Does shaving promote beard growth?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
21

I wear a goatee, so I shave 80% of my facial hair every day. The beard itself just gets trimmed each week or two.

When I’d had the beard for about two years, I impulsively shaved it off. Then, looking at myself in the mirror, I became curious about whether the hair on my cheeks (shaved every day) would be any different than the hair on my chin (not shaved in two years). So I didn’t shave at all for a couple of weeks.

Long story short, all the hair looked and felt exactly the same, and grew at the same speed. But the full beard itched too much, so I shaved again and went back to the goatee.

Also, in response to Abe’s claim that babys’ heads are shaved to thicken their hair, I asked a friend who’s an Ob/Gyn. He says that thin, prenatal babyhair falls out after a short time regardless of what you do to it, to be replaced by thicker, more adult-like hair. So shaving the baby’s head doesn’t do anything except prevent you from noticing when the hair falls out.

22

I wasn’t talking about thin prenatal hair, of course that falls out–almost always anyway. The practice I’m referring to is the shaving of an infant’s head if its hair is abnormally weak or scraggly. I freely admit that I don’t know the precise age range that this is done, because I’ve never paid attention to that and have no kids. I don’t even know if this is done anymore. It was done to my brother 24 years ago when he was a toddler, and in comparison his hair is much stronger than mine, which wasn’t shaved when I was the same age.

I used to have hair about 6 inches long, but for 3-4 years I’ve been buzzing it (almost shaving it) regularly. Well, the result is that I now have more hair on my head, it’s actually thicker, and certainly stronger. When I asked a dermatologist about this she told me that she recommends that people shave their heads every few years, because it’s apparently very good for the scalp. Could there be a connection?

Thanks for the feedback regarding the facial hair. Particularly interesting account from AuraSeer. Anyway, I was referring to the texture of my beard after it’s just been shaved, not after it’s been growing for 3-4 days! I could swear there’s a difference, although perhaps the level of irritation/dehydration caused by shaving every day may have something to do with it.

23

That sounds like a dermatologist who has been hurt at some point. Now she’s taking out her bitterness on mankind by advising people to shave their heads. For all I know, she may be right, but I’m definitely not running for my razor until I get a second opinion.

24

Mebbe shaving your head just allows the scalp to get really clean? With all that hair out of the way, there’d probably be more efficient shedding of the epidermis (also aided by all the people running their hands over your smooth, shiny head). This could help some conditions like dandruff or dry scalp, though I’d suspect the problems would return as the hair grows back.

25

Just to validate what AuraSeer wrote.
I’ve had beards off and on for the last
20 years or so. There’s always some part
of my face that is shaved nearly daily,
while another part will go for extended
periods of not shaving. Invariably I will
get tired of the beard and shave the whole
thing off… then I get tired of my face
and decide to grow it back. It always grows
back uniformly.

Also to make the case that shaving doesn’t
promote hair growth… I’ve been shaving
my chest for nearly 20 years. I started
doing this because I had only a few real
chest hairs and lots of downy ones. I
believed (because that was conventional
wisdom) that if I shaved my chest the
downy hairs would start to get thicker
and eventually I would have a nice manly
chest of hair… Never happened. Now 20
years later I still have lots of soft
downy hairs and a few macho ones… I
continue to shave my chest today so that
it looks uniformly bald rather than having
to suffer the embarassment of a sickly few
renegades…

I think this also answers the question as
to whether shaving makes downy hairs more
robust.

Greg Charles wrote:

> Blood flow increases hair growth.

Nonsense. Otherwise areas of the body
where increased blood flow is prevalent
would tend to be hairy.

> I assume that when it gets long enough,
> and you trim of the ends with scissors,
> it feels more like head hair.

0 for two. My facial hair is thicker and
more coarse than the hair on my head. Both
are trimmed with the same pair of scissors.

Abe wrote:

> When I asked a dermatologist about this
> she told me that she recommends that
> people shave their heads every few years,
> because it’s apparently very good for the
> scalp. Could there be a connection?

Yes, but not the one you’re looking for.
Shaving your scalp will allow you to do a
more thorough job of cleaning your scalp.
Clean healthy scalps, free of dry skin
conditions and oils will promote better
hair growth. Vigorous scalp massage during
shampooing is a recommended therapy for
preventing premature hair loss and it works.
Take it from a 40 year old who still has
all his hair and shampoos every single day,
but has a history of early hair loss in his
family…

… but then maybe there’s a connection
between the abundance of hair on my head
and the lack of it on my chest… could it
be that all my hair growing natural
resources are going to my head???

26

Hair doesn’t grow back faster when it is cut because hair doesn’t know when it’s been cut.

I think people confuse hair with plants. Plants DO know when they have been cut and therefore grow more.

27

Hasn’t Cecil pointed out many times that hair is dead tissue? Only the follicle is alive and producing the growth of hair. So the last statment would be true in that removing dead tissue has no effect on the growth of more dead tissue.

You know, of course, that the whole wive’s tale of “shaving causes thicker growth” is a vast right-wing conspiracy perpetrated on us by the blade and shaving cream manufacturers. They should be sued just like the gun manufacturers for making a product that works as advertised!

28

Well, from what I understand, the rate of growth of hair will increase if the follicles are stimulated. So maybe the follicles are stimulated by the very act of shaving to a degree?

I believe rastafarians religious beliefs forbid them from touching a blade to skin, which means no shaving, and while I have never querried a rasta if he followed that law strictly all his life, most rastas I knew /met in NYC had beards which were not all that thick, patchy in spaces, and indicative of a younger person - though the hairs would become fairly lengthy, it was far from full - more wispy…

Evidence, maybe?

Brian O’Neill
CMC International Records
http://www.cmcinternational.com

ICQ# 35294890
AIM Scrabble1

29

Satan wrote:

Yes and no in theory, probably not in application.

Certainly the hair follicles have a maximum production capability, no? Let’s call this 100% efficiency. A follicle can achieve 100% efficiency if:

  1. the follicle cells are receiving all the nutrients and oxygen they need;

  2. if the follicles are supplied with a sufficient supply of protein building blocks to produce hair; and,

  3. no environmental factors are inhibiting hair growth.

If the follicles aren’t getting oxygen, nutrition, and proteins because of poor circulation; then, naturally, they won’t be operating at 100% efficiency. A reduced efficiency means slow growth and/or weak hair. If, however, regular massage or stimulation restores optimal circulation (and thus, increased and stronger hair production), then it will only seem that stimulation makes hair grow more! When in fact, stimulation is just taking away what has been impeding hair growth. It won’t make hair grow at 120% efficiency.

Is a daily shave enough stimulation to restore good circulation to a poor circulation area? Doubtful. Would several vigorous massages a day performed to prove that stimulation promotes growth be enough to restore good circulation. Probably. (Although, it would be better if one were to eat right, exercise regularly, and knock off the smoking and drinking to promote good circulation everywhere in the body.)

Although, what do you really mean by stimulation? Is the tugging of hair that accompanies shaving going to do anything? Doubtful. Try tugging your right sideburn several times a day and see if it starts growing faster than your left sideburn.

Stimulating follicles with electricity or magnets has been proven both ineffective and dumb.

Now, there are other factors to hair growth to be considered:

  1. Natural fall out. Hair follicles work in cycles. Once they have produced for a given length of time, they shut down and shed that follicle and start again. That’s why we don’t (normally) have to comb our eyebrows. The cycles are different depending where the follicle is. The cycle is set by genetics and influenced by hormones.

  2. Hormones. They turn on and off (and may possibly speed up or slow down) the follicles. Most of us know the havoc that the hormones of puberty can do to hair growth in places that previously (almost) hairless. When the hormones (or genetics) shut down a follicle, no amount of stimulation makes it work again. Monoxydil may keep a dying follicle working harder against its will – but it needs a continual application from this hormone overrider.

  3. Temperature. Hey, we’re mammals. And most mammals’ hair is tuned to grow faster in colder weather as a survival instinct (or maybe not so much faster as having less fall out in the winter.

Since hats may slow down circulation and keep the scalp hot – they may just be a cause of hair loss. In this regard, Moms are right – but they wrong about shaving making it grow back thicker, faster, harder, or darker.

30

[[If the beard doesn’t grow faster, does it grow… differently? Does shaving make it turn from downs to bristles?]]

This has been responded to a few times on the thread, but not to my satisfaction. Hairs taper toward the ends, kind of like a blade of grass. When you cut them, just like when you cut the grass, the tip is no longer tapered and soft, but is sharp and bristly (bristley?) It doesn’t grow differently, but it feels different. If you wax or have electrolysis, you will have hair regrowing from the root that feels downy again.

31

OK. As a natural surfer girl, I can tell you from experience that shaving hair doesn’t make it grow back thicker, darker, etc. I shaved from 13 to 16, didn’t from 16 to about 30 (arms or legs). Didn’t make any difference as far as hair growth. I noticed my hair on my legs started getting darker as I got older (I still don’t shave in the winter) but so did the hair on my head because as blonds get older, their hair darkens. However, since I still don’t shave in the winter, I can say with certainty that shaving doesn’t make a difference with thickess, etc. P.S. I NEVER had a problem getting boyfriends! For all you women anti-shavers out there. Actually, quite a few real cool dudes liked it.

32

popokis5- I think the main criterion was about the hair growing 'faster, aside from ‘thicker’ or ‘darker’ (unless I missed something, must admit I read through the column a bit too hastily).

Can’t say I know what the truth is, but I’ve realised that when I cut/shave my hair, at first is grows back really fast - to a certain length, then it’s speed slows down gradually… hey, maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I’ve observed!

Never bite the hand that… looks dirty!

33

Regarding the old ladies with no eye brows-
All the 90 to 70 year old women in my family have this attribute, but they achieved it through plucking, not shaving. I also have experienced the slow process of destroying a few follicles that I have consistently plucked the hair from. I have not been able to duplicate it on my legs however, which I shave.

34

Yeah, my grandma has been plucking her eyebrows for as long as I can remember, only to paint on new ones. I’ve never understood about that. Occasionally, her eyebrow pencil seems to slip upward, and she walks around all day with a surprised look on her face… LOL!

35

Ok, girls, I know I’m not the only one here. I lived in a dorm for 4 years so I know it’s true. In the winter time, women that don’t need to wear skirts will shave their legs less often (skin can get so sensitive in the winter). By Spring the hair seems to be growing just as fast, but each hair is thinner so the stubble doesn’t show as quickly.

I always assumed that because of the pulling that shaving does on the hair follicle that it makes the hair thicker so that it is stronger. Maybe the blood-flow increase is more accurate.

As for the hair on your head growing faster when it is cut, it would be more accurate to say that it is damaged slower after it is cut. Ask any hair dresser. The reason why we get our split ends cut off is because, if you leave them they just keep splitting farther up the hair. As your ends split they are much more likely to break off. Therefore, if you keep your split ends trimmed off, it will seem like your hair grows faster.

36

I checked with Schick, which presumably has a legal responsibility to know the effects of shaving on the human body, and whose researchers would therefore learn, if only incidentally, whether any of your theories hold water.

Here’s what the company web site says:
http://www.schick.com/shave_tipswomen_frame.html

"Myth: The age at which you begin to shave influences the amount of hair you’ll have on your legs and underarms.

Fact: These factors are determined strictly by heredity. Early experiences with shaving coincide with the natural increase in hair growth resulting from puberty.

Myth: Shaving promotes darker, thicker or faster regrowth of hair on legs and underarms.

Fact: Since shaving removes hair on the surface of the skin, it doesn’t affect the color or the thickness of the hair. After an area has been shaved, the hair shafts start to emerge from the follicle, so your hair looks and feels coarse and bristly. If you allow the hair to grow out, it will take on its original appearance and texture."

Of course, you could argue that Schick has a vested interest in people believing that shaving does not increase the need to shave because they want us all to become hirsute razor destroyers, but I’ll leave that theory to the black helicopter set. If you think Schick is misleading you, and if you think hairier is uglier, sue the company. You’ll be sure to make a future Straight Dope column, one way or the other.

37

This is an interesting topic, this a lot of questionable theories flying around.

If shaving does increase hair growth, or hair thickness, then it must do it by irritating or stimulating the skin or follicles.

Assuming the blade doesn’t have special properties, this would be testable by massaging a certain area, shaving another, and leaving a control area untouched. Nobody here has made any scientific attempts to do this.

The best test I heard of so was was by the goatee wearer, who let the whole beard grow, thus having the control (unshaved) and shaved areas growing side-by-side.

All the other ‘evidence’ was either third-party testimony, or very hard to judge. If I shaved my beard, and watched it grow (well, looked once a day…) I wouldn’t put much stock in my being able to make accurate comparisons with the last time I did such a thing well over a year ago. Let alone when people who have been shaving for years try this, their last memories, if not distorted by time, were from a different period of their life when their hair would be expected to grow properly.
The idea that hair growth speed up initially after shaving, and then slow down, seems quite silly. Especially since this could be accounted for by the fact that hair growing above the skin will be noticed, where a mere lengthening of that hair will be more subtle.
Also mentioned was the idea that hair needs a certain environment to grow in, and that less hair in the way means more oxygen and less dandruf (which presumably is hard to push hair through.) I’ve got more hair (longer, thicker, and more of it) than anyone I know, and yet it is far from being airtight.

I can’t comment on the dandruff issue from experience (never having conveniently had dandruff on one side like a Head and Shoulders model) but it seems silly.
I personally think the whole thing is explainable by the fact that when hair grows out after shaving it appears to be a larger change than that same ammount of growth later. None into some is significant. Some into more… depends on the ratio. As was mentioned before, 10% is noticable, 1% is not.

38

Okay, I can’t add much but here it is.
Way back about halfway through, the question of shaving making stubble came up. I’m a guy, I shave my cheeks to keep the beard neat, and it creates definite stubble. Scratchy when I rub it. But in the past, I used to have a great hairdresser, and she would wax my cheeks for me every couple of weeks. When the hair grew back, it wasn’t stubbly, it was downy. There. Empirical evidence, supporting that theory that shaving makes stubble because it chops off the tops of the hairs, and makes them feel rough. There was no difference in density between then and now.
Cool?

39

I haven’t noticed. I’ve been shaving for 23 years now, both blade and electric, and I still only have to shave every 3 days or so (Yesss!).

This brings up the question of methodology; I think I’ll start a new thread in MPSIMS. Ladies are invited also.

40

Couple points but no conclusions:

I have always been under the impression that hair on animals grows to prevent heat loss. Insulation, i guess.

That said, hair on people will grow on areas of the body that have the highest amount of heat loss; head, pits, groin, whatever.

I would assume that this has something to do with bloodflow? Not sure about the top of head thing though, although a lot of blood flows through the brain.

This would all support the the argument that blood flow near the skins surface increases hair growth. I guess that this is why those late night infomercials say that their “system stimulates the scalp and increases hair growth”. Not only is he the owner…

As far as saying that shaving increases blood flow, i can’t back that up. A good open handed smack across the face or splitting of the trowsers has always seemed to send more blood to my face than shaving.

Sorry, rambling. Probably all genetic anyway.

Lithia

o¿o
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