Does shaving one's head make the hair grow thicker?

[legendya]

I'm curious if anyone has shaved their head and experienced thicker and/or faster regrowth. My hair has been thinning since I chemically straightened my hair around 2-3 years ago. The sides and front are super scalpy. I'm also considering shaving because my hair is hard to manage.

[neko_kawaii]

I noticed neither faster nor thicker growth and no texture/strand thickness change when I shaved my head, but having it stick to the pillow like velcro is amusing while it lasts.

[Taenarian]

A friend of mine shaved her head in the past, and perhaps will again (she says) but never said anything about her hair growing back thicker. We've talked of this and her motivation was not damage.

[Allychan]

I think it just grows back healthier than the hair you just shaved off, giving the impression it is thicker. Chemical treatments, hair dye and styling take their toll. I considered shaving my head because of the damage from the chemical straightening and Brazilian keratin damage I had but I was not game enough to go through with it, I just randomly microtrim mine as I grow

[lmfbs]

If you've got lots of breakage and grow virgin hair with no breakage, of course your hair will be thicker. Each strand won't be coarser, and you won't grow more hair, but yes, it will be thicker (so long as you don't damage it again causing more breakage, and as long as the damage you've done hasn't prevented your hair from growing).

Think of it this way. If you have 100,000 strands on your head, and 50,000 are damaged and broken off above your shoulders, then you shaved and grow back to past your shoulders without breakage, you'll have 50,000 extra strands at that length. You'd get the same effect if you cut off your hair above your shoulders (above the damage) and grew back, except it would obviously take less time.

However, considering your damage is so high up, you need to figure out if your follicles are damaged preventing hair growth. If your hair isn't actually growing, shaving isn't going to help.

[legendya]

If you've got lots of breakage and grow virgin hair with no breakage, of course your hair will be thicker. Each strand won't be coarser, and you won't grow more hair, but yes, it will be thicker (so long as you don't damage it again causing more breakage, and as long as the damage you've done hasn't prevented your hair from growing). Think of it this way. If you have 100,000 strands on your head, and 50,000 are damaged and broken off above your shoulders, then you shaved and grow back to past your shoulders without breakage, you'll have 50,000 extra strands at that length. You'd get the same effect if you cut off your hair above your shoulders (above the damage) and grew back, except it would obviously take less time. However, considering your damage is so high up, you need to figure out if your follicles are damaged preventing hair growth. If your hair isn't actually growing, shaving isn't going to help. I agree with your argument; it's logical. I just started wondering about it when others told me the opposite.

[Mesmerise]

Logically shaving your head isn't going to increase the number of hair follicles, and nor will it actually change the hair's structure. The ends of each hair will be blunt, and your hair may appear thicker as it grows initially, and if you treat your hair well as it grows and don't damage it, the resulting hair WILL appear better than the hair you've got now. But you won't actually have more, and it won't be thicker (unless your hair is thinned due to damage, in which case it would have thickened up naturally anyway after you stopped the damage).

[MaryO]

I have also wondered about this- I recall reading somewhere that mexicans shave they babies heads in order for them to have full and thick hair. The idea sounds plausible if I think about other body hair that is shaved and comes back thicker!

[Chromis]

DIdn't do a thing for mine other than make it really hard to deal with when it grew back in. I'd never do so voluntarily.

[didrash]

Nope - does not add hair or speed up growth. And you have to wear a hat in the sun or your scalp will get sunburn - been there :).

[SerinaDaith]

I have said that either I am sticking with growing long or that I'll go back to having a buzz cut, it was so easy to take care of, I wouldn't say that the texture or manageability was improved at all beyond the fact that it wasn't chemically or heat treated. If the goal is for long hair I will say that awkward growing for about two years can be a pain. If I ever did go super short it would be because I was going to stay super short for ever. The shaggy mullet and crazy curls which I got, with less curl then you have was a lot to deal with.

[faellen]

I have also wondered about this- I recall reading somewhere that mexicans shave they babies heads in order for them to have full and thick hair. The idea sounds plausible if I think about other body hair that is shaved and comes back thicker!

That "other" body hair doesn't actually grow back thicker when shaved... It just appears thick due to the blunt ends.

[kdaniels8811]

My hair came back much thinner... Of course, shaving my head was due to chemo...

[marykatz]

I have also wondered about this- I recall reading somewhere that mexicans shave they babies heads in order for them to have full and thick hair. The idea sounds plausible if I think about other body hair that is shaved and comes back thicker!

This is done in the Hindu culture as well. It is interesting that two cultures believe in this.

[leilasahhar]

My dad is from Iran and I guess they do this a lot there with their children. When I was a toddler he said he shaved my hair to make it grow in thicker, and I have extremely thick hair. My mother has blonde fine hair and even though I took after my dads coloring It is a lot thicker than others in my family :) but im not sure if it matters how old you are when you shave it though...

[McFearless]

No. Shaving your head is a haircut, not an alteration of your hair follicles. Every hair on your head will have a blunt end, giving the appearance of slightly thicker hair without layers, but you will still grow the exact same hair. Shaving your hair as an adult is also much different from when you are an infant undergoing rapid growth and development.

[Vintagecoilylocks]

To this day people believe that all hair grows at the same time. A baby's hair will naturally thicken up as each folicle finally produces hair. Its just that it does not all come in at the same time thus given the appearance of thin hair. Shaving has no effect other than removing damaged hair. Then you still have to wait for the cycle of each folicle to reproduce new hair.
You could just wait out the damage and take good care or if you want cut above the damage.

[Medievalmaniac]

I just wanted to add that my experience has been that shaving my head did not lead to thicker hair. Definitely curlier -- but that could easily just be from the chemo. The thickness is the same as it was prior to shaving.