If you have been diagnosed with a female hair loss condition, it can be helpful to know a little more about hair, such as what it is made of and how it grows.
The following are a number of key facts about hair, which may prove relevant to your female hair loss condition.
• Hair is made of keratin, which is a fibrous structural protein used by the body to form skin and nails too
• Hair growth starts in the hair follicle and occurs everywhere on the skin apart from on the lips, soles of the feet and palms of the hands. This tissue is known as glabrous skin
• Visible hair is considered to be ‘dead’ tissue; the ‘living’ portion of the hair is found in the follicle
• Hair is made up of the bulb (at the base of the root), the sebaceous gland (used to lubricate the hair) and the erector pili muscles (these make the hair stand up)
• Human hair varies in thickness from 0.00067 to 0.0071 inches
• Hair colour is created by melanin, which is produced inside the hair follicle
• Hair growth follows a specific cycle, moving through the anagen (growth), catagen (transitional) and telogen (resting) phases. These phases all occur simultaneously; meaning that different hairs are in different phases at the same time.