# Why does hair grow in your ears? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500 "2003-06-26T13:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/1 "2003-06-26T13:30:48Z")
Well? Seems to happen to guys when they get older, and someone said I had one in my ear. You can pretty much take care of hair growing elsewhere on your body, but your ears?? Why and where does it attach itself to? ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/2 "2003-06-26T14:54:17Z")
WAG here. Same reason it grows in your nose.To filter out stuff that shouldn’t get in there. ---
**Author:** ![richw211](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@richw211](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richw211)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/3 "2003-06-26T17:43:02Z")
Yes, I believe it is nature’s attempt to keep stuff out. Bizarre anecdote: I find ear hair annoying so I habitually pluck the hairs as they grow. One night last year I awoke in the middle of the night because I could feel something crawling in my ear canal. As I started poking at it with my finger, it started to pound against the inside of the ear canal every couple seconds. I switched on the light and it left my ear. I caught it and discovered it was a “click bug” which had been clicking inside my ear. I you’re not familiar, click bugs are small beetles which have the ability to quickly arch their body to bounce away from predators. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/4 "2003-06-26T20:12:27Z")
Hair grows in your ears for a reason. They are vital to hearing. The follicle structures inside the cochlea are responsible for transducing acoustic vibrations into nerve impulses that your brain interprets as hearing. My bet is that the overall genetic makeup of the ear structure contains residual DNA for follicle sites. These may manifest only after prolonged growth. The ears and nose are some of the only body structures that continue to grow throughout life (IIRC). After extended growth, perhaps these other follicle sites also begin to express themselves as well, resulting in external hairs. Ironically, the ears also contain the only structures that _do not_ grow any further from the time of birth. These are the _stirrup_,\* hammer\* and _anvil_. They are a set of very small bones that interconnect the membrane of the eardrum to the cochlea in order to mechanically transmit acoustic pressure. According to The Master Handbook of Acoustics, the ear is so sensitive that if it were any more well attuned to sound detection, we would hear a constant hiss of air molecules impacting the eardrum. The range of dynamic detection provided by the human ear is a wonder of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/5 "2003-06-26T20:37:54Z")
My wife has standing orders to shoot me when the hair starts to show up in my ears. * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/6 "2003-06-26T20:51:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by richw211 \* > \*\*Yes, I believe it is nature’s attempt to keep stuff out. > > Bizarre anecdote: I find ear hair annoying so I habitually pluck the hairs as they grow. One night last year I awoke in the middle of the night because I could feel something crawling in my ear canal. As I started poking at it with my finger, it started to pound against the inside of the ear canal every couple seconds. I switched on the light and it left my ear. I caught it and discovered it was a “click bug” which had been clicking inside my ear. I you’re not familiar, click bugs are small beetles which have the ability to quickly arch their body to bounce away from predators. \*\* Jeesuss! Did you get it out? I’d be wearing ear protection from that night foward. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/7 "2003-06-26T20:57:19Z")
[The master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_124.html) Ick - Pictures! ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/8 "2003-06-26T21:30:19Z")
Evolution: It’s part of nature’s way of pressuring us to mate when we’re young, have lots of viable sperm and more ability to provide for and protect our mates and offspring. Intelligent design: Someone’s got a dark sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/9 "2003-06-26T22:47:29Z")
I believe it is a diobolicle weapon of nature that, along with expanding waist lines and varicose veins, is intended to lessen the chance of 40’ish year old guys getting lucky at singles bars and thus giving younger, healthier sperm a better crack at improving the gene pool. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hair-grow-in-your-ears/184500/10 "2003-06-26T22:49:40Z")
I meant" diabolical". Sorry.