Is there a link between hair pulling and the growth of gray hair? There is no scientific evidence to support this popular rumor. In fact, there are no Education specific that correlate hair pulling with the greater or lesser growth of white hair, but by studying the structure of the hair follicles from which hair grows we know that each follicle has its own reserve of “color” and that this is not influenced by what happens to the neighboring follicle. It is however better to avoid pulling out a white hair because damages the hair follicle and in the long run it could lead to its inactivation.
The hair follicle: where a hair grows
Hair is born from follicles hairycomplex structures of the skin that perform protective, thermoregulation and sensory perception functions.
Let’s imagine a hair follicle as a channel, inside which the hair grows, with a rounded bottom and anchored in the dermisthe layer just below the epidermis. Starting from the bottom we find: the bulbin the deepest part of the dermis; the root which extends from the dermis to the surface of the skin; and finally the trunkthe visible part of the hair that emerges from the hair follicle.
In the bulb we find the germinal matrix composed of epithelial cells, which give rise to the building blocks that will form the hair, the dermal papilla, rich in nerves and capillaries for the nourishment of the matrix cells and melanocytescells that produce melanin, the pigment in our hair.
To complete the work, each follicle is associated with sebaceous glandsresponsible for the production of sebum to lubricate the hair and a arrector pili musclewhich makes the hair (or hairs) stand on end responsible for “goose bumps”. Each of these structures (follicle, gland and muscle) called pilosebaceous complex It works autonomously and what happens to one follicle does not affect the ones nearby.
What happens when I pull out a hair?
When we pull out a hair, whether white or still colored, it we are uprooting from its follicle and together with the hair we also pull out part or all of the root. The result of this small trauma is an inflammation of the tissue and the bulb, which leads to the growth of a new hair more fragile and thinneruntil complete atrophy of the follicle, making it unable to produce a new hair.
Even more delicate are white hairs: when a hair turns white it means that the follicle has finished its reserve of melanocytes and melanin, and at the same time the other cells that compose it are less active, due to the normal aging process. Pulling out a white hair therefore means create inflammation in a tissue that is already weakening.
Similar damage is also caused by very tight hairstyles, which can lead to traction alopecia or in those suffering from trichotillomaniathe compulsive habit of pulling out one’s hair.
So, plucking out that first white hair you saw in the mirror, the follicle that produced it will produce another white hair in its place, since it has finished its “ink”, melanin. This gesture does not affect the follicles surrounding it because Each follicle has its own reserve of melanocytes and acts on its own.
So why do we see more gray hairs when we pluck one?
The false belief that plucking out one grey hair causes seven more to grow probably comes from the fact that more follicles are meeting the same fatedue to advancing age. The fact that we tear it off and soon after see new ones, is only because the others have also finished their reserve of melanocytes and they would have appeared even if we hadn’t pulled out that single hair.
As they say, the correlation between two events (pulling out a gray hair, seeing more gray hairs) is not an indication of causality (see more white hair Why I tore one out), but they are two autonomous events influenced by the same factor: in our case, advancing age.
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