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Ear hair is perfectly natural, but the more you have, the more likely you’ll want to get rid of it. This most commonly is a problem among men who might begin to see thick or unruly ear hair as they get older. There are many at home and professional permanent methods of tidying up your ear hair, such as tweezing, wax, and trimming.
Once you reach a certain age, though, this is going to become a long-term part of your grooming practices, and tweezing unwanted hair takes time. It’s best to find a method that you’re comfortable with and that will make your routine easier.
Most people find that purchasing a facial hair trimmer is the most convenient and safest method to trim and get rid of ear hair. Nonetheless, many people still prefer the older methods of plucking or waxing, which remove the hair from the root or follicle. Additionally, those who would like to safely remove unwanted hair and never bother with it again might prefer laser removal or electrolysis.
For those wondering how to remove ear hair safely, here’s an overview of what you should know about your ear hair before you begin removing it, as well as the best methods for safely taming your ear hair problem.
What You Should Consider Before Removing It
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Removing hair from your ear is a purely cosmetic choice to improve your appearance, so please consider the safest method to protect yourself from unnecessary harm or complications.
- It’s dangerous to stick an object too deeply inside of your ear.
- Shaving with a razor might cause ingrown hairs in your ear, which can cause painful infections within the ear.
- Hot wax is also dangerous around the inner ear area and should only be used on the outer ear.
Your best methods will trim the ear hair well above the surface of the skin or to remove the hair from the root. Remember, you need to remove the unwanted hair that you can see.
There are some treatments for ear hair that can be high risk, particularly waxing ear hair with hot wax. It’s important to remember that ear hair isn’t the end of the world. While for many men it’s a pride factor, you don’t want to hurt your ears and you shouldn’t try anything too risky.
The Importance of Ear Hair
We all have fine hair on and around our ears which are there to protect the skin. This hair also keeps anything from reaching our inner ear which may potentially damage the eardrum. These hairs are mostly harmless. They might be fine, soft, and unnoticeable.
The hairs that are just inside of the ear work along with earwax to help keep dirt and debris out of the ear canal, thus protecting the body from potential bacterial infection. In this respect, they are actually a useful part of keeping the body safe.
Hairs that are deeper inside the ear may important function to aid hearing and even helping the body keep its balance, thus playing an important role in spatial reasoning.
As men grow older, many will find that some of their ear hair grows longer or thicker. This ear hair and the hair follicles have always been there. However, changing testosterone levels in the body are probably causing the ears to grow thicker, longer, or coarser hair.
Ear hair not only grows out of the internal areas of the ears, but it can also add a fuzz to your lobes as well. While hair growth patterns are often hereditary, excess ear hair may also be a sign of metabolic disorders, problems in the endocrine system, medications and hormone use, and hair growth conditions, such as hypertrichosis.
Methods for Ear Hair Removal
It can be tempting to remove ear hair in any way you can. However, just removing ear hair willy-nilly can cause damage to the more delicate areas of the ear. It’s a good idea to search out a method and product that you can use consistently without concern for your ear health.
For those who want a simple and quick at-home solution, many agree that trimming and plucking are the best ear hair removal methods. Trimming tends to be the quickest, most convenient, and least painful method to get rid of pesky hair. However, men who trim their ear-hair, either by hand or using a facial hair trimmer, will need to keep up the practice frequently.
The best way to incorporate this into your routine is to invest in a facial hair or ear and nose hair trimmer. Ear hair trimmers have their blades protected inside of a small metal piece. This keeps the blades away from the skin’s surface, and makes sure that nothing gets trimmed too close to the skin. While it won’t be as smooth as plucking, it will almost always be enough to make sure that those hairs aren’t visible. Trimming is something you can add to your weekly grooming routine.
A method that removes the root from the follicle will last a longer time before growing back. This generally includes plucking or waxing. However, this method can be painful and plucking can take a long time.
At Home
- Ear Hair Waxing. Nose and ear waxing will be a quicker removal method than plucking, since you can target many hairs at one time. However, this method can be dangerous to do on your own, and should only be performed on the outer part. You should never wax your ear canals. It’s best not to use hot wax on your own. Instead look for waxing products that don’t require heat or melting.
- Shaving the Ear Lobe. Shaving with a razor is not the ideal at home remedy for ear hair for obvious reasons. The ear is an uneven surface, and it can be easy to cut yourself. Additionally, you risk uncomfortable ingrown hairs on your ears, and the hair will grow back quickly. If you do need to shave the ear, stick to only shaving the lobe and outside. Just be careful not to hurt or damage your skin using a sharp razor on an uneven surface.
- Trimming Ear Hairs. Many consider trimming to be the best at-home option for taking care of your pesky ear hair. Rather than use scissors, this is best done with a facial hair trimmer. These are safe to use around the ears, easy to maneuver, and they don’t pose a danger for the ear canal. Most ear hair trimmers can also be used to trim nose hairs as well.
- Ear Hair Plucking. In most cases, it’s okay to pluck ear hair, as long as you aren’t inserting the tweezers too deeply inside your ear canal. If you intend to pluck a particular ear hair, use tweezers with a good hold, and pinch the hair as close to the base of the strand as you can. This will help to make sure it comes out from the root. A plucked hair can take anywhere from one to eight weeks to grow back. Avoid inserting tweezers too far into the ear canal.
- Topical Hair Removal Products. Hair removal creams or depilatory creams are another option for taking care of visible ear hair. With a cream, you will need to apply the products to hair on the outer ear. The product will free the hair from the follicle, and you can then wipe it away. These should be reserved for hair that grows on the outside of the ear. These creams often contain harsh chemicals, however, and can cause irritation for sensitive skin.
Professional
Laser ear hair removal is an option for those who want to get rid of their ear hair for good without taking any more time for painful tweezing. Those with very hairy outer ears or recurrent ear hair might consider professional laser removal or electrolysis. When you use laser hair removal, the laser sends energy into the skin. As the follicles absorb the energy, they are destroyed and no longer able to produce hair. Laser removal is most effective with darker hair pigment, and electrolysis works well for lighter hair colors. While laser hair removal is a permanent option, it can be expensive and will require anywhere from four to eight sessions.
Professional waxing is also an option for ear hair removal but only on the outer areas of the ear. While it’s not recommended to wax your own ears, as you might risk damaging or scalding delicate parts of the ear, a professional will have a better view and more control over the waxing process. This can be a useful add-on service for men who already frequently have body or facial waxing appointments. Hair normally takes longer to grow back from waxing, beginning its regrowth at around two weeks or even lasting around a month. Again, waxing this close to the ear canal may have some risks.
Man’s Ear Hair Waxing
Ear Hair Removal Tips
- If you’re having trouble seeing your ear hair, use the two mirror reflection method to get a better look at it. Some find it easier to see using a magnifying glass.
- Don’t work in the dark. The key to visibility is a lot of light.
- When plucking hairy ears, use slanted or blunt tweezers to minimize the risk of poking sensitive parts of your ear.
- Stick to plucking just one hair at a time. This will be both safer and more comfortable in the long run.
- Since trimmers can be relatively imprecise, you may also keep a pair of tweezers in your grooming kit for spot treatments and any ear hair that remains visible after trimming.
- If the removal method that you like causes your ears to be dry or flake, moisturize after removal.
When it’s time to remove hair from ears, your removal method can either aim to pull the hair from the follicle for longer lasting results, or trim the hair to make it less visible.
Author
Depending on the day, you’ll find Rebecca in a well thought-out ensemble that she handcrafted herself, or in hiking and rock climbing gear. An avid outdoorswoman, cyclist, and cat lover, Rebecca reminds us all on the Groom+Style team just how much we need to get outdoors. She’s worked in spas and salons off and on before going full-time with the G+S team. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-moses-3158b914b/
