What You Need To Know About The Biology Of Thinning Hair
Some people may experience a great deal of stress when they realize that they are starting to lose their hair. To deal with this stress it is important to remove some of the uncertainty around the process of hair loss and also to realize that there are ways to stop thinning hair.What is happening that makes the hair fall out is very useful knowledge.
Fundamentally, there are two components of hair.The hair shaft and the follicle.Hair loss is affected by the first part, the follicle.The location of the follicle is within the skin just below the scalp.The dermal papilla is located within the hair follicle at the base of the hair root.The dermal papilla receives nourishment from the bloodstream to produce new hair. Most programs to stop thinning hair are directed at maintaining or correcting how the dermal papilla functions. This is why some programs provide a hair loss supplement as part of the treatment.
How come the dermal papilla is important to hair growth?It is important because it contains receptors for male hormones and androgens. Androgens are hormones that regulate hair growth and they can cause the hair follicle to become increasingly smaller and in turn, the hairs that are produced become finer.Genetic inclination to this problem is more common in some people than others.Eventually hair growth is cut off completely as the follicle shrinks.
Sebum is basically a natural conditioner produced by the hair follicle.Sebum production increases after puberty and then decreases during the rest of life.Sebum production decreases less in men than in women.Sebum production is an important consideration, because some treatments require a hair regrowth shampoo that cleans sebum from the scalp.
There is a growth cycle that the hair follicles go through.The cycle has three phases
1. Anagen
2. Catagen
3. Telogen
The growth phase is Anagen.Hair grows up past the scalp in this phase. Hair grows at about 10 cm. in a year and the follicle will be in this phase from two to six years.At the end of the Anagen phase, a transitional phase called the Catagen phase is started.The hair follicle shrinks in this phase which lasts about one or two weeks.At any particular time there is about three percent of hair in this phase. The lower part of the follicle is destroyed and the hair no longer grows.This is sometimes called a club hair and it is basically just attached to the root.The resting stage is next and it is called the Telogen phase which lasts five or six weeks. Ten to fifteen percent of hair is in this phase.In this phase the hair follicle is completely at rest and 25 to 100 hairs in this phase will normally fall out each day.
The hair follicle starts the Anagen phase again after the Telogen phase.New growth starts at this point and if the old hair hasn’t fallen out yet, the new hair will push it out.Androgens or hormones may have affected the hair follicle and a problem occurs. The hair follicle may have been affected so much by these compounds that it may have shrunk too much to be able to produce new hairs. Sebum may have been caused to harden by the hormones and this will block new hair growth.
It is important to understand this biology of hair growth when trying to stop thinning hair. Any course of action that can be taken, with the exception of surgical procedures, will act upon the biology of the hair follicle and try to either stimulate new hair growth or at least maintain the follicle so that natural hair regrowth will continue.As more follicles become completely dormant there is less chance of regrowth, so it is important to start a course of treatment quickly.
