Shaving regularly makes it grow back faster?! Caveman's tale or Truth?

[thenoblegaunt]

I've heard that this isn't true.

 

[Eggsnham]

Yeah, it's true. I started shaving a year ago when I had a little peach fuzz beard, now I have to shave quite often, about every 2 days or so. I might try and get a goatee, though.

 

[Disaster Button]

Actually it doesn't.

For hair to grow thicker the follicle must be stimulated, as this is beneath the skin and only stimulated by hormones shaving the hair will not make it grow quicker or thicker.

But does it grow more when it comes back? Before I shaved for the first time my dad and brother told me if I shaved my peach fuzz would be less peach fuzz and more beard, like there'd be more of it

It'll only be thicker, or more dense, due to your growth. As time goes by the more hormones released in the body and the older you get means that hair growth will be increased but its just due to the passage of time, not because of shaving.

Although I think I read somewhere that shaving sometimes makes hair appear thicker or makes it look as tohugh there is more due to the angle that the hairs are cut. Not too sure about that one though.

 

[The Night Shade]

i think your hair gets stronger,not growing faster

 

[johnman]

No its not, they did a study on it and hair grows back at the same speed and thickness. I cant rember who did the study but give it a google. Cracked (not a reliable source I know) inculded it on a list of urban myths

Yeah, it's true. I started shaving a year ago when I had a little peach fuzz beard, now I have to shave quite often, about every 2 days or so. I might try and get a goatee, though.

Maybe its to do with your body maturing up thoughout the year?

 

[Mstrswrd]

Every time you shave, the hair grows back a little thicker and stronger, but I don't know about faster.

I do know that if your hair (head hair, not body or face) is weak, a good way to strengthen it is to shave your head for a hair. When you finally let it grow back in, it's thicker and coarser (SP?).

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

i think it is true. when i 1st started shaving, it took days before i would have to shave again, now it'ts grown back by the night

 

[CloggedDonkey]

[link]http://www.cracked.com/article_15916_your-mom-lied-5-common-body-myths-debunked.html[/link]. the very first one, but it is basically you parents saying that they are embarrassed to be seen with a hairy man-ape like you.

 

[Broady Brio]

It certainly feels like it could be true. It certainly looks like it in my case.

 

[omega 616]

I don't see how it could, outside of the body the hair is dead, it can't know you have cut it.

Maybe it's a bit of a placebo.

It's kind of like saying cutting your grass makes it grow quicker.

 

[Generator]

Well, I don't know. I shave more often now and my hair grows back faster than, say, a year ago. But I'm not really sure which is a result of which. Hair does seem to grow back stronger when shaved though, so I suppose growing back faster would also make sense.

 

[RavingLibDem]

Its more the fact that it grows back stronger - so it appears to be faster because rather than being all fluffy it coems bcak more bristly for longer

 

[Blindrooster]

Actually it doesn't.

For hair to grow thicker the follicle must be stimulated, as this is beneath the skin and only stimulated by hormones shaving the hair will not make it grow quicker or thicker.

If that's true, then explain why certain hair (eyebrows, lashes, arm pit hair, etc) grows to a certain length, and then stops.

An Alien Wizard casts his spell. Its just genetics dude.

 

[Distorted Stu]

I found that it does seem to grow faster the older you get.
16 - Shave once every month
17 - twice a month
18 - Weekly
19 - every few days.

Fuck you puberty, you're such a pain in the arse!

 

[Spekter068]

I started shaving in eighth grade (fourteen years old). The rate at which I go through shaving cream has only gone up, and four years later, I now look like a walking flea farm.

 

[OmegaXIII]

It's a myth perpetuated by an illusion. By shaving you create an even surface where all the hair grows at the same pace/length, making it look thicker/stronger. As has already been said, the hair itself is controlled by deep cells so cutting it is not going to affect it's genesis

 

[sunburst]

If that's true, then explain why certain hair (eyebrows, lashes, arm pit hair, etc) grows to a certain length, and then stops.

All hair eventually stops growing. Your eyebrows only grow for around six months before entering the resting phase. The hair on your head keeps growing for several years. If you never cut your hair, it would eventually reach a certain length and seemingly stop growing as well.

 

[Loves2spooge]

Okay, here's the complete truth (and if you require the source I'll find it):

As soon as you start growing facial hair, you're told 'if you shave it it'll grow back quicker and thicker', right? Well this started back in Victorian times, where mothers often told their son this, in order to make them shave more often. Why? Because having a son with facial hair would make the mother seem older, because they have an adolescent son, so them having a smooth face would protect their vanity.

So yeah, it's a bit of an old wife's tale. However, when hair grows back it appears to be thicker, where in fact it's simply more coarse, due to the tips of the hair being cut with an edge left, whereas a hair grown from the root has a smooth point tip, which weakens near the end (which is also why waxing gives you smoother hair when it grows back).

I hope that settles it!

 

[A Pious Cultist]

It does seem like it would make sense. You hair gets accustomed to growing back and, therefore, grows back faster?

Hair isn't a sentient being. It just grows until genetic boundries kick in (eyebrow hair tends to stay the same length but beard hair can grow forever).