In reply to ben b:
cheers! I read through the threads you pointed me towards.
I sometimes get the shin splints side of it too as a separate issue but the major concern for me is definitely hair root related. I know this because as a, grotty, impoverished youth I used to while away campsite hours in the aftermath by squeezing the gunk out of the follicles (disposable income, poorer eyesight, decreased flexibility, family, and grudgingly improved manners make this a less attractive off day pastime
).
It seems the best course of action is probably to stock up on gel/compeed patches for that initial irritation until the hair falls out. I've had little success with this in the past as, being on the missing link side of hairy, means there is little skin to which I can attach them.
I'm tempted to have a go the first trip out with removing the hair on one side and seeing how I get on. As Cath mentioned I might get the same or worse problems with unsurfaced hairs but I am unsure how much of it is due to the hair pulling and pushing against the skin and/or if the hair is a pathway towards stuff getting under the skin as much as it is pressure on the hair root alone causing a problem. Either way once the hair root gets angry a major component in the pain might be the hair pulling at it until it falls out. It probably all sounds like a small issue but the only way I can describe it is like a cross between pulling out a nostril hair and a paper cut times by how ever many angry spots there are.