# What is up with my facial hair?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-my-facial-hair/179662>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 4, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-my-facial-hair/179662 "2003-06-04T18:38:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![racekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6bbea6/32.png) [@racekarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racekarl)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-my-facial-hair/179662/1 "2003-06-04T18:38:16Z")

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I’m a 27 year old man, and in the last year or so, I have started growing some _very_ thick facial hairs. Maybe once every 2 months or so, I will get what appears to be a pimple on my face, ususally on the sides on my chin. If I scape away the top of the “pimple” with my finger nail, it reveals a very thick hair. Occasionally these hairs will make it to the surface where I can tweeze them off.

Now when I say thick I mean it: These hairs have been about the thickness of the metal in a small to medium size paper clip, and about as rigid; they cannot be bent except under great force. They are easily 5 to 10 times thicker than my normal facial hair.

Is this normal? Any idea what would cause such a thing? I have been able to grow facial hair for probably ten years, but only within the past year or so have I noticed these super thick hairs. They are obviously causing irritation becuase they generally cause a pimple to form over them, like an ingrown hair.

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**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-my-facial-hair/179662/2 "2003-06-04T18:57:32Z")

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I used to get the occasional “super-thick” hair strand on my face (“My God, what **is** this thing?”), but haven’t gotten one in some time now. Maybe it’s an age-related thing; I’m now 55.

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**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-my-facial-hair/179662/3 "2003-06-04T19:01:57Z")

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I have similar rouge hairs…mine are made up of several whiskers (they do in fact resemble on old broom, so I figure this might be where “whisker” comes from) which all seem to emerge from a single follicle. They are quite stiff and do get ingrown very easily, I have to use an electric shaver anymore…a razor will guarantee an ingrown hair.

I try to pluck them with tweezers anytime I see one come up…they pluck easy.