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air – our crowning glory.
And yet, depending on where it grows, how much, and upon whom, hair can be either a blessing or curse.
We cut it, shave it, twirl it, comb it, and brush it to make it appear longer and more abundant. Some of us tease, tint, dye, bleach, spray, iron, roll, and frost it. We straighten curly hair, and we curl straight hair. Blonds become brunettes, and vice versa.
We tear our hair. We split hairs. We let our hair down. We make our hair stand on end, and we get into someone else’s hair.
What is this culturally, socially, and sexually significant ornamental appendage we refer to as hair? It is a nonliving, protein fiber; a strong, elastic thread, arising from a long indentation – a follicle, or “pore” – in the skin.
Hair is dead. Although it is as integral a component of the body as our skin, once it has emerged from the follicle, it is no longer nourished by a blood supply or by any other life-giving bodily fluids.
What, then, is its purpose? Thousands of years ago our forebears were covered with hair in much the same manner as the monkeys and apes. It was a protective barrier against the elements: the sun, the wind, extremes of heat and cold, rain and snow, insects. It also acted as a type of cushion to protect against the force of bumps, abrasions, and blows in battle.
Gradually, as we evolved, our need for hair diminished. We developed clothing to protect us from the ravages of nature and soon lost most of our redundant body hair. Today, except for our eyebrows and eyelashes, which act as a sieve against insects, dust, and other irritants, hair serves no biological function and is not essential for physical health.
Hair varies in color, texture, length, and type among different races. It is second only to skin as a physical sign of racial difference. Asians, Eskimos, and Native Americans have sparse facial and body hair and straight, coarse, dark hairs on their heads. African blacks have slightly more body hair and woolly or wiry hair on their scalps. American blacks, who are often mixtures of other races, have straight, wavy, curly, fine, or coarse hair on their heads. Whites have more body hair than any other race and have curly, wavy, or straight, fine hair on their heads.
As a rule, we each have three types of hair: the long, soft, terminal hairs, such as those on the scalp, armpits, and pubic region; the short, stiff, coarse hairs of the eyelids, eyebrows, nose, and ears; and the soft, fine, downy fuzz (known as lanugo or vellus hairs) which covers much of the rest of our bodies. Our only “hairless” regions are the palms and soles, the lips, the nipples, and certain parts of the genitals.
All of us are born with a fixed number of hair follicles that remain with us – on our heads, in our armpits, on our faces and bodies – for an entire lifetime. There are about five million hair follicles found throughout the human body. Each hair follicle is supplied by one or more oil glands that produce a secretion that gives your hair its richness and gloss. The number of hair follicles – and, therefore, hairs – is inherited. In other words, if your parents had 100,000 hairs on their heads, the chances are that you will have approximately the same number.
Blonds may or may not have more fun than everyone else, but they do have more hair. They average about 120,000 scalp hairs, while brunettes have about 100,000, and redheads only 80,000. To compensate for this disparity, however, blond hairs are thin (fine) and red hairs are thick (coarse). If we weighed the total number of scalp hairs from an average blond, they would weigh roughly the same as those of a redhead! Although fine hair is a nuisance and a bother, blonds, since they have more hair on their heads, can afford to lose more; and, because there's more of it, fine hair has a tendency to go gray more slowly.
About 90 percent of a person’s scalp hair is continually growing; ten percent of the scalp hair is in a resting stage that lasts about two months. At the end of this resting phase, the hair is shed. Hair loss on the scalp in normal, healthy people varies from about 50 to 120 strands daily. In other words, in the course of a year you'll lose about 30,000 hairs from your scalp. All of these hairs are constantly being replaced, at least until the aging process and certain hormonal changes begin to occur.
Most scalp hairs grow about one-half inch a month, so it takes only about two years to grow shoulder-length hair. Each strand of hair, however, does not grow indefinitely. If you never had your hair cut, your hair would only grow about two-and- one-half feet. After a period of time (usually two to four years), the hair follicle that produces the individual hair gets tired and stops working. The strand stops growing and eventually falls out, to be replaced by a new “working” hair when the follicle has revived and renewed itself.
Hair grows faster in warm weather, slows down during illness or pregnancy, and falls out more in autumn when “the leaves on the trees begin to drop.” Contrary to popular myths and superstitions, hair does not grow thicker or faster when cut or shaved. Nor does it grow after death. In one year, the body produces seven miles of hair – 350 miles in an average lifetime.
The following sections cover some basics that can help you have healthier looking hair as well as cope with some common conditions that affect our scalp and hair, such as dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, too little hair, and too much hair.
HAIR CARE
Compare your hair to a cashmere sweater. How long would that sweater last if you constantly were to wash, shampoo, comb, brush, color, tint, bleach, tease, straighten, curl, roll, pull, twist, and twirl it? What if you constantly exposed it to the sun, wind, rain, snow, and sleet and to extremes of heat and cold? How about if you wore it swimming in polluted lakes and streams and chlorinated pools? And then you got it steamed, ironed, sprayed, flipped, oiled, wound, feathered, swirled, dipped, stripped, frosted, perfumed, frizzed, fuzzed, matted, braided, and waxed – and then blown dry by 1500 watts of hot air? How long would it last? A month? A week?
Your hair goes through this and more. Yet, barring certain diseases and conditions, it lasts a lifetime.
Taking good care of your hair, however, can make a big difference in how it looks during its “lifetime.” Healthy-looking, attractive hair requires consistently good care and conditioning, good diet, and good exercise. It requires keeping stress and emotional tensions to a minimum. (Remember, I did not say healthy hair; I said healthy-looking hair. How can something that’s dead be healthy?)
Many young women (and, increasingly, men) consult a dermatologist because they're concerned about a change in the growth or appearance of their hair. More often than not, the change is the result of abuse, rather than disease, causing the hair to break off easily.
What causes breakage of hair? Often, it is related to physical damage. Here are some factors that can physically “injure” your hair:
Chemical injury is probably the most common cause of hair breakage. When the outer keratin layer of the hair shaft (the cuticle) is repeatedly exposed to chemical attack – from bleaches, hair straighteners, permanent hair dyes, thioglycolate wave solutions, etc. – the hair develops a stiff, straw like feel, making it more susceptible to breakage.
To prevent hair breakage and maintain a healthier-looking head of hair, avoid excessive manipulation and physical injury to the hair shaft as much as possible. Hair normally “wears out,” and increased manipulation, in whatever form, speeds up the process. Here are some specific tips:
A word about shampooing:
Good hair care begins with shampooing. The frequency of shampooing is an individual affair. You may shampoo daily or oftener, if need be, without harming the hair or hair follicle in any way.
If your hair is oily, or if you live in the city where you are constantly exposed to inordinate amounts of dust, grease, grime, soot, and other chemical pollutants, you should shampoo often. And with a good commercial shampoo – not with bar soap.
An important and little stressed fact about shampooing is that to derive any benefit from it, the shampoo should be massaged into the entire scalp for at least five minutes – preferably longer – using fairly hot water. Thorough rinsing is a must. For those who like a crème rinse, I recommend using it in moderation – only small amounts – to prevent the “greasies.”
If you blow dry your hair, follow the manufacturer’s directions and make sure to keep the blow dryer at least six inches away from your hair.
MYTHS & MISCONCEPTIONS PERTAINING TO THE HAIR
“Eat your crusts of bread. They will make your hair curly.”
Answer: No way!“Rub a new penny over the ends of your hair, and your hair will quickly grow long.”
Answer: No way!“If you cut your hair in “the waxing of the moon,” your hair will have a fine texture.
Answer: No way!“If your hair is tangled, rats have slept in it.”
Answer: No way!“To prevent baldness, wash your hair with wild grapevine blossom tea.”
Answer: No way!
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There are dozens of shampoos flooding the shelves of your drugstore and supermarket. There are shampoos for normal hair, dry hair, and oily hair. For dandruff, psoriasis, eczema. For “thinning” hair. For hair repair. For infants and children. And there are shampoos containing sulfur, salicylic acid, tar, zinc, and selenium. Any or all of them may be good for you. It’s basically a matter of choosing one that works.
For normal scalp and hair, try:
Neutrogena Shampoo
DHS Shampoo
For oily scalp and hair, try:
DHS Sal Shampoo
Nizoral Shampoo
Head & Shoulders Shampoo
For creme rinses, try the following:
DHS Conditioning Rinse
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