I was wondering the other day, why it is that I now have hairs growing out of my ears. I did not have to deal with these hairs in the past. Why now? Is there something wrong with my health, I am eating the wrong foods?
I did some research and I found the following answer to this hair protruding from the ears predicament.
Why is the hair in my ears getting longer as I age? As a man ages, hair follicles in the ear multiply due to hormonal changes that alter and increase the length of the growing phrase for hair. Most of the ear hair growth appears on the outer part of the ear making it visible to others.
What exactly is going on with the hair growth in my ears?
There is a lot that occurs in the human body that we are not aware of, or that we do not totally understand. This is one of those scenarios that medical professionals have not fully understood yet.
They surmise that there is some sort of strange genetic reasoning for this hair growth. Also, some experts feel that testosterone has accumulated in the body and that it is causing the growth phrase of certain follicles to work differently.
Some feel that it is simply added protection for the ears. Others feel that maybe it is a way to show that a person with hairy earlobes and ears is strong and virile. As a man ages, he begins to lose muscle mass and perhaps genetically, the older hairy man is someone not to be reckoned with by the younger males.
This growth in the ears is something that is going to continue once it starts. You cannot just remove a hair and then cross your fingers hoping that it does not return.
Personally, I have to trim my earlobes which was a strange process the first time that I had to do so. I had no idea that I would have to deal with follicles appearing around the outside of my ears. I looked cat-like at one point. I recommend the ear and nose trimmer by Rovanal (click to see pricing on Amazon).
I noticed the hairs when I had a bright light behind my head while looking into a mirror at a bathroom at a restaurant. There was not a full moon, so I knew that I was not turning wolf-like in front of my eyes. I thought at first that is was stray fibers from my hat (it was wintertime at the time), but they could not be brushed off.
The fact that I could not brush off the hairs, I did some research later on that day. I learned that there was some sort of hormonal disruption happening, which sounded scary to me to tell you the truth.
Nevertheless, these hormonal changes for men are very normal and not alarming at all. These changes are changing the number of hair follicles and the placement of the follicles into areas that one would never suspect would start to sprout hair.
How do I stop the Hair from growing on my ears?
Now that you have an idea as to why you have excessive hair follicles, what can you do to stop the hair growth on your ears? There is not much that you can do to permanently stop the growth, taking the huge step of changing your hormonal composition is out of the question.
Even though it causes some extra grooming for a man, it rarely is something that is dangerous. If you were to go into a home for older people, I bet that you encounter dozens of older men that have hairy ears and earlobes and they are ok and fine with it. A few of these men may be in desperate need of a quick trim, but as long as they are happy, they do not need to worry about it.
Do not let the hair growth stress you out, you cannot totally stop it, and it is something that most people will not be able to notice anyhow.
Personally, If I had lost all of the hair in my ears, I would be worried because some hair is ok. Hair is going to block foreign spores and bacteria from entering into my inner ear that could cause some bizarre inner ear infection.
How to Tame Down Your Ear Hair Growth
Although you cannot stop the growth from happening, you can tame it down by keeping it trimmed and tidy. There is no need to remove it totally. If you force the issue, you could cause microscopic cuts to form on the follicles which will allow bacteria and fungus to enter into your bloodstream.
Personally, I just do a quick trim and then I do not think about it during the day. The hairs, at least for me, are visible around 3 days after my trimming sessions.
If you are into plucking, you probably believe that you can eliminate that ugly hair from resurfacing forever. I am sorry to reveal to you, that is just not true. It will still grow back because the follicle will remain and its job is to grow and hold a hair.
Plucking is fine as long as you are careful and you can see what you are doing. You do not want to grab onto the skin within your skin and then tug away at it to no avail.
Some grooming professionals may suggest laser treatment. Personally, I feel that this procedure is overkill. Your inner ears are very sensitive. They are sensitive for a reason, they are designed to pick up and interpret tiny vibrations that enter into the ear.
The thought of someone letting a laser dance around near my ears is shocking and scary to me. Your brain is not too far from your ear canal, you are playing with fire just so that can kill off a few follicles.
Definitely consult with a medical professional before you are convinced that this procedure will improve your physical appearance.
Is it dangerous to Pluck Ear Hairs
I was not sure if it was dangerous to pluck away at ear hairs. I did some research for you and I found out that it depends on how you do it. If you blindly pluck away quickly at stray hairs yourself, you do run the risk of plucking into your sensitive skin that lines the inside of the ear.
Make sure that you are able to see clearly the area that you are going to tweeze to death. Use two mirrors, a hand-held mirror and a large bathroom mirror in the front of you. I recommend the tweezers by Apex (click to see pricing on Amazon).
Just to be safe, just pluck the ones that you can see that are lining your complete outer ear. I have a lot of growth that is just above my earlobes and I like to remove those hairs because I noticed that someone can notice them if they are facing me. They are easy to spot because they tend to be thicker than a normal strand of hair. So, pluck those ones.
Do Not Investigate and Dig Around the Inside of Your Ear
Do not investigate and dig around the inside of your inner ear. Most of those hairs do aid with your hearing. Vibrations travel down those tiny ear hairs and your brain interprets the signals received.
Also, the average human is not going to hold a magnifying glass to your ear to see your inner ear hair growth and then jump back in shock if they see a curly growing on the inside of your ear canal.
In other words, I am ok with trimming the hair on my ears, although I am not ok with going on an inner ear witch hunt for stray hairs. Also, a good grooming tip for ears is to remove some of the excess ear wax since that is something that others would find disgusting.
Just remember that your hearing is important and you should not be playing around with the inside of your ears. If you are older, you are dealing with this excessive hairiness on the ears, but it is not a deal breaker for your personal appearance. Keep the hair on and above your ears in check with a quick trim with a trimmer for ears and nose or just use a small set of scissors that were designed to groom males.
Being Pluck Happy is Never a Good Plan
If you are insisting on being a plucker, I also wanted to mention that you should sterilize your plucking device before using it. You do not want to pass bacteria or other germs to the surface of your follicle. After you have plucked a hair, you are creating a hole for some foreign substance to easily enter into the skin on your ear. Good luck with your goal to enhance your male grooming tactics. I know that if you use some common sense, you will look better than ever.
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