“Plucking or tweezing is not the preferred method of hair removal as recommended by dermatologists,” Dr. Lertzman said. “There are other techniques – both at-home and in a dermatologist's office – that are safe and effective when it comes to removing unwanted hair from the face.”
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.
Shaving and depilatories only cut hair down to the skin's surface. So, if you want to get rid of those whiskers, methods like plucking, waxing and threading are best because pulling hairs from their root traumatizes the follicle and slows, if not eliminates, regrowth.
Although plucking away unwanted face and body hair is convenient, it's typically pretty harmful. Plucking or tweezing is time consuming and only invasive if removed in the wrong direction which can deform and tear the hair follicle. Tweezing hair grows back the same as sugaring if pulled from the root.
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.
The growth of chin hair in females is fairly common, but in some cases, it can be a sign of hormonal imbalances. Hirsutism is the medical term for female hair growth in places where men usually have hair. The growth of chin hair is an example of hirsutism.
Related Story. But if you start to notice excessive facial hair growth that's dark and coarse, it might mean you have abnormally high levels of androgen hormones, or an increased sensitivity in your hair follicles even to normal levels of androgen hormones, explains Minisha Sood, MD, endocrinologist in New York City.
Done correctly, hair will take longer to grow back if you pluck than if you shave. “If you continually remove the hair from the follicle with tweezers (or waxing, or sugaring), you may see a reduction in the amount of hair being produced in that area,” adds Sofia.
Yes, plucked hair grows back over time. However, if done correctly, you can keep it from growing back for up to 6 weeks as plucking removes the hair from the follicle.
No — shaving hair doesn't change its thickness, color or rate of growth. Shaving facial or body hair gives the hair a blunt tip. The tip might feel coarse or "stubbly" for a time as it grows out. During this phase, the hair might be more noticeable and perhaps appear darker or thicker.
Tweezing. Also known simply as "plucking," tweezing removes hair from the follicle and usually lasts anywhere from two to six weeks depending on the thickness and rate of your hair growth.
“Chin hair results from a combination of genetics and hormones,” says Hadley King, M.D., board-certified dermatologist at New York's SKINNEY Medspa. It's our male hormones (called androgens), as well as our overall hormonal balance, that stimulate growth of chin hair, she explains.
Keep in mind that tweezing isn't meant to be a permanent fix. Tweezed hairs come back, needing to be tweezed again. The growth pattern for individual hairs isn't synced, so any area of the face or body that you routinely tweeze may require daily tweezing to be hair-free.
According to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali, dermatologists see two things happen in patients who practice long-term tweezing: “dark spots called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and scarring.”
When done correctly, plucking can stop hair growth for up to six weeks, longer than many alternative hair removal methods. The reason plucking stops hair growth for so long is because it removes the hair directly from the hair follicle, the part of the hair strand that is anchored to your skin.
The hair life cycle of your beard hair is shorter than your head hair. As a result, more melanocytes may be used at a faster rate. Another reason your beard hair appears gray faster than your head is visual. Your beard is front and center on your face, so you'll likely notice every gray hair growing.
"If you're a serial plucker, repeated 'plucking trauma' can even cause infection, scar formation, and bald patches," adds Gillen. 2 Ultimately, this will create the appearance of hair loss and thinner hair.
Your hormone levels shift throughout your lifetime because of puberty, ageing, menopause, weight gain and other factors including pregnancy. Yes, excess chin hair can sometimes be linked to pregnancy, which triggers a hormonal imbalance in your body, resulting in facial hair growth.
Hirsutism is the excessive growth of facial or body hair on women. Hirsutism and unwanted PCOS facial hair are very common with polycystic ovary syndrome. Hirsutism can be seen as coarse, dark hair that may appear on the face, chest, abdomen, back, upper arms, or upper legs.
The short answer is yes – stress can affect facial hair growth, indeed not just upon the face, but also elsewhere on the body in places that you would not 'normally' expect to see it.
Working the rough spots and dead hair can lead to healthier growth. Even better, keeping a trimming routine can speed up beard growth in general. Out with the old, dead hair and in with the new! Though split ends and uneven patches are unavoidable, trimming can help stave off trouble in the future.
And, again, each person has a unique hormonal makeup and genetic predispositions, so those random chin hairs are just part of what makes you, well, you. It's hard to say exactly why you might have one or two that grow like a weed in the same spot, but Dr. Rodney says it can happen on a hair follicle by follicle basis.