# Explain to me that one renegade body hair **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463 "2008-11-06T16:31:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/21 "2008-11-07T02:47:48Z")
Not to spoil our fun but does anyone have a factual answer to this conundrum? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/22 "2008-11-07T02:50:22Z")
Yeah, I have a couple of those too. And while we’re on the subject of hair, what the hell is that stuff that keeps growing out of my nose all about? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/23 "2008-11-07T02:54:41Z")
From _Nature_: [Variations of Hair Follicle Size and Distribution in Different Body Sites](http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v122/n1/full/5602116a.html) Hoo boy. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/24 "2008-11-07T03:00:40Z")
Oh, my aching head. I **think** what’s going on here is that you people all have stray terminal hair follicles on parts of your skin that have mostly vellous hair follicles. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/25 "2008-11-07T03:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > “volume of the follicular infundibula” [weeps] ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/26 "2008-11-07T03:09:46Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > …It’s noticeable because it grows to about 2 inches long. (It’s also sneaky and does this overnight.) > I’ve had that hair forever. Pull it out and it comes back. I have a stray hair that grows on my nose that’s like that. I tweeze it and don’t see it for months and then suddenly there it is, about a 1/4 " long! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/27 "2008-11-07T03:14:58Z")
On the other hand, if I had never attempted to explore this subject, I would probably never have known about the [2004 Asian Moustache Olympics](http://community.livejournal.com/asianlipservice). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/28 "2008-11-07T03:22:26Z")
Personally I like the ones that grow under the skin, typically where I shave (on my face you pervs). They are obviously vampire hairs that can’t stand the daylight. I will sometimes notice a small bump, which eventually becomes a small pimple. I then instinctively know I have a vampire hair and will pop the pimple and squeeze the little bugger out into daylight. Sometimes they can already be like an inch long before being exposed. They’re really fun to play with and then pluck. The last one was an albino vampire hair that went from silk at one end to fishing line thickness at the root. Fun times. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/29 "2008-11-07T04:07:41Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Not to spoil our fun but does anyone have a factual answer to this conundrum? 🙂 [Moderating] Folks, as fascinating as the subject is, this is not a poll asking everyone who has an odd hair somewhere on their body to describe it. Thanks to **Kimstu** for providing some factual information. Let’s try to stay on point and try to answer the OP. I think we have enough anecdotal information already. Anyone who wishes to learn more about other people’s renegade, maverick, or rogue body hairs should feel free to open a thread in IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/30 "2008-11-07T07:07:31Z")
I have a couple, they’re all on moles or freckles, this gave me a little jumping point. Given that freckles[sup]1[/sup] and moles (no cite, but it’s called a melanocytic nevus, what do you expect?) have high concentrations of melanin, the thing responsible for coloring your skin and hair, that generally explains the color. I’m at a loss for the coarseness and length, citewise at least. This part is more of a logical WAG. But I don’t know how much alpha-keratin and melanin have in common makeup wise, but if there’s an unusually high melanin pocket as we’ve seen it wouldn’t surprise me if high amounts of keratin were also present. Moles also have a cousin they’re often confused with (if I’m reading [something](http://www.healthcarerepublic.com/news/GP/632324/Dermoscopy-beginners/) right) which is Basal cell papiloma, which is also benign, but more importantly has keratin cysts, which would (to me anyway) easily explain the size (keratin concentration) and the color (melanin concentration). I’m not a dermatologist, so I’m not certain, but that’s my best logical stab. [sup]1[/sup][http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=266300](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=266300) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/31 "2008-11-07T11:19:00Z")
But I think the majority of the rogue hairs people have been describing here are _not_ associated with moles or freckles. At least, mine aren’t. The surrounding skin is completely blemish free with no clue as to the raging keratin factory beneath. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/32 "2008-11-07T11:40:40Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > But I think the majority of the rogue hairs people have been describing here are _not_ associated with moles or freckles. At least, mine aren’t. The surrounding skin is completely blemish free with no clue as to the raging keratin factory beneath. Several others in this thread were mentioning moles though, so I figured it may have been an unmentioned factor. So… back to the drawing board. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/33 "2008-11-07T20:39:48Z")
DNA degradation. Seriously. Of course, I can’t find a cite, but I swear I’ve seen references to this before. Through my 20s I hardly had any of these “random hairs”; in my 30s, I get the random long hairs on my shoulders, my back, my arms, my ears, my cheeks, etc. When I researched it before, I recall reading that it was a natural side effect of aging brought about by genetic damage in hair follicles. Too many copies = follicles that activated in weird places. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/34 "2008-11-08T01:30:06Z")
> [@davekhps](#): > > DNA degradation. Seriously. I dunno if this adds anything to that or not, but I one read somewhere that gray hair is a manifestation of cellular replicative senescence. In other words, there are telomeres involved in the process somewhere that have come to the end of the line. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463/35 "2008-11-08T01:37:25Z")
Actually, that would tend to make sense. Those dark moles with the lone tuffy growing out of them _are neoplasias_, right? 99 times out of 100 they’re not malignant, but something must have gone just a little bit haywire on a cellular level for them to have been created in the first place. It’s not too difficult to imagine that they would do weird little tricks for our amusement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-that-one-renegade-body-hair/471463.md?page=1)