Human Molting and Modern Society

It’s that time of year again! At least for those of us up here in the Northern hemisphere. As you know, while we all molt, the time we molt and the number of molts we go through can vary depending upon where one lives, and sometimes even from person to person. While the majority of people molt twice a year in Spring and Autumn (sometime early, sometimes late), like with anything else, genetics can be a factor. Some people living in the arid regions are known to molt up to six or even eight times a year (though quite rare), while some living in the colder areas are known to molt only once. Of course, there are the genetic complications that come with the molting process itself, which I won’t get into.

While there tons of articles, blogs, and social media posts ranging from the science of it, to the art (people posing during their molt, or painting and preserving them afterward) and sport of it (from molting being in the Olympics, to the IML (International Molting League)), I thought I would share my own personal thoughts about it, especially in regards to how advanced society has become. Life as a molting human in today’s world seems as if society has molted and evolved around us, yet like every other organism on this planet, we still retain this natural, primordial aspect as if we’re stuck in an evolutionary molt ourselves.

It’s the early morning of October 20, 2026 as I write this (unfortunately taking time away from working on my first book, but I just had to get these thoughts out of my head), and once again, for the 55th year in a row (with my first molt happening the April before I turned 1), I can already feel certain areas of my body begin to tighten. Right now it’s the skin on the back of my hands and my calves. As for me, I’m a Bimolter Cis male molting in March and October like clockwork just like most everyone, (I know plenty of Bimolting Bi females and males, including gay and lesbian molters). And like plenty of folks, there has been a year here and there where I only molted once a year. Or that one time in my thirties where I molted three times in one year! That was quite shocking and unexpected, let me tell you (those of you who have experienced this know what I’m talking about).

While molting is a natural part of who we are and we’re all used to it (except for the one and two year olds going through their first or second molts which can be quite shocking for them), not everyone likes it. It can even be quite painful for some. It can very be awkward and embarrassing as a teen, even affecting one’s self esteem and confidence (I know it did for me). Nothing’s worse than molting during high school. I’m sure we can all agree to that! (Does anyone actually enjoy high school?) The only good thing about molting is that one you reach your late fifties/early sixties, the times between molts grows, until you eventually stop molting altogether. It’s almost like menopause (shouldn’t it be called femopause?).

As for the experience itself, I personally find it a mix of enjoyable, weird, and funny. Most other organisms that molt don’t have the level of cognition and awareness we do, be it a snake, cicada, tarantula, lobster, duck, or dog (although the latter two only shed their feathers and fur, so it’s not quite the same as losing all of your skin) . They go through the entire process without a single thought about it. Meanwhile, we’re completely aware of the process, and depending upon your personality, you could love it or hate it, or a mix of both. For as many times as I’ve molted, I still find it absurd that we shed our skins. But I kinda like it. It’s uncomfortable, sure, but I love the feeling of coming out of my molt. It’s like peeling dried skin after a sunburn has healed. Like how you get that really long piece to peel off? Like that, but a thousand times better.

Obviously, like most everyone I’m sure, what I don’t like about it is the 72 hour period when we’re at our most vulnerable. You can’t really do anything at that point. I’m not going to give a science lesson as we all know how our bodies and the molting process work, but I can provide a brief summary I guess, as I know some folks out there may not quite understand the why and how of why we molt:

Pre-molt: About three days prior we lose the desire to eat and drink so that our bladders and bowels are empty during the molt. As you know, this is an automatic process we have no control over. If we didn’t do this, we would be at risk of severe infection or even death should we urinate or defecate during the molting process. We also slowly begin to lose our vision, since the molt will peel away the outer layer of our corneas). Our skin becomes numb, as it too slowly begins to detach from the new underlying epidermis, causing lethargy and extreme itchiness. The tiredness and loss of vision I don’t mind so much, but the itchiness is the worst! Fortunately, they make over the counter drugs like my favorite Molt-Be-Gone! (this is not an endorsement for the product) which not only gets rid of the itch, but helps speed up the process, but only by a few hours. It’s kinda like that expensive white cream you put on cold sores.

The Molt: We’re now blind, as the outer layer of our eyes will soon peel away with the molt. It’s like cleaning the smears off of a smartphone or window. Our movements are also very restricted as if we’re made of cardboard. It takes a lot of effort to breathe or to move a muscle. It’s quite boring during this stage, where you’re pretty much stuck in whatever position you were prior to your skin fully stiffening. Most of us simply go to sleep and wake up in our molt, unable to move very much. This doesn’t have too much of an impact on getting out of the husk, as we’re still able to bend, but with much difficulty. Our old outer layer of skin (epidermis) has now completely detached from the new epidermal layer that grew underneath, thus forming the husk. Then comes that sunburned-skin peeling moment when the molt beings to crack along our shoulders and spine and you can slowly begin to pull yourself out of your molt. It’s such a relief. This can be a painful moment for some, too. That’s just genetics for you. Fortunately aspirin or ibuprofen works well, or in some cases, people need to be hospitalized and given morphine while they molt.

Post-Molt: By the fifth day (from pre-molt to molt) most people are outside of their molt. This is when we and our new epidermis are most vulnerable. We’re advised to remain indoors as our new skin is susceptible to infections and our nerve endings are exposed and extremely sensitive during this time. Of course, there are those who refuse to ignore sound advice, which often leads to accidents and unnecessary hospitalizations, putting a strain on healthcare resources (shout out to all the overworked nurses out there). It takes a good day, sometimes two for the new epidermis to finally toughen like our old skin. Our vision slowly begins to return as well, gradually going from absolutely darkness, to milky, blurry, and then finally perfect 20/20 vision for the first few days post-molt, until returning to our pre-molt baseline levels. By the third day we’re practically back to normal. Our finger and toenails slowly begin to regrow along with our hair.

And unfortunately, some people do pass away and never come out of their molt. It’s sad, but, c’est la vie, such is life, unfortunately. Fortunately, it’s rare. I don’t know what the number is, but it’s like… 1 in 100,000 people or something pass away during the molting process. So even though it’s rare, the chance of dying or another complication is always there. Just like anything in life. There’s no guarantee you walk out the front door. So molting is always a bit anxious for everyone, especially as you get older. I get more nervous every year myself.

But all of this you already know. I’ll finish up with my thoughts about molting in modern society:

Work, Education, and Entertainment: Human molting impacts many sectors. Since the pre- to post-molt process takes a week, we all miss school and work time. For kids, this means make-up homework in some cases once they’re done molting. For adults, and in terms of their jobs, most employers try to work around molting, making sure if an employee is molting at home, they have someone who isn’t molting cover for them. But it’s no guarantee, just like molting: one year you might molt in early March, then next year it’s late April. Sometimes employees will molt during the same week. Airlines and plenty of businesses have been known to shut down completely because all of their employees are molting. Even the president of the United States is MIA for a week with the white house on lock down while he or she molts. Entertainment and sports are also impacted. For example, NFL teams have had to double the number of players as plenty of quarterbacks, wide receivers, and other offensive and defensive players have been known to molt at the same time during the regular season.

MTO (Molting Time Off): One of the benefits to working certain jobs is MTO. Most employees are entitled to this benefit by their second or third year on the job. It works just like PTO and vacation time: employees will not lose their pay for up to five business days max.

Business Impact: Molting does have an impact on business, which is often slow from March to April, and October to November, with May and especially December seeing peak sales as consumers return from molting. Not only that, but society has its post-molt celebrations running in May and December. This is a tradition that dates back thousands of years. Our family can’t wait to attend this year’s Pennsylvania Annual Molting Festival. Every state and country across the world celebrates the molting experience in their own ways. There’s even prizes and awards given for Best Molt. People can get quite competitive! They are always coming up with new ways to pose while molting. They’ll even form human pyramids as they molt, creating massive works of art with their husks! Of course, there are molting cards you can buy to send to your loved one with teens’ 16th molt being a big deal. Newlyweds try to time their first time molting together around the same time. It’s an often joyous time with plenty of parties, festivals, food, drink etc. Lots of t-shirts, pins, hats, all kind of molt merch imaginable.

Molting Movies & Shows: We can’t forget all the movies and tv series made about molting! From the kids’ animations to comedy and horror: Moltbusters, Day of the Molters, Death by Molting, Little Shop of Molters, Molt and Molter, The Big Molter, Mrs. Doubtmolter, Monty Python and the Holy Molt, Supermolt, and more. And of course plenty of anime too: Molter x Molter, Full Metal Molter, Attack on Molter, Molting Note, Molt Psycho 100, Neon Genesis Molting, My Hero Molter, Demon Molter, Jujutsu Molter, Molting Man, and so many more.

MTEs (Molt Technicians): One thing about human ingenuity and tech are all the inventions to help with the molting process, especially for the disabled and elderly who have difficult coming out of their molts. Fortunately there are trained MTE’s (Molt Technician) to help those in need during the molting process. Of course, there are both medical facilities and businesses alike that have Molting Pods that you can use either if you have medical issues, or if you have the money so you can molt in comfort and possibly with a medical professional nearby.

One good thing about modern tech and human ingenuity are all the inventions that people have come up with to either profit off of molting, or to help those going through it. For instance, when our skin has hardened and we’re in the molt itself, we can hardly do anything. It gets quite boring! You can hold your phone or video game controller, but you can’t move your fingers precisely. Some folks have come up with some interesting inventions that can help with that.

One of the other issues is the amount of trash molts that we discard on an annuall basis. There are 8 billion of us and counting, but fortunately our old husks are biodegradable. The only problem is that people will often throw their husks on the streets, hang them from electrial wires, throw them in the streams and rivers, you-name-it. But like I mentioned, they do eventually break down, but they can be a nuisance until they do. Our family, like most sane folks leave our molts in the backyard so they degrade naturally into the soil. Many parents like to keep the molts of their kids’ first molt. I think I still have mine somewhere. I know my wife and I have kept our son’s first molt. Some people keep all their molts, and like I said in the beginning, others will paint them, or preserve them, or pose a certain way while molting to turn their molt into art.

Then you have all the various religious groups who think there’s a spiritual reason as to why we molt, political groups based around molting, discrimination and prejudice against those who molt more or less than twice a year, and those who are trying to genetically alter the genes involved in molting. But there’s enough of that stuff out there to read, I won’t get into all that here.

Now that I think of it, I don’t know why I’ve never made a video on my YouTube channel about this topic! Huh. I just figure it’s so normal and a part of life that who wants to see me go through the molting process. I could timelapse it, I guess. But that’s a lot of work. If I can remember (I hate to take anymore time away from working on my first book) I’ll try to take a photo of my latest molt, I guess. I dunno, we’ll see. After all, it’s really no different than watching someone sleep, going to the bathroom, etc.

Welp, I think I’ve written enough. There are plenty of things I’m sure I didn’t cover, so if I happen to think of them, I’ll update this at that time.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck with your next molt!