Men and women lose their hair for different reasons and most of us are left feeling self-conscious and confused about how to find real solutions.
Most of us actually like our hair, even thought it’s often not the way we would like it to be, or it’s a constant source of frustration — nothing worse than a bad hair day. We often spend a lot of time either thinking about how to wear it or taking care of it. Hair care products are a HUGE industry, no real surprise there. But, what do you do when you realize you are losing more hair than you are growing? Yes, girls and women lose hair everyday too.
First, some Hair Anatomy and Physiology (you knew I had to write something about this).
Hair is a structure that originates from hair follicles in the dermis. The entire hair structure consists of the hair follicle, sebaceous gland, hair muscles (arrector pili), and in some instances the apocrine gland. Hair is a keratinized structure that is pushed upward from the hair follicle. Growth of the hair is centered in the bulb (or base) of the hair follicle and the hair under goes changes as it is pushed outward.
Hair has been found to go through cyclic phases identified as anagen — the growth phase, catagen — the atrophy phase, and telogen — the resting phase. This hair photo is human hair magnified 3600 times. A vascular network at the site of the follicular bulb nourishes and maintains the hair follicle. Melanocytes are found in the bulb and are responsible for the color of the hair.
The hair muscles — the arrector pili, located under the sebaceous gland provides a temperature regulation function by contracting and reducing the skin surface area that is available for the dissipation of body heat. (Those little muscles cause what we call ‘goose bumps’ or ‘goose flesh’ when you get the “chills”).
- Get Info on Re-Grow Massage Oil – It Promotes Healthy Hair Growth and Protects Against age-related Hair Loss – from our friends at Native Remedies. Quality products all the time! ~ Amy, RN ~
- Stress and Hair Loss
- The Biology of Hair Loss
- Genetics and Hair Loss
- What You Eat Can Effect Your Hair
- Hair Loss, Myths and Facts
- Hair Loss – Know the Facts
- Hair Loss in Women
Check out those hair articles and videos. For Eric’s Hair Tips or for the other ‘Hair‘ article, go there…