# Does shaving increase hair growth?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967 "2004-05-31T21:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![suecarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@suecarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suecarina)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/1 "2004-05-31T21:53:03Z")
When I was a little girl my older, seemingly wiser sister convinced me that shaving my arms was all the rage. So at the humble age of nine I meticulously shaved all the delicate peach fuzz off my scrawny arms. Now, as an adult, I wonder if this has somehow contributed to me having larger amounts of arm hairs. Is it just a myth that shaving/plucking increases the amount or thickness of hair growth? ---
**Author:** ![peculiar\_hailstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@peculiar\_hailstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peculiar_hailstone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/2 "2004-05-31T21:56:30Z")
I’ve always heard it was a myth. Read this cite: [http://www.electrology.com/pdf/EDSELL%20Issue%2045.pdf](http://www.electrology.com/pdf/EDSELL%20Issue%2045.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/3 "2004-06-01T00:27:24Z")
[Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/spoons/oldwives/hairgrow.asp) says no. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/4 "2004-06-01T01:52:02Z")
If shaving increased hair growth, balding people would simply keep shaving their hair, and it would all grow back. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/5 "2004-06-01T05:59:59Z")
All shaving does is expose the next bit of hair on the route of the follicle, and since hair is very thin at the beginning and the end, it just appears to be thicker… ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/6 "2004-06-01T13:03:53Z")
No, it’s only a myth, but a highly pervasive one that just will not die no matter how many cites you throw at people. Typically I can send them 12 links, 5 PDFs of reports and studies, and give the number of a dermatologist, and the other women will still look at me and say “But…mine grows back faster and darker” in the same tone of voice as “Ours goes to 11”. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/7 "2004-06-01T13:07:39Z")
Cecil gets this question around once a week in his mail. Thanks for the Snopes link, we’ll refer future seekers of knowledge to look there. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/8 "2004-06-01T13:14:59Z")
> [@suecarina](#): > > When I was a little girl my older, seemingly wiser sister convinced me that shaving my arms was all the rage. So at the humble age of nine I meticulously shaved all the delicate peach fuzz off my scrawny arms. Now, as an adult, I wonder if this has somehow contributed to me having larger amounts of arm hairs. Is it just a myth that shaving/plucking increases the amount or thickness of hair growth? Shaving has no appreciable long-term effect on hair growth. What does happen is the hairs that you will see after shaving will appear to be thicker because you’re seeing the cut shaft of an already-growing hair, instead of the much more delicate tip of a new hair that would normally come out at the start of a “normal” hair growth cycle. This effect is temporary, lasting only until the shaven hairs fall out normally at the end of their growth phase. If you shave a hair too close to the end of its growth phase, the hair stub might not fall out; this may result in an ingrown hair and, eventually, a zit, a few weeks or months down the road when the next hair from that follicle starts to grow and can’t get out because of the rotting stub that’s in the way. (I get a lot of these on my face.) Plucking can actually reduce hair growth, because the trauma to the follicle associated with plucking it out may kill the follicle (not a very high chance, but do it enough times and you will kill a few), which will obviously prevent further growth, and the hairs from damaged follicles are often smaller and lighter. For an example of this in action, see Shirley MacLaine’s (nonexistent) eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/9 "2004-06-01T13:17:38Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Cecil gets this question around once a week in his mail. Thanks for the Snopes link, we’ll refer future seekers of knowledge to look there. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_097b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_097b.html) ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/10 "2004-06-01T13:21:27Z")
> [@KellyM](#): > > … > > Plucking can actually reduce hair growth, because the trauma to the follicle associated with plucking it out may kill the follicle (not a very high chance, but do it enough times and you will kill a few), which will obviously prevent further growth, and the hairs from damaged follicles are often smaller and lighter. For an example of this in action, see Shirley MacLaine’s (nonexistent) eyebrows. That’s interesting, I’d like to get my hands on the so and so who must have plucked those hairs from the top of my head when I was a nipper. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/11 "2004-06-01T13:25:54Z")
> [@KellyM](#): > > If you shave a hair too close to the end of its growth phase, the hair stub might not fall out; this may result in an ingrown hair and, eventually, a zit, a few weeks or months down the road when the next hair from that follicle starts to grow and can’t get out because of the rotting stub that’s in the way. Is there a workaround for this? ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/12 "2004-06-01T13:35:49Z")
> [@fishcheer15](#): > > Is there a workaround for this? My approach is to have my girlfriend police my face for hairs that have stopped growing and pull them out before they cause a problem. She’s quite good at telling the ones that aren’t growing from the ones that are. You’d have to ask her how she knows, though. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/13 "2004-06-01T14:05:40Z")
I shave my whole head every morning. I have done this for well over a year. No appreciable difference in the speed of its growth is noticable. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/14 "2004-06-01T16:56:27Z")
> [@KellyM](#): > > My approach is to have my girlfriend police my face for hairs that have stopped growing and pull them out before they cause a problem. She’s quite good at telling the ones that aren’t growing from the ones that are. You’d have to ask her how she knows, though. I don’t know if this is off-topic too much, but would you care to give your experience and quantify or qualify how successful the hair removal you had done was? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/15 "2004-06-01T17:41:51Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > I don’t know if this is off-topic too much, but would you care to give your experience and quantify or qualify how successful the hair removal you had done was? Just curious. Since I’ve discussed this before, I’ll just refer to the [appropriate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144068) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2213217) rather than hijack this one further. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/16 "2004-06-01T18:14:12Z")
> [@KellyM](#): > > Since I’ve discussed this before, I’ll just refer to the [appropriate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144068) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2213217) rather than hijack this one further. Thanks, I found those earlier. I was just wondering how permanent the 60% or so reduction you reported from laser (bearing in mind it may be difficult to tell) turned out to be 2 years later. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/17 "2004-06-01T18:36:08Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > Thanks, I found those earlier. I was just wondering how permanent the 60% or so reduction you reported from laser (bearing in mind it may be difficult to tell) turned out to be 2 years later. My prior comments, in November of 2002, were nearly two years after I had had the laser treatments. At this point, two years later, I would say that if there’s been a change, it’s been a further reduction in density – which is probably mainly attributable to having started spironolactone nearly two years ago. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/18 "2004-06-01T19:46:58Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > I shave my whole head every morning. WHY??? (sorry to be rude.) But I have a beard for one very simple reason–It’s easier than shaving every morning when I’m still half asleep.How do you shave the back of your head?) And why bother? apologize again for being rude.But it just seems like a whole lotta work . (But if you convince me that the chicks love it, hey, I’ll believe you) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/19 "2004-06-01T23:21:23Z")
Sorry for the hijack here – I was going to open a separate thread but couldn’t think of a title that didn’t sound pretty much like this one, so here goes: Does shaving affect how the hair grows back (i.e. _texture_) in any way? Here’s why I ask. In my teens and twenties (back when I had more hair 🙂 ) I couldn’t help but notice that my sideburns consisted of very fine and wavy hair while the hair on the rest of my head was straight and thick and wiry. Several years ago when I had a regular barber, we were talking about this anomaly, and I mentioned that I could remember getting haircuts when I was a kid of about four or five, and the barber would lather up my “sideburns” (or whatever you call the equivalent on a five year old) and shave it with a straight razor. My (later) barber seemed to think that had something to do with it, but I don’t recall his exact explanation. Does shaving do some kind of damage to the hair that causes it to grow back differently? I didn’t really see anything on the Snopes link that addressed this particular issue. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967/20 "2004-06-01T23:38:25Z")
I will bet your beard consisted of the same fine hair. It’s called puberty. Shaved hairs will appear coarser when gorwing back after shaving for the reasons discussed above, but there is no lasting change to the way the hair grows. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-increase-hair-growth/247967.md?page=2)