Why Some of Your Body Hair Can Grow Absurdly Long

This has happened to many of us. When scratching our necks or touching our arms, all of a sudden we find ridiculously long and thin white hairs, that seem to have grown overnight. If this has happened to you too, and you thought you were the only person on planet Earth with that mutant hair growing right out of your skin, just know that you’re not alone.

Here at Bright Side, we noticed these long thin intruders on our bodies too, and we decided to finally find out where they come from.

Even though so many of us have had this experience, there’s no specific term for these random long thin hairs that we find on our bodies. However, there are theories that explain this phenomenon. Dermatologists suggest that abnormally-long single hairs are caused by hormonal and genetic factors that make particular hairs grow longer than others.

Random mutations allow some “chosen” hair follicles to stay longer in the so-called anagen phase in which the hair is actively growing. As a result, this lone follicle has more time to grow a longer hair. Hormonal fluctuations that happen in different places, like the chin or the T-zone, can also trigger these hair abnormalities. If these hairs bother you, dermatologists suggest plucking them with tweezers like you normally would, to get rid of these unwanted hairs.

Some of us who suddenly find these abnormally long hairs on our bodies have this feeling that these hairs grew overnight. However, this may just be our perception. These hairs are very thin and close to the color of our skin and they’re hardly noticeable in comparison with our “normal” hair. That’s why it can sometimes take us a long time to find these hairs — they just keep growing unnoticed.

Have you ever noticed ridiculously long hairs on your body? What were your thoughts when you found them?