As guys get older, it seems we get more body hair in places we don’t want it to appear and lose hair in the places we wished would remain. Think ear, nose and back hair in the former and scalp hair in the latter.
Why do you get more body hair as you get older and conversely why do you lose hair on other parts of your body?
The second question is a bit more straight forward. We tend to lose hair – particularly on our scalp – as we get older due to heredity and genetics, hormonal changes and age. As we get older our body stops producing or at least decreases production of certain things that assist hair growth and hair maintenance.
But why do other parts of our body receive new hair growth as we experience hair loss on our scalp?
Why Do You Get More Body Hair As You Get Older?
Ear hair. Nose hair. Back hair. Shoulder hair. Out of control eyebrows. Why does this suddenly appear as we get older?
In a word…testosterone.
In explains why men grow hair on our heads as babies but don’t get facial hair until our teens. As we get older our bodies continue to produce testosterone and it changes the texture and noticeability of our hair. Hair that wasn’t previously noticeable – ear hair for example – suddenly gets thicker and grows more and needs to be taken care of. Nose hair starts to grow out of control and maybe our eyebrows too.
It’s widely believed that as we age, the cumulative effect of testosterone on our bodies is what causes the crazy hair growth that we’d prefer not to have to deal with.
In fact, testosterone levels peak for guys at around age 18-19, stays relatively high for 2-3 decades and then decreases throughout the rest of our lives. So rather than our body producing more testosterone as we age, it produces less and it’s the cumulative effect over time of the testosterone that we have that causes the hair growth.
And more specifically the cumulative effect of testosterone starts doing weird things to your hair:
- Scalp hair moves to the shedding phase (exogen) more quickly and falls out resulting in hair loss over time.
- Hair on other parts of our body (eyebrows, back, shoulders, ears) remains in the growth stage (anagen) for a longer period of time with the result that we have more hair in those areas.
So is it “normal” to grow more hair in some areas and lose hair in others? In general terms, yes. You may also experience something different and that can be normal as well. You might be in the minority of guys who keep their scalp hair intact at any advanced age for example.
Why Do Some Men Have Less/More Body Hair?
Like scalp hair, chest hair and other body hair on men is also determined by genetics but additionally by the aforementioned testosterone. While having little to no body hair on your chest, arms or legs isn’t necessarily a sign of low testosterone, hair loss is one sign of low testosterone for a male.
Other common symptoms of low testosterone levels in men include low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, low energy, decrease in muscle mass, loss of bone mass and more. See your doctor asap if you sense you might have low testosterone levels as there are ways to deal with it.
So not having chest or arm or leg hair doesn’t necessarily mean you have low testosterone. Conversely having hair on these body parts doesn’t necessarily mean you have a problem either. As with other body hair, your genetics simply means you are predisposed to having the hair that you have.
And don’t feel bad if you’re hairier than other guys…research shows that hairier guys are smarter.
Conclusion
- Genetics and testosterone largely determines our body hair whereas scalp hair is determined largely by genetics.
- Male testosterone production peaks in our late teens and decreases as we get older.
- Out of control hair growth on our back, eyebrows, shoulders, nose ears that we may experience is believed to be a result of the cumulative effect of testosterone and not increased or unusually high levels in our body.
- Common symptoms of low testosterone include hair loss, low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, low energy, decrease in muscle mass, loss of bone mass and more.
How you have you dealt with increased body hair as you got older? Let us know below!
