puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child
Biologically, a child (plural children) is a human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species
In biology
Biology is the natur ...
. For aesthetic reasons and for some sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive
Competition is a rivalry
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. ...
, people , 
wax
Waxes are a diverse class of organic compound
In chemistry
Chemistry is the study of the properties and behavior of . It is a that covers the that make up matter to the composed of s, s and s: their composition, structure, prope ...
, epilate, or use hair removal creams
A chemical depilatory is a Cosmetics, cosmetic preparation used to Hair removal, remove hair from the skin. Common active ingredients are salts of thioglycolic acid and thiolactic acids. These compounds break the disulfide bonds in keratin and also ...
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 (epilation), sugaring, depilation, depilatories, epilator, epilators or ...
.
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 reference book
A reference work is a work, ...
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
*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, usually only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Some women with hirsutism
Hirsutism is e ...
* Facial hair
Facial hair is hair
Hair is a protein filament
In biology
Biology is the natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their anatomy, physical structure, Biochemistry, chemical processes, Molecular biology, molec ...
* Arm hair
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 h ...
* Pubic hair
Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis ...
* Hair
Hair is a protein filament
In biology
Biology is the natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their anatomy, physical structure, Biochemistry, chemical processes, Molecular biology, molecular interactions, Ph ...
* 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 may refer to a "male" pattern of hair growth that may be a sign of a ...
* Trichophilia
Hair fetishism, also known as hair partialism and trichophilia, is a partialism in which a person sees hair most commonly, head hair as particularly Eroticism, erotic and Sexual arousal, sexually arousing. Arousal may occur from seeing or touching ...
* Foot hair
References
Further reading
* * * *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