# Is there a way to change how hair grows?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 29, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035 "2008-12-29T04:20:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035/1 "2008-12-29T04:20:06Z")

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Part of my hair isn’t growing in the direction that I would like it to grow. It grows more upward than hair normally grows.

Anyway to change this?

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035/2 "2008-12-29T14:18:53Z")

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Short of having a plastic surgeon remove that section of your scalp and reattach it at a different alignment, no. No way that I know .

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**Author:** ![Ducktail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@Ducktail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ducktail)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035/3 "2008-12-29T14:20:06Z")

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Occasionally chemotherapy causes your hair to regrow in a different pattern, color, or texture. Seems like sort of a drastic step, though.

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**Author:** ![Polly\_Glot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@Polly\_Glot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polly_Glot)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035/4 "2008-12-29T19:12:43Z")

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I don’t have a cite and I don’t know how true it really is, but I’ve been told by multiple electrologists and laser hair removal specialists that they way you shave hair affects the direction it grows. So if, for example, you shave beard growth every which way, you can expect your whiskers to grow out every which way as well.

Suppose this is a moot point, though, if you’re referring to hair you’d just as soon not remove.

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**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-change-how-hair-grows/479035/5 "2008-12-29T20:49:32Z")

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A lot of “gangsters” around here wear hairnets to “train” their hair to grow straight back. I always thought it looked pretty stupid, but then, so does a lot of other fashion they employ. Not sure if it works, though.