General information
Chest hair is the hair that is on the chest (especially in men). There are three different types of hair in humans: lanugo hair, vellus hair and terminal hair. The chest hair belongs to the terminal hair, which is thicker, firmer and more pigmented than the rest of the body hair.
Development of the hairiness
First of all, the hair on the breast in both men and women is vellus hair, i.e. thin, soft and unpigmented, just like the vast majority of body hair. During puberty, however, these hairs continue to develop into terminal hairs in many men, making them a secondary sexual characteristic. The colour of these hairs varies from person to person, but in most cases it corresponds approximately to the colour of the hair on the head.
During puberty, the androgen level (especially the hormone testosterone) rises sharply in men, whereupon various changes take place in the body, including the development of chest hair. For most men this begins at the end of puberty, i.e. around the age of 14, but for some it starts much later, between the ages of 20 and 30, and for others the development of proper breast hair is completely absent. Usually, the darker chest hairs first develop in the middle between the two breasts and then spread out first to the sides and finally up and down.
The extent of the hair growth on the breast depends not only on the hormone level, but above all on genetic disposition and age. The growth of chest hair usually increases with age and reaches its maximum around the age of 60. Consequently, there is a great variability in breast hair, with both bare breasts and breasts completely covered with hair being considered normal in men. In women, it is also possible for breast hair to transform into terminal hair. If this only affects individual hairs, it is usually completely harmless, except for the aesthetic problem that many women have with it, but if larger areas are affected, hormonal disorders are usually responsible.
Chest hair in men
The development of chest hair in men usually begins at the age of 14-16 years under the influence of male sex hormones, especially testosterone. In some cases, the formation of chest hair also begins only between the ages of 20 and 30 or does not occur at all. The growth of chest hair in men increases with age and finds its strongest expression in the sixth decade of life.
The type of hair in men is naturally very different from that of women. Typical locations of increased body hair in men are the chest, the inner thighs, the abdomen and pubic region, and the face (beard hair). In women, there is usually no increased hair in these areas. If, despite everything, there is increased hair growth, this may be an indication of a side effect of medication or other disease.
