Leg hair is hair that grows on the legs of humans, generally appearing after the onset of
puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
. For aesthetic reasons and for some
sports
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
, people
shave,
wax, epilate, or use
hair removal creams to remove the hair from their legs: see
leg shaving
Leg shaving is the practice of removing leg hair by shaving the hair off using a razor or electric shaver. In addition, some people remove leg hair using waxing, sugaring, depilatories, epilators or other depilation devices, or lasers, bu ...
.
The current
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
for world's longest leg hair belongs to Jason Allen of Tucson, Arizona at 8.84 inches (22.46 cm).
Growth
The real action of leg hair takes place below the skin or the epidermis. The cells that are in the hair follicles divide and multiply. When the space fills up in the follicle it pushes older cells out and that is what becomes the leg hair. After the older cells become hard and leave the follicle, they form a hair shaft. The hair shaft is mostly made up of dead tissue and a protein that is known as keratin.
It is said that hair growth occurs during the "growing" phase of the follicle, and then retained as dead club hair during the "resting" phase. The old club hair might be lost within the following "growing" phase.
Difference between men and women
Men generally have more body hair than women, due to higher levels of androgens. Three different types of hair are present on the human body. Body hair, or androgenic hair, is the terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is differentiated from the head hair and less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in color. The growth of androgenic hair is related to the level of androgens and the density of androgen receptors in the dermal papillae. Both must reach a threshold for the proliferation of hair follicle cells.
Protein involved in hair growth
Fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5) is a secreted signaling protein. The expression of this protein is detected in hair follicles from the mice that scientists have experimented on. The hair follicles are localized to the outer root sheath during one of the phases of the hair growth cycle. Such experiments conclude that the protein FGF5 functions as an inhibitor when pertaining to hair elongation.
Seasonal changes are also known to affect hair growth. For instance, one experiment had concluded that the rate of hair growth for men and their beards was lowest in January and February and increased from March to July.
See also
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Beard
A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, beards are most commonly seen on pubescent or adult males, though women have been observed with beards ...
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Facial hair
Facial hair is hair grown on the face, usually on the chin, cheeks, bottom lip and upper lip region. It is typically a secondary sex characteristic of human males. Men typically start developing facial hair in the later stages of puberty or adol ...
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Arm hair
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Pubic hair
Pubic hair (or pubes , ) is terminal hair, terminal body hair that is found in the sex organ, genital area and pubic region of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs, and sometimes at the top of the inside ...
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Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...
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Hirsutism
Hirsutism is excessive body hair on parts of the body where hair is normally absent or minimal. The word is from early 17th century: from Latin ''hirsutus'' meaning "hairy". It usually refers to a male pattern of hair growth in a female that ma ...
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Trichophilia
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Foot hair
References
Further reading
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*Martinez, Carla. "Why Are Men Hairier than Women?" Metode, metode.org/metodes-whys-and-wherefores/why-are-men-hairier-than-women.html.
*"Beards, Baldness and Body Hair - Why Men Are Hairy." Not-For-Profit Health Insurance, www.cbhs.com.au/health-well-being-blog/blog-article/2017/05/31/why-men-are-hairy
{{Human hair
Lower limb anatomy