Hair follicle: Anatomy, Structure, Hair Growth

 A hair follicle is a pore that surrounds the root and strand of a hair. Hair follicles exist in the top two layers of your skin. Your hair follicle is one of the few structures in your body that can stop functioning and begin functioning again. This process helps with hair growth in your body. In this article, you will read everything about hair follicles, how it functions, and how it can lead to hair growth. The following topics will be explained: 

• How many hair follicles do you have? 
• Do hair follicles open and close? 
• Do hair follicles grow back? 
• How do you know if your hair follicles are dead? 
• How do you fix damaged hair follicles? 

 

                                                  Effective Stimulation of Hair Growth 

 
How many hair follicles do you have? 

You are born with over 5 million hair follicles in your body and over one million hair follicles on your scalp. Even though some other studies suggest that you only have approximately 100.000 hair follicles on your head. As you age, hair starts to grow of your hair follicles. These hairs protect us from radiation, dust, and debris. Hairs also help regulate our temperature, since our lower density of hair compared to animals promotes the evaporation of sweat, which helps us stay at a reasonable temperature.

The number of hairs that someone has on their head can vary by individual. When you are a baby, you have the most hair follicles, but when you get older this gets less. The number of hairs that you have on your head can vary by hair color. Some estimates include: 

Hair color	Number of hairs
Blonde	150.000
Brown	110.000
Black	100.000
Red	90.000

This means that blonde people have more hair per square inch. A few interesting facts are that on average your hair grows about 6 inches in a year, which is about ½ inches per month. Also, you lose between 50 to 100 hairs each day. Depending on your hair care routine and health, you may shed even more.
 
Do hair follicles open and close? 

Inflamed hair follicles are often caused by an infection with bacteria. At first, it may look like small pimples around the tiny pockets from where each hair grows. Blocked hair follicles are often not caused by poor hygiene, and they are also not contagious. The trigger that causes blocked hair follicles to form is not yet completely understood but it is widely thought that blocked hair follicles form through this process: 

1. Clog hair follicles have lots of keratin, a naturally occurring protein found in hair, skin, and nails. 
2. The clog hair follicles trap sweat inside and fill in with bacteria, which breed and grow. 
3. An infected hair follicle ruptures and hair follicle bumps form with pus under the skin. 
4. The infected hair follicle causes more blocked hair follicles and more pimples or bumps to form. 

 
Do hair follicles grow back? 

Hair follicles have the capacity to regrow hair under certain conditions. The ability to regrow hair largely depends on the specific situation and the reason for hair loss. Here are the most common scenarios: 

• Normal hair growth cycle: your hair grows in three phases, the anagen, resting, and exogen phases. Hair that falls out in the exogen phase will eventually regrow from the same follicle.  
• Temporary hair loss: hair loss can occur due to temporary factors such as stress, illnesses, hormonal changes, natural deficiencies, or certain medications. When the underlying cause is addressed normally the condition of hair resolves, while hair growth can resume. 
• Androgenetic alopecia is a common form of hair loss that occurs due to genetics. Hair follicles shrink over time, leading to thinner and shorter hairs. To slow down the progression of hair loss, an androgenetic alopecia treatment can help.  

• Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, leading to patchy hair loss. In most cases, an alopecia areata treatment is necessary to stimulate hair follicles. 

 
How do you know if your hair follicles are dead? 

You can check if your hair follicles are healthy by running a blood test, biopsy, or pull and tug test. Hair follicles can say much about the health of your hair but can also help in drug testing. In general, the detection time of using drugs is the longest in hair, followed by urine and oral fluid. Drugs in hair may be detectable for approximately 90 days. Hair follicle testing for drugs has become a common test in which the lab tests your hair.  

Washing, dyeing, or styling your hair won't affect the accuracy of the test. A collector will cut between 100 and 120 hairs from the crown of your head and when you have little hair on your scalp, body hair can also be tested. Which makes it an effective way of drug testing in the longer term.

Dead hair follicles can be recognized by a lack of hair growth, scar tissue, absence of follicular opening, or a lack of response to hair growth treatments. When your current treatment does not work you can try another treatment with for example a hair follicle shampoo to promote hair growth. 

 
How do you fix damaged hair follicles? 

Fixed damaged hair follicles are possible with hair growth products from Neofollics and several healthy steps that you need to take in your daily life. Follow the following steps to fix damaged hair follicles: 

1. Identify the cause of damage: before starting a hair growth treatment, you need to understand the cause of your damaged hair follicle. Sometimes addressing the roots can effectively help you to develop healthy hair follicles. 
2. Use Neofollics Hair Growth Products: our products consist of clinically proven ingredients that are known to support and stimulate hair follicle growth. Some ingredients are biotin, saw palmetto, zinc, and Piroctone Olamine. 
3. Follow the product instructions: carefully read and follow the provided instructions and daily dosage for the most optimal results. 
4. Patience and persistence: to fix damaged hair follicles it is necessary to follow a consistent treatment. Have patience and use the treatment for a couple of months persistently to see significant results.  
5. You can also try anti-inflammatory medicines like corticosteroids or cleansers such as salicylic acid.  

Conclusion 

In conclusion, hair follicles are crucial for hair growth. Using hair growth products like Neofollics, along with proper care and patience, can help address damaged hair follicles and promote healthier hair.