# Middle-aged and older men: Do your hairdressers trim your ear hair w/o your asking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 21, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886 "2007-06-21T18:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/1 "2007-06-21T18:29:07Z")
One of the signs of middle age that I noticed those last years is that my ears get more and more hairy. To you guys who are in the same case: Do your usual hairdressers trim your ear hair along with the rest, or do you need to ask? Or don’t you even want them to? (I am sober, in case you were wondering.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/2 "2007-06-21T18:52:09Z")
Short answer: No. I have to ask (remind?) my barber to trim my eyebrows but I don’t bother him with my ears. I mostly pull those hairs out while watching TV. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/3 "2007-06-21T18:54:20Z")
I’m 45 and don’t yet have to have my ear hair trimmed (thank god.) ---
**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:** [June 21, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/4 "2007-06-21T19:02:31Z")
I’m 45 too. I usually take care of it myself using the trimmer part of my electric razor. Occasionally the nice girl at the First Choice will do it. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/5 "2007-06-21T19:05:51Z")
Another 45er here. I only get my hair cut maybe once every year or so. The woman who does it is a friend. She trims everything above the neck that needs it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/6 "2007-06-21T19:22:02Z")
First off, **men** go to barbers, not hairdressers. 🆒 That said, I pluck mine as, similar to my face, they are very few and it takes them longer to return. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/7 "2007-06-21T19:27:13Z")
I’m 38, and this happened to me for the first time last week. The barber just gave my lugs a quick once-over with his trimmer. He didn’t ask first. I’ve also noticed one or two rogue tree-like hairs in my eyebrows. I’m nervously awaiting the first signs of nasal forest. And there’s some grey on the temples. Sigh. Farewell, fond youth! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/8 "2007-06-21T19:30:06Z")
I’m 41. I don’t have hair in my ears yet, but I go to an old-time barber that instinctively trims them nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/9 "2007-06-21T20:13:22Z")
I’m only 38 but have salt-and-pepper hair and some ear hair. When I get a haircut, usually they will take the clippers to my ears without asking, which is fine by me. The also usually ask if I want them to do my eyebrows. My nose, I do myself. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/10 "2007-06-21T20:24:06Z")
Huh. Interesting topic. Really 😃 - it’s one of those things my father never told me about. Pushing 40 here and generally I’ve been fine with the aging process, for all its many little annoyances. But I remember several years ago when my father was about 60, suddenly noticing he had a small forest growing out of his ears. I was both fascinated and slightly weirded out. Went home that day and absentmindedly checked and - gah! - there they were. The advance scouts of some approaching army. Since then I’ve tweezed them out on a regular basis. It would never occur to me to ask or expect a barber to get them for me and I’ve been going to the same old-timey barber for over a quarter century now. Shows my ignorance, I suppose. Felt similarily stupid when I found out that many men tweeze their eyebrows. I always assumed it was yet another of those male/female grooming differences, until I teased a male friend who was talking about it and he corrected me ( a little indignantly ). A female friend that was with us stared at me and noted that I must have naturally good eyebrows - she had always assumed I tweezed mine as well. That’s perhaps the only time in my life anyone has ever said I have a naturally good anything :p. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/11 "2007-06-21T20:50:36Z")
Reminds me of when I leaned over without thinking about it and tugged out my boss’s long stray eyebrow hair. We were friends too but still, he was rather appalled. :o He goes to the hairdresser and they humor him by cutting the little wisps on top of his head. No combover, thankfully. I believe they also clip his eyebrows because they look much neater in the days following a haircut. No word on the ears but I will have to ask. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/12 "2007-06-21T22:50:51Z")
wow. it seems like everybody in this thread is either 38 or 45. I’m 45, yes my ‘hairdresser’ trims my ear hair when needed. She also keeps me from getting the dreaded bushy eyebrows. Nose hairs? I do those at stop lights with a leatherman tool I keep in my blazer for just such an occasion. my theory is why just pull one nose hair out when you can rip 10 or so out at a time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/13 "2007-06-21T22:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=Enright3] I’m 45, yes my ‘hairdresser’ trims my ear hair when needed. She also keeps me from getting the dreaded bushy eyebrows. Nose hairs? I do those at stop lights with a leatherman tool I keep in my blazer for just such an occasion. my theory is why just pull one nose hair out when you can rip 10 or so out at a time. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I think my nasal hair is mostly taken care off by lighting my rollups close to my nose. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/14 "2007-06-21T22:54:26Z")
No, but that’s probably because I always keep it trimmed myself. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/15 "2007-06-21T22:56:47Z")
I do it myself about once every coupla weeks and whoever cuts my hair generally includes a quick go at the ear holes as part of the deal. I have a couple of strays on the outer edge of the - what is it called? - curly flange too. They’re not obvious and from time to time I check them and they’ve become an inch or so long. Eyebrows are becoming a little bit unruly too, which bugs the shit out of me when they get in my field of view. My boss, who is about the same age as me, has serious lantana brows and I can’t imagine how he can stand it. **Gigi** ’s comment resonated with me - I often find myself suppressing the impulse to whip out the hedgeclippers. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/16 "2007-06-22T00:06:38Z")
**sunacres** , do you mean the pinna or auricle (the “shell” part of the outer ear), or the tragus (the hard nub that partially covers the ear canal)? I curse my father’s genes and my own hormonal whimsies. The past couple of years, more and more of my eyebrow hairs are choosing the Wild Viking Route. They turn blonde, grow nearly and inch long, and say hello to passersby. I police them fiercely. I dread the possible day my nose hairs get organized. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/17 "2007-06-22T02:16:46Z")
My wife waits for me to get distracted and pulls on those. Ouch. Now my 2-year old girl is starting to notice. She finds it very funny and wants to help mom. Triple Ouch. I now cut my hair at home but for the last couple of years, my barbers had started to feel the need to take care of those and did it without asking me. If they didn’t, I would feel silly asking them to do it and go home unhappy to my delighted wife who would have more fun to have. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/18 "2007-06-22T02:57:56Z")
Well, to break the 38-45 age barrier, I’m 67 and my ear and nasal hairs are few and far between. I have a very light beard, so maybe there is a correlation. My eyebrows have become a real problem; I always ask the barber to trim them. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/19 "2007-06-22T04:01:48Z")
[QUOTE=LouisB] Well, to break the 38-45 age barrier, I’m 67 and my ear and nasal hairs are few and far between. I have a very light beard, so maybe there is a correlation. My eyebrows have become a real problem; I always ask the barber to trim them. [/QUOTE] Louie, I have the feeling that this…Oh, where were we? I’m 62, and I don’t think I realized this phenomenom until my dad(82) came to visit about two years ago. When I looked at his ears and the length of the hairs in and around, I was shocked! Shocked I tell you. ::sorry:: And now I’m much more aware of my problems. Eyebrows–no problem. Ears–problem. I trim with a clipper. Nose, not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886/20 "2007-06-22T04:10:13Z")
58, don’t have many but tweeze those suckers as soon as I find one as I hate ear hair. I use a trimmer on the odd nasal hair and have my barber trim my eyebrows when needed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-and-older-men-do-your-hairdressers-trim-your-ear-hair-w-o-your-asking/408886.md?page=2)