Why do women grow random hairs on the body?

Finding a random, singular, long, awkward hair is not a fun experience, especially for women! We’ve all been there – whether it’s a curly bugger on our chin or a super dark and absurdly long one on our arm, sprouting abnormal hairs on our bodies is one of life’s frustrating mysteries.

RELATED: How to minimise hair growth

To find out more about this phenomenon, I spoke to Andrew Chim, CEO at Detail Smoother Skin Clinic to find out was causes these sporatic sprouts. Plus, I asked some bh members to share their stories about random hair growth to remind us that we’re all in this together!

What causes random hair growth?

We are normally balanced perfectly with hormones to regulate our body developments. However this hormone balance can be affected by ageing. This can lead to some annoying hair growth being stimulated in some places where hair didn't grow previously. In rare cases there may be an underlying medical condition if there has been a sudden radical change. Seeking medical advice is recommended in this situation.

Why do women sometimes grow facial hair?

Women produce mainly oestrogen but also small amounts of testosterone. As women age, their oestrogen levels can decline and the higher level of testosterone can affect hair growth, especially around the chin and upper lip. Also the decline in oestrogen can make the light blonde fuzzy hair on the cheeks turn dark.

People often find random, single, long hairs on the body (e.g. on arms, coming out of moles, on hands etc.) - is this normal and why does it occur?

This is more common than you think. During development a hair follicle may be located in a place that seems out of place. This single hair follicle normally lacks the message to produce pigment in the hair so you don't notice it until it is long. Also this hair follicle has a long anagen (active) phase similar to the hair on the scalp. Hair around the body normally falls out before it gets too long. This single hair is easy to manage by pulling out with tweezers. This [is] nothing to be concerned about.

RELATED: Your common bodycare questions, answered

Luckily, getting rid of unwanted hair is easy! Here are a few of our go-to products:

bh loves: Veet High Precision Facial Wax & Care, Nair Sensitive Hair Removal Cream Body, Schick Intuition Pure Nourishment

bh loves: Marzena No More Facial Hair Treatment, Philips Lumea IPL Hair Removal System, Ottoman3 Tweezers

bh members say:

I have a random hair that grows right, smack bang in the middle of my forehead. It's fair and super thin and grows about half a cm... When I notice it, I pluck it out. Sometimes it's there every month and other times I don't see it for weeks. – sparrow x

I have a completely random one that sprouts out [of] my arm, in the place where they would usually immunise you. I didn't notice it until I fell pregnant with my last baby, and it keeps coming back now. It looks like an eyebrow hair sprouting out [of] my arm. So I tweeze it out as soon as it gets long enough. The strange thing is that it isn't a mole. Just a random hair growing, like the cells in that part of my arm are super confused. – Seezora

I also have one thick and black and really long hair on my neck. [I’ve tried] to pull it [out] many times but it always [comes] back :/. - Jessica L

I have one hair that grows on my cheek out of a small mole but it's thin and not very dark and [I] can get away with not plucking it… The other odd place I sprout hair is my big toes. I get that lasered off but since I got pregnant they've sprouted again, stupid hormonal hair :(. - Marina_87

I've got one on my neck, it's thick like a bristle. I pluck it out the second I detect it. Sometimes it's difficult, because it's too short to get an easy grip on with the tweezers. – misfortune8

I have one hair that grows on the top of my right ear. It's just like the hair on my head, so it blends in as it grows. Sometimes it'll be 3cm long before I notice that it's grown back! – AliceJaneInNewcastle

Haha yes! I also have one random white hair that grows on the right hand side of my forehead. It grows insanely fast which freaks me out. It literally won't be there one day and then the next it's there - a good couple of centimetres long! [I] wish I could make the hair on my head grow that fast! – maydayismyday

I have one white hair (which was dark a few years back), it's a semi-soft one, but grows tough, and it's on the side of my throat. If it gets long enough, it lies flat against my neck, but I usually pluck it before it gets long. – CherryBlossom

I have a long and white eyebrow hair. I keep plucking it, but it always grows back white. The rest of my eyebrows are still their natural colour. – Petal

I get one very long thin blonde hair growing out of a tiny mark on my lower back. I pull it out and it always comes back and grows so fast! Lucky it's light-coloured but [it] still freaks me out each time! – duality

This is weird but I used to get this one single long and thin hair on my neck, just below my chin. It was like a cat hair and really soft. I [used to] pull it out and it used to grow back. I haven't seen it in years though. I don't know [what] its growth cycle is. I'm sure the phantom hair will be back! – Pink_Sugar

I get little patches of hair on my fingers and toes (it looks super weird) and I also have a mole on my chin that always decides to grow a single, long, thick hair. – Coconut Jayne
 

Have you experienced random hair growth in strange places on your body?

Main image credit: @thandieandkay