When you shave hair, does it really grow back thicker?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Nope, just an old wive’s tale (or “urban legend,” as they say nowadays). The follicles that are creating new hair don’t even know whether the end of the hair above has been cut at the scalp, one inch out, or 6 inches out.
What is resource for this conclusion? Though I do not have adequate scientific evidence, if I recall correctly, when I started shaving my face, my “peach fuzz” was just that, light and fuzzy. Ten years later, I have to deal with “sandpaper face.” Is it simply follicle maturation that makes the individual hairs thicker, or is there an actual (inverse) relation between hair length and growth rate/follicle maturation, etc?
Yes, it’s follicle maturation. Length of hair shouldn’t matter. It would make more sense for longer hair to weigh more and pull the strands out thinner, thus creating finer hair. 🙂 As you grow up, more follicles start to produce hair, and the hair that comes out of each one will come out thicker. When you get old, the individual hairs may come out gray and more wiry and thicker yet. Or, maybe stop producing hair altogether.