Hair Laser Removal » Discover the Secrets of Your Hair

Discover the Secrets of Your Hair

1. Hair Growth Regulation

Hair is present over the entire body with the exception of the soles of the feet and palms of the hands. Hair serves several important functions, including protection and sensation. For example, eyebrows and eyelashes, along with hair in the nose and ears, all filter out dust, bugs and airborne debris.

Androgens are the main regulator of normal human hair growth. An androgen is defined as any hormone that stimulates male characteristics. The two main androgens are androsterone and testosterone. These hormones are manufactured mainly by the testes in males and to a lesser extent by the adrenal glands in both men and women, as well as by the ovaries in women. Women normally have a small percentage of male hormones, in the same way that men’s bodies carry some female sex hormones, (estrogens). The androgens are responsible for the secondary sex characteristics we see such as beard growth in men and deepening of their voices at puberty. Androgens also stimulate growth of muscle and bones throughout the body and thus accounts in part of the greater strength and size of men compared to women.

2. Hair Structure and Color

Hair itself, consists of a root (follicle) formed in the lower layers of the skin and a hair shaft that grows out beyond the skin. The hair follicle is the only permanently regenerating organ in the body. The actual “hair shaft factory” contains one of the most rapidly proliferating cell populations of the body. Its life-long cyclic regression and regeneration activity makes the hair follicle unique among all the body organs.

Hair grows in a cyclical fashion, undergoing periods of growth (anagen), regression (catagen) and rest (telogen). Laser Hair Removal works only on the hairs in the Anagen phase. At any one time, the majority of the hair follicles are in the anagen phase (except on the eyebrows and eyelashes where they are in the telogen phase most of the time. Be careful with hair removal on the eyebrows!). Understanding this cyclical nature of the hair growth is essential in planning Laser Hair Removal. Different areas of the body have varied rates of hair growth. Facial hair growth is the most rapid. Axillary (under arm) hair grows slower. Hair on the legs and thighs grows slower yet. One must take these facts into account when scheduling Laser Hair Removal sessions: different intervals for different areas.

Hair color is the result of varying amounts of melanin within the hair shaft. White or gray hair is the result of loss of pigment.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 and is filed under Hair Laser Removal Consultance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.