrown hairs and folliculitis worse. Any form of hair removal can lead to ingrowns and folliculitis, especially if you have curly or thick hair, says Dr. Wesley, so if your strawberry legs really bother you, you may want to consider a more permanent form of hair removal, such as laser treatments. “With laser, it usually takes at least 6-8 treatments for long term hair reduction, so with subsequent treatments as the hairs become finer and lessened, folliculitis tends to occur less frequently,” she says.

Bottom line: Careful hair removal and a little TLC should have your legs smooth and dot-free before you know it.

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