Different Hair

Older woman with a short hair style — Photo: Rade Kovac/Shutterstock

Q: I noticed that for some reason, the hair on the right side of my head seems to be thinner than on the left side. I have hair a few inches long that covers my ears, and it's the type of hair that if grown long will start to curl. But at its present length it isn't long enough to curl. For some reason, the hair on the left side of my head is a lot easier to manage since it effortlessly covers my ear and is nice and thick and just looks right. But then on the right side of my head, it's harder to get it looking as good as on the left side.

Now, I know you're probably thinking that whoever cut my hair last must have just not cut it right, but, you see, I use this device called RoboCut to cut my hair. I don't know if you know what that is, but it's this thing that works like a vacuum that sucks your hair up and has blades inside it and you can set it to a certain length and then you just run it all around over your whole head and it cuts all your hair the same length. So anyway, I don't think that's the issue because all my hair is, or should be, the same length. However, I also noticed that if I shake my head and "fluff" my hair up, the right side doesn't look as "full" as the left, even though if I pull opposite sides of my hair down to compare the length of them, they seem very much to be the same length.

Also, if I look at myself in the mirror, it does seem like the hair on the left side of my head is thicker than on the right and it seems to "puff" out slightly more while on the right side it seems a little more flat to my head. These differences are hopefully not noticeable unless you were to stare at my head and try to notice it. Or at least I hope it's not noticeable. But it does bother me a great deal, especially because of the fact that it's so much easier to get the left side of my head looking right and I don't have to do anything special at all for it to look good, but then the right side of my head is a big hassle. It's really annoying. I don't understand why it's like this.

Could it be that my hair is actually different in some way on the different sides of my head? Or is it something else?

Also, I don't really ever use a cell phone, and if I do, I use it on the left side of my head. So, if there's any chance that the radiation from a cell phone could be causing an abnormality, that wouldn't be it because the problem is on the right side of my head and not the left where I would use a phone. Even though, like I said, I never really use a cell phone. I do carry one, but it doesn't have any minutes and all I can do with it is call 911 if I need to and that's it.

So what could be causing this?

A: First of all, I do know what a RoboCut is and as a professional cosmetologist, I can see their appeal but personally feel them to be anathema. They are tools of the devil that must be banished from the world. Okay, so I’m being melodramatic. These mechanical hair-cutting devices can be useful in many situations and can allow a novice to do a passable job on keeping his hair under control.

But this has nothing to do with the issue about which you are writing. As odd as it may seem, your hair is most likely simply “different” on one side from the way it is on the other. This is NOT an uncommon situation. The follicles on our skin from which our hair grows are independent of one another. They may have different growth cycles, wave patterns, texture variations, etc. The variance of these traits is generally small, but areas of the scalp can be dramatically different from the majority in some cases.

Traits like whorls, hair streams, and cowlicks are prime examples of how different growth patterns and traits can vary from area to area on the head. In your case, it seems to be a matter of differing levels of hair density on one side versus the other. This means that there are more hairs per square inch of scalp on the “thicker” side, and fewer on the side that lays flatter.

As for the “cause” it is likely simply a matter of genetics. Your hair often changes in stages as you grow older. It can alter in virtually any characteristic as you age. Sometimes you lose pigment, as when going gray, or your hair can change texture or wave pattern, and your hair can thin (as with male pattern baldness). In your case, either your hair has always been less dense on one side or grew that way over the years as you matured.

There’s really no cause for concern unless you note continued thinning of the hair in that area. If this occurs, or if there is any scalp irritation, talk to your doctor about possible causes.

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