Hair is made of Keratin.  Keratin is a hard protein.  The same protein that makes up your nails and the outermost layer of your skin.  In fact, your body is covered with hair.  Five million of them.  Some places have little, tiny hairs.  Wherever there is skin, there is hair; with three exceptions-- the lips, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

Hair raises out of your skin from the hair root which is inside a follicle.  The follicle is like a small tube in the skin.  The hair grows from the hair follicle.  Next to each hair follicle is an oil gland called the sebaceous gland.  The sebaceous gland produces oil to keep the hair shinny and conditioned.

Anatomy of Human Skin

One square inch of skin contains: 650 sweat glands 65 hair follicles 234 feet of nerves 57 feet of capillaries 19,000 sensory cells 94 sebaceous glands 1,250 pain receptors

Sweat Gland	Sebaceous Gland	Hair Bulb & Follicle	Arector Pili Muscle	Hair shaft	Arteries & Veins

Quick Facts About Hair

• Hair -- next to bone marrow -- is the fastest-growing tissue in the body

• The average scalp contains 100,000 hairs.

• The average head produces 35 meters of hair every day.

• You can lose more than 50% of your hair before it is apparent to anyone.

• Hair follicles (where hairs are grown) go through phases:

  • The "anagen" phase -- the time when the follicle is busy making hair. It lasts 500 to 1,800 days, during which time the hair is growing about 0.3 millimeters a day.

  • The "telogen" phase -- when growth stops and the hair is shed.

  • Then the cycle begins again.

Anatomy of the Hair Follicle

Hair growth phases.... Anagen, Catagen, & Telogen

Hair growth cycle

Structure of the hair bulb and shaft

• Hair shaft's pigment granules

  • Eumelanin

  • Phoeomelanin

Interesting Facts about hair...

Strength

• Hair is strong !!!  One strand of healthy hair is capable of holding 100g.  By multiplying 100g to 100,000 hairs, a full head of hair is capable of carrying 10 metric tons !!!

Numbers

• Blondes have around 140,000 hairs on their heads.

• Brunets have about 100-120,000 hairs.

• Red heads have 80-90,000 hairs.

Growth

• Hair is the second fastest growing part of the body.  Typical growth rate is 0.35mm per day or 1/2 per month.*

• Growth cycle is anywhere between 2 through 6 years.*

• 50 to 100 hairs fall out per day and are replace with new hairs.

• Hair grows faster in the summer than any other season.

• The anticipation of sex accelerates hair growth rate.

• If all your hairs were placed end to end they would grow 12.7 kilometers or 20 miles a year.

*Considering the images on this site, it appears not to be the case.

Hair Types

The structure of the hair follicle determines hair type.

• Asian

• Caucasoid

• African.

Project Micro Images

Hormones and Hair Follicles.....

• Androgens

• Oestrogens

Hair patterns and streams

• Hair grows clockwise (in a spiral or whorls) from the center of the scalp or crown of the head

Physical properties of hair

• Elasticity

• Static electricity

• Moisture content

• Porosity

• Texture

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