Why do older men have hair growing in their noses and ears?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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This is not a scientific answer, but…an Australian stand-up comedian once said that hair loss is not hereditary - you simply had shy hair. His hair, he told us, was so shy it eventualy hid under his scalp, but you could see it peeking out from his nose and ears.
Hope this answers the question…

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Umm, thank you.

Welcome to the SDMB, paul watkins! In the future, please be sure to post a link to the on-line column:

Why do older men have hair growing in their noses and ears?

I’m sure Arnold Winkelried, our esteemed moderator of this forum, will be along shortly to post a reference to the column in one of Cecil’s fine books, which make excellent gifts in this season of giving and fighting ignorance.

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Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment.
Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site.
To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space before and after the text of the URL).

Cecil’s column can be found on-line at the link provided by Montfort.

The column (including Slug Signorino’s illustration) can also be found on pages 124-126 of Cecil Adams’ book «The Straight Dope Tells All».

Since the article is a Straight Dope column, not a staff report, this thread is leaving the «Comments on Staff Reports or Mailbag Answers» forum and going to the «Comments on Cecil’s Columns» forum.

moderator, «Comments on Cecil’s Columns»

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Well, it’s not Cecil’s fault, but his column on the ear-hair subject was almost wholly unedifying.

Look here: I’m 34 and going bald. This doesn’t bother me a bit; in fact I shave the hair that’s left and I think I look pretty decent.

OTOH, as the hair recedes from my scalp it seems to be gathering in my ears, and in my nostrils at the frontmost part of my septum. As I am both fair-skinned and dark-haired, this becomes real noticeable real fast. So I pluck.

But I’d rather seek a more permanent solution: electrolysis. Are there any counter-indications to this plan, aside from the fact that it will hurt like hell?

I know if you have electrolysis done over a mole it can stimulate cancerous growth. Could that be a concern here?

Thanks for any responses.

(And with this, Five is now a 500-poster. Geez, I need to get a life…)

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You mean that’s not enough?!? :eek: As a man who once tried to pluck one of his own nose hairs, let me tell you that trimming them is the way to go. Even though my wife has taken up the habit of reminding me every other day “you need to trim your nose hairs”, it’s less painful than any alternative.

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But you forget, Arnold (you’re always forgetting this!): I have the strength of ten men, and can endure any pain.

Seriously, I don’t mind the pain of plucking, it’s just that I know the hairs will keep coming back. Electrolysis would hurt more, but it’s more permanent. I’d prefer that.

Unless, as noted above, it turns out to be carcinogenic. I’m against cancer.