In october my wife and I were in a car crash. Her left arm was broken and needed two plates installed. I had my right femur replaced and my broken right heel surgically worked on. Since then, my wife's injured arm has become hairier with darker hair, and my right leg, from the waist to the ankle has become VERY hairy with long dark hair. (The whole leg) I've asked an orthopedic surgeon about it and he said he had heard of such happening, but had never seen it before. Has anyone else heard of this happening?
Thanks,
Mike

Blood is to hair as fertilizer is to grass.
Any increase in blood supply, especially one that lasts over a long period of time will tend to stimulate increased hair growth and possibly thicken the hairs already in the area experiencing the increased blood supply.

It is common for people whose limbs are in casts to come out with more hair. One can also stimulate hair growth by constant irritation of an area like frequent scratching, or chaffing of the area with clothing constantly rubbing one area.

The bad news is that once a hair has been stimulated into growth, it is unlikely that anything other than permanent hair removal via electrolysis will remove it. Simply removing the stimuli or reducing the blood supply to the area will seldom effect any change in the hairs once they are there.

[ March 30, 2004, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: James W. Walker VII, CPE ]

Thank you for your reply. Maybe I should start scratching the top of my head.