# Does hair really grow back thicker? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242 "2001-02-05T20:00:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gillyboatbruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@gillyboatbruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gillyboatbruff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/1 "2001-02-05T20:00:07Z")
My sister has been shaving her baby’s head “to make the hair thicker.” I’m sick of that old wives’ tale. I maintain that a) since hair is dead and skin is dead, it has no clue that it has been shaved, and b) since there is a small amount of hair under the skin even after it is shaved, the follicle doesn’t know if the hair has been cut. Then I point out to her that I am starting to have a receding hair line, and my hair is naturally very fine, and ask her if I shave my head a few times, will I end up with a full head of thick hair. She never has an answer for that, but still believes that it selectively works on babies’ heads, and anybody’s armpits and legs. Short of shaving my own head, how do I convince her she is wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/2 "2001-02-05T20:22:29Z")
Could be mistaken here, but… The hair that grows in after you’ve shaved looks thicker because the ends were cut bluntly by the razor. The hair remains as thick or thin as it used to be; it just doesn’t have the nice, fine tapered point that uncut hair has. It’s that fine taper that makes uncut hair appear thinner. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/3 "2001-02-05T20:27:02Z")
I thought this was in the archives, but I couldn’t find it. The short of it, though, is that people hang on to beliefs like this typically because that’s what they heard when they were young–from people that they trusted. Sometimes the facts are not to overcome “Well, when I was a kid [some revered relative] always told me that. . . .” ---
**Author:** ![gillyboatbruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@gillyboatbruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gillyboatbruff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/4 "2001-02-05T21:43:14Z")
The reasoning I’ve always heard is “Well I shaved my \_\_\_\_\_\_ once and it came back way thicker.” Maybe I need to shave one leg a few times and compare the results? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/5 "2001-02-06T02:10:32Z")
ok, this is what I’ve heard. This is something chicks tend to believe, since they _usually_ start shaving their legs (or whatever) before they are fully sexually mature (::pondering:: generally around 12 or 13-ish). So, every time they shave it, it seems to grow in thicker - not because of the shaving, but because it was going to do that anyway. But seems like it is the result of the shaving. That’s what I’ve always heard. In other words, its a myth. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/6 "2001-02-06T03:00:55Z")
Yep. it’s a myth. **rmariamp** hits on the reason for the growth (ha ha) of the myth. You’re correct in that the act of shaving has no effect on the follicle. I have heard many variations of the “grows back thicker” myth–but I have never heard of shaving a baby’s head. That’s…disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/7 "2001-02-06T03:08:32Z")
There has **got** to be a John Wayne Bobbitt joke in here somewhere… but I (of course) would never enter one. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/8 "2001-02-06T05:01:38Z")
Of _COURSE_ it grows back in thicker…IN BABIES!!! My daughter was bald until she was 16 months. Say I had started shaving her head at 9 months and not let it grow back in until she two (she’s got hair now…at 2). ABRACADABRA! More hair! ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/9 "2001-02-06T05:37:46Z")
I heard that many Japanese women shave their faces. They never developed that ‘it grows back in thicker’ belief, and it’s an easy way to keep a nice smooth face. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/10 "2001-02-07T05:30:36Z")
I have been shaving my face for thirty years, and I have grown a full beard on five or six occasions. Each time, I had the same beard, with the same thick parts and thin parts. No change (except it’s greyer now). ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/11 "2001-02-07T07:00:50Z")
I’m still not convinced there isn’t at least some truth to this wives’ tale. On the other had, an ad for _Nads_ claimed that “nadded” hair would grow back thinner and eventually stop growing, because “the follicle would give up”. Anyone want to take a swing at that? ---
**Author:** ![AKAmame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@AKAmame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AKAmame)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-really-grow-back-thicker/53242/12 "2001-02-07T10:19:04Z")
Any chance your sister would, in spirit of pure scientific enquiry, shave **half** the baby’s head? That way, both you and she would be able to accept the answer!