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Loose hairs
Many people worry because they often find loose hairs on their clothes,
or after shampooing, and they become terrified in case they may lose some
or most of their hair.
If you pull the hair lightly with your hand, you may well
find that a few hairs do come out. These are almost certainly hairs that
are ready to fall anyway - telogen hairs. You can confirm this by looking
at the roots in a good light. A telogen follicle root is a little hard,
white bead. Brushed-out hairs all have this kind of root.
A normal telogen
hair with a hard 'club' end, seen under (left) a light microscope and
(right) an electron microscope
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On the other hand, the root of a hair that is pulled
out is fat, soft to the touch and sticky - it will stick to your
hand, because it still carries fluid from the follicle. And pulling
it out hurts! This is an anagen hair, one which was not ready to
be shed.
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An anagen hair
that has been plucked out: notice the soft, sticky tail
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HAIR
FACTS
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| Shampooing
and hair loss
Telogen
hairs fall out very easily. As catagen hairs change
to telogen, the tails are slowly reabsorbed into the
follicle. The roots of hairs in these early stages of
telogen may be pulled out before they are quite ready
to come out, especially if the hair is shampooed more
energetically than usual. This is why, whenever there
is a change in the shampooing or conditioning regime,
or a move to new brushes, loose hairs are often found
for two or three days after the change. People often
blame a new shampoo or conditioner, claiming in horror,
'I put this product on my head and now I'm losing my
hair'. The loose hairs are nothing to do with the product:
the condition will settle down in a day or two, once
these hairs have been shed.
In normal circumstances, when you find loose
hair in the plug-hole after shampooing the new hair
is already re-growing.
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Closer examination
Hair stylists and technicians examine the whole head of hair as
part of their everyday practice. Matters to note include racial
type, hair length and hair thickness, and if there is evidence of
weathering, of previous cosmetic treatments such as perming and
tinting and of accumulated hair spray.
A closer examination of the roots under a good light
usually indicates the real state of the hair. The first centimetre
or two of growth may look very different from the rest. This could
indicate a change in the treatment that the hair has received, perhaps
to a persistently harsh regime.
Next comes a look at the individual hair shafts with
the naked eye. This may not reveal much, unless there is unusually
serious damage. In very long hair that has weathered, the end may
look a different color from the rest, or perhaps less glossy. This
is almost certainly the onset of split ends.
Under the microscope, however, a very different picture
may emerge. Hair scientists use both ordinary microscopes and electron
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