Hairstyles Advice

A hair can be described as a slender, thread-like appendage from a follicle in the skin of mammals. Hair grows from a follicle. The walls of the follicle form the outer root sheath of the hair. The lower part of the follicle broadens out to form the hair bulb which contains the germinal matrix, the source of hair growth. Hair is comprised of strong structural protein called keratin.

A hair is a specialized projection of part of the skin called the epidermis. It can be segmented into two distinct parts, the hair follicle and the hair shaft. First is hair follicle is a small, curved pit buried deep in the fat of the scalp and is the point from which the hair grows. The total number of hair follicles for an adult human is calculated at 5 million - with 1 million on the head, of which 100,000 alone cover the scalp.

The hair follicle is well supplied with tiny blood vessels and the blood passing through them nourishes the growing portion. Hair follicles grow in reversed cycles. One cycle can be broken down into three phases. Anagen - Growth Phase, catagen and telogen. Anagen active growing phase of the hair, a period of activity of the papilla and germinal matrix. This stage may last from a few months to various years. It is at this stage of formation at the base of the follicle which the hair’s thickness, shape and texture is concluded.

At the end of the Anagen phase the hairs enters into a Catagen phase that lasts about one or two weeks, during the Catagen phase the hair follicle constricts to about 1/6 of the normal length. The lower part is destroyed and the dermal papilla breaks away to rest below.

Telogen terminal stage, when there is no additional growth or activity at the papilla. The follicle starts to shrink, and completely separates from the papilla area. The relaxing phase follows the catagen phase and usually lasts about 5-6 weeks. During this time the hair does not grow but remians attached to the follicle while the dermal papilla stays in a resting phase below.

After the telogen stage the cycle returns to anagen and the root germ embarks to grow downwards and forms a new bulb around the dermal papilla. It is the lower end of the germ which forms the new bulb, producing a new hair. The upper part of the germ forms the new cells which protract the follicle below the club hair. The new hair may push the old hair out. This outcomes in moulting. Human hair, however, develops at an uneven rate.

Filed under: Hair Care Advice