However, repeated ripping of the hair from its follicle via waxing or plucking (which is essentially the same thing, when you think about it) will make hair grow back thicker, darker and coarser… and frequently, more plentiful and faster to re-grow.
"When you tweeze your hair, it does tend to damage the hair follicle permanently, and it can cause the hair to grow back thinner, the same effect with waxing," Dr. Jennifer Haley, a board-certified dermatologist, tells Romper.
“While there may be some degree of inflammation in the hair follicle from tweezing, generally tweezing is not considered a form of permanent hair removal and a new hair will be produced,” he says.
Shaving can cause skin cuts and may lead to ingrown hairs. Plucking can hurt, especially if a lot of hairs are removed. Using hot wax can burn your skin. Chemicals that dissolve hair often smell bad and can cause allergic skin reactions.
Regeneration of hairs after plucking is a population-based behavior that depends on the density and distribution of the plucked follicles. Plucking hairs from high density areas (middle and far right) led to significant hair regeneration 12 days later. Lower density plucking failed to induce follicle regeneration.
Pros: Tweezing is useful for shaping eyebrows and removing stray hairs on the face and body. Cons: Besides being a slow and painful option, tweezing can break the hair instead of pulling it out, which can cause thicker regrowth. Also, there's a risk of infection if the tweezers are not properly sterilized.
Plucking can actually damage the hair follicle causing it to send a message that there's no real need for it to produce hair in this area. The result? Potential bald spots. It can also ruin the texture of your hair and is not a permanent fix.
We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but shaving, plucking, and waxing really darken your underarms in the long run. It's because these methods lead to ingrown hairs and cause trauma, inflammation, and friction. Not cleaning them properly when you shower.
However, repeated ripping of the hair from its follicle via waxing or plucking (which is essentially the same thing, when you think about it) will make hair grow back thicker, darker and coarser… and frequently, more plentiful and faster to re-grow.
This happens because your hair is a cone shape—it's widest at the base and naturally grows to a point—so when you cut hairs, you're removing the thinnest part and leaving the thicker, potentially darker, base.
Plucking can traumatize the hair follicle, and repeated trauma to any follicle can cause infection, scar formation or possibly lead to bald patches.”
Forms of superficial folliculitis include: Bacterial folliculitis. This common type is marked by itchy, white, pus-filled bumps. It occurs when hair follicles become infected with bacteria, usually Staphylococcus aureus (staph).
If you have some noticeable hairs on your upper lip, chin or around your eyebrows, waxing is probably going to be the most efficient solution for removing several hairs at once, but if you have sensitive skin, or you only have a facial hair or two to remove, tweezing your facial hair is totally acceptable.
Overview. The discovery of the odd hair on your chin is perfectly normal and usually not a cause for concern. Shifting hormones, aging, and even genetics could be behind a few chin hairs that stand out. For that, there are simple and efficient ways to remove them if you don't want them.
While tweezing certainly gives you control and is arguably the most inexpensive form of hair removal, Dr. Henry firmly believes that overall? Shaving and waxing will be more effective. Still, if you've tried both and hated both, you can at least have a knowledgeable and less painful plucking experience.
Experts think the urge to pull hair happens because the brain's chemical signals (called neurotransmitters) don't work properly. This creates the irresistible urges that lead people to pull their hair. Pulling the hair gives the person a feeling of relief or satisfaction.
Pulling out hair by your root may damage your follicle temporarily, but a new bulb will eventually form, and new hair will grow again through that follicle. According to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, it may take a few months or more than a year in some cases.
Disadvantages of Tweezing:
Even when tweezing small areas of hair, such as the eyebrows, the process can become tedious and time consuming. Tweezing is not painless. Some individuals feel a sting with every hair that is pulled out of its follicle. Tweezing can also cause scarring, pitting, and ingrown hairs.
In biological terms, hair follicle looks like a tunnel-shaped structure situated in the epidermis (outer layer of the skin) [2]. Hair growth starts at the bottom of the hair follicle. The root of your hair is made up of protein (keratin) [3] and derives its nutrition by blood from the blood vessels on the skin.
Over time, if the upper lip hairs are all tweezed at the same time, they'll tend to regrow at the same time too. So the upper lip hair may seem thicker when in fact, the quantity of hairs is the same, as is their texture.
“When you have a sudden trauma of plucking the hair, you increase the blood supply to that area creating a stronger, thicker hair,” she says. The coarse, wiry chin hairs do have an official name: They're called “terminal hairs,” explains Dr. Vlada Doktor, a board-certified dermatologist at The Dermatology Specialists.
In most cases, waxing or plucking nasal hair is not recommended. Pulling out individual hairs can lead to ingrown hairs and infection. Waxing, especially, could hurt the skin deep inside your nose.
Club hairs are an end product of final hair growth and feature a bulb of keratin (protein) at the root tip of a strand. This bulb keeps the hair in the follicle until it sheds and the hair growth cycle starts over.