Does rate of beard growth largely relate to stress?

[kenny1999]

My beard normally grows slowly and I like to keep checking, most of the time I don't find any new beard after 2 or 3 days of complete shaving. However, one day I was very stressed, angry and depressed and then I could find new beard only one day after shaving. I wonder if rate of beard growth largely relate to stress?

[TheVat]

Absolutely!  If stress is extreme, like being thrown in a dungeon in chains, follicular hair production increases tenfold.  You will have a full beard in about three days.  That's why dungeon dwellers in  magazine cartoons always have long beards.  There is a similar effect with young women who are locked up in high towers, except that it's head hair instead of facial hair.  The hair grows quite long and more rope-like.  

[npts2020]

4 hours ago, TheVat said:

Absolutely!  If stress is extreme, like being thrown in a dungeon in chains, follicular hair production increases tenfold.  You will have a full beard in about three days.  That's why dungeon dwellers in  magazine cartoons always have long beards.  There is a similar effect with young women who are locked up in high towers, except that it's head hair instead of facial hair.  The hair grows quite long and more rope-like.

Citation? I was always under the impression that stress caused slower growth of all types of hair due to increased corticosterone levels hindering that growth.

[exchemist]

6 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

My beard normally grows slowly and I like to keep checking, most of the time I don't find any new beard after 2 or 3 days of complete shaving. However, one day I was very stressed, angry and depressed and then I could find new beard only one day after shaving. I wonder if rate of beard growth largely relate to stress?

There seems to be a link between sleep and rate of beard growth: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3442272/

I’m not sure whether this might indicate any link to stress though. 

[TheVat]

9 hours ago, npts2020 said:

Citation? I was always under the impression that stress caused slower growth of all types of hair due to increased corticosterone levels hindering that growth.

Post was in jest.  Was young women locked up in high towers not sufficient clue?  

[npts2020]

14 hours ago, TheVat said:

Post was in jest.  Was young women locked up in high towers not sufficient clue?  

I thought it might be but sarcasm doesn't necessarily translate to print very well and there are those who would believe such a thing...

[Sensei]

Some mortals say that when I read some nonsense on scienceforums.net, I get yet another white hair on my beard..

[joigus]

I'd say that your feel of how slowly something grows largely depends on how often and how intently you observe it.

Remember that saying, 'it's like watching grass grow'?

[exchemist]

On 8/14/2023 at 6:03 AM, npts2020 said:

Citation? I was always under the impression that stress caused slower growth of all types of hair due to increased corticosterone levels hindering that growth.

 Grimm J & Grimm W : Rapunzel .

[Genady]

4 hours ago, Sensei said:

Some mortals say that when I read some nonsense on scienceforums.net, I get yet another white hair on my beard..

Can't be true. There are only several thousand hairs in a man's beard. 

[iNow]

I thought stress made hair fall out. Wouldn't more vigorous growth be rather opposite to that?

[exchemist]

23 hours ago, TheVat said:

Post was in jest.  Was young women locked up in high towers not sufficient clue?  

Incidentally, I had not previously realised rapunzel is the name of a plant, a bellflower once grown in Continental Europe for its leaves and root, but which also has pretty flowers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanula_rapunculus

[TheVat]

 

53 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Incidentally, I had not previously realised rapunzel is the name of a plant, a bellflower once grown in Continental Europe for its leaves and root, but which also has pretty flowers

I knew that!  (looks smug, inspects fingernails) 

I stayed at a B&B long ago where a lunch was also served, and the proprietor grew rampion in the garden, and sliced the root into salad.  Like radish, but I found it more flavorful.

1 hour ago, iNow said:

I thought stress made hair fall out. Wouldn't more vigorous growth be rather opposite to that?

Tobacco use is another one.  Decreases blood flow and oxygen to the follicle.  Heavy smoking is linked with androgenetic alopecia.

[exchemist]

17 minutes ago, TheVat said:

 

I knew that!  (looks smug, inspects fingernails) 

I stayed at a B&B long ago where a lunch was also served, and the proprietor grew rampion in the garden, and sliced the root into salad.  Like radish, but I found it more flavorful.

Tobacco use is another one.  Decreases blood flow and oxygen to the follicle.  Heavy smoking is linked with androgenetic alopecia.

Also, carrying a sculling boat on your head, as I used to do in my younger days. And driving open topped sports cars, which I also did..... 

Or maybe it was just the testosterone levels implicit in both activities that is responsible....

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by exchemist

[Sensei]

5 hours ago, iNow said:

I thought stress made hair fall out. Wouldn't more vigorous growth be rather opposite to that?

 

Here stressed women clean everything, plates, kitchen, etc. So if the kitchen looks great, it means that the woman is very stressed....

No joke.. just life.. just observation..

 

[iNow]

I don’t think that has much to do with being female. Many of us try to redirect anxiety into useful outputs and improving our surroundings. I do it, too. Turn the stress into something positive… though accelerated beard growth doesn’t seem to be one of those things. 

[CharonY]

On 8/15/2023 at 8:14 AM, exchemist said:

Incidentally, I had not previously realised rapunzel is the name of a plant, a bellflower once grown in Continental Europe for its leaves and root, but which also has pretty flowers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanula_rapunculus

I think there are some different interpretations of Grimm's folktale where basically Rapunzel's mother wanted to eat the plant from the neighboring garden (which belonged to a sorceress).

The plant in question could have been either Feldsalat (Valerianella locusta) or the mentioned Campanula rapunculus. Often folks that it may refer to the former, as it likely was more commonly available, but I think it has never been really clear as "Rapunzel" could have referred to a range of salad plants.

[J.C.MacSwell]

On 8/15/2023 at 12:29 PM, exchemist said:

Also, carrying a sculling boat on your head, as I used to do in my younger days. And driving open topped sports cars, which I also did..... 

Or maybe it was just the testosterone levels implicit in both activities that is responsible....

 

You spelled complicit wrong!😀