Hair...it all begins below the skin
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from February 1991.
Brought to you by
Hair grows from all parts of the body except the palms of the hand and soles of the feet, Wherever hair is found the structure and the growth cycle remain the same. The part of the hair that shows from skin is called the shaft. But it all begins below the skin where each hair is in a pouch like tube called the follicle. At the base of the follicle is the root where it all begins and jetting into the bottom portion of the root lies the papilla, linking the body's blood supply to each hair.
As hair grows, it moves up to the skin's surface and becomes a hard protein called keratin, the same material found in the fingernails and toenails. The process is called keratinization. Hair is kept soft and lubricated by oily secretions from the sebaceous glands. There are tiny clusters of muscles surrounding these glands. It is these muscles that create goose bumps and cause our hair to stand on end when we are frightened or cold. Hair growth occurs in cycles rather than being an ongoing process. The anagen or growth phase lets the hair grow at the rate of 1/2 to 1 inch per month. This lasts for anywhere from two to six years, followed by two to three months telogen or resting phase.
At this point the hair is called a cub hair and falls out when replaced. by a new emerging hair.
It is normal to lose as many as 100 strands a day that way. The hair usually shows up on your brush or in your sink after shampooing. David Sapadin of Parlour Car is a regular weekender columnist. Address questions to Hair Care, P.O. Box 1365, G.T., Grand Cayman.
