Hair Biology

• Biology of the hair follicle

  To understand why we lose hair we first need to understand the biology of the hair and hair follicle. Our skin acts as a barrier and is the primary organ through which we interact with the external world. Hairs (or pili; pilus in the singular) are characteristic of mammals. The hair consists of two parts – the follicle which is beneath the skin and hair shaft which is the part above the skin.

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• Why do we need hair?

  In all mammals hair works as a temperature regulator in association with muscles in the skin. If the outside temperature is cold, the arrector pili muscles pull the hair strands upright, creating pockets that trap air. This trapped air provides a warm, insulating layer next to the skin. If the temperature outside is warm, the muscles relax and the hair becomes flattened against the body, releasing

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• Types of Hair

  Hair can vary in shape, length, diameter, texture, and color. The cross-section of the hair may be circular, triangular, irregular, or flattened, influencing the curl of the hair. The texture of hair can be coarse as it is in whiskers or fine as it is in younger children. Hair color Hair types are classified on the basis of structure/size, color, ethnicity, anatomical regions etc. The human hai

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• How does Hair Grow?

  If you do not cut your hair then you can grow it quite long, but there is an upper limit to the maximum length that you can grow your scalp hair. There are various papers that examine the time duration for scalp hair follicles are actively producing a hair fiber. The most frequently quoted time period is 1000 days (2-6 YEARS), but this figure is a rough approximation. The time duration of anage

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