Hair shaft is consisted of three layers: cuticle, cortex and in certain cases medulla. Flat and square-shaped cuticle cells are adhered tightly to the cortex cells proximally.

hair cuticle

The rest of the hair, which is anchored in the follicle, lies below the surface of the skin and is referred to as the hair root. The hair root ends deep in the dermis at the hair bulb, and includes a layer of mitotically active basal cells called the hair matrix.

The hair shaft is formed by three layers. The innermost layer of the hair shaft is named the medulla. It is seen only in large and thick hairs. The middle layer of the hair shaft is called the cortex, made of keratin fibers….HAIR STRUCTURE.

How To Determine Your Hair Type?

1. Straight Hair. If your hair falls flat from the roots to the tips, you have straight hair.
2. Wavy Hair. Wavy hair lies between straight and curly.
3. Curly Hair. Check if your hair strands have an ‘S’ pattern.
4. Coily Hair. Coily hair follows a ‘z’ pattern.

The four phases of hair growth include anagen, catagen, telogen, and exogen. Each phase lasts for a different length of time.

follicle

Anatomy of a follicle A hair follicle is a tunnel-shaped structure in the epidermis (outer layer) of the skin. Hair starts growing at the bottom of a hair follicle. The root of the hair is made up of protein cells and is nourished by blood from nearby blood vessels.

Pulling out hair by your root may damage your follicle temporarily, but a new bulb will eventually form, and new hair will grow again through that follicle. According to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, it may take a few months or more than a year in some cases.

On the bright side, in four to eight weeks of not pulling, a full set can grow out. Follicle damage is usually not permanent and can take about two to four years to recover while waiting for the new, “normal” hairs to grow from the healed follicle.

Club hairs are an end product of final hair growth and feature a bulb of keratin (protein) at the root tip of a strand. This bulb keeps the hair in the follicle until it sheds and the hair growth cycle starts over.

Tweezing is an economical and easy way to get rid of stray hairs. It may not, however, always be the safest or most effective way to rid yourself of unwanted fuzz on your face and body. And plucking hair may even stimulate growth rather than diminish it (more on this later).

Plucking can traumatize the hair follicle, and repeated trauma to any follicle can cause infection, scar formation or possibly lead to bald patches.”

When you see full-length hairs on your pillow or in your shower drain, they are probably club hairs. The hairs in your brush may be club hairs, or they may be broken hairs. You can tell it is a club hair by the bulb shape at the root, usually light in color. Club hairs should react to hair products, dye, etc.

If the doctor gently tugs on some hairs on your scalp and four or more hairs come out, you probably have telogen effluvium. Also, the hairs will look like hairs in the telogen phase — they will have a white bulb at the end that was in the scalp, and will not have a gel-like covering around that end of the hair.

Studies show it may help grow hair in 10 to 20 percent of those who use it, and may slow the rate of hair loss for 90 percent, according to the AMA. When it works, it appears to prolong the growing stage of the hair growth cycle, enlarge the follicles, and cause follicles at rest to grow.