Although it might not look like it, hair is actually a form of skin that has the potential to grow everywhere there is skin. You’ve all heard of the term ‘lifeless hair,’ but hair is actually dead so I guess that all hair is pretty much lifeless.
Hair is really just protein called keratin, with the each strand made up of two or three strands of keratin. It shoots up out of what are called follicles all over the skin with hair potentially growing everywhere except for the lips, if of course we are lucky enough not to suffer. Suffer from what? Suffer from the lack of it. All mammals have it, if you ever need evidence that you are an animal, just look at your hair, there is the proof.
Filamenteous biomaterial is the term for it in the scientific world, and it comes in varieties of thick terminal for those of you with a strong head of hair and vellus for those with lovely fine heads of hair amongst you. The hair on your head is different from the hair in your nose or in your ear, although there are some similarities in the composition.
Hair has a cortex at the centre of its bulb, it has a medulla the living part of the cell that sprouts these beautifying strands, these are surrounded by layers called the Hurley’s and Henle’s which are on the outer reaches of the hair strand. There is the Hyaline layer, and lastly the dermic coat, with the term dermic just referring to skin (Your epidermis is showing)
You’ve heard a lot about stem cells in the news of late, well here in the hair we have perfect representations of stem cells, their primary function being to re-generate, to re-grow. That part of the hair which lies beneath the skin is called the hair follicle, just as magma becomes lava when it reaches the surface, the hair follicle becomes the bulb when moved from the innards of the body.
The shaft of the hair is the hardest part and is split up into three zones. On the outside we have the cuticle, imagine that the cuticle is just like the slates on a roof here and there are several layers of flat and thin cells that overlap. As we move further within the cell there exists either organised or disorganised keratin bundles, these are the cortex or the medulla of the hair follicle respectively.
Hair growth (which is what you are seeking if you reading this) begins deep inside the hair follicle. Some lucky mammals amongst you have it in abundance, others are not quite so lucky. Your hair is very similar to the fur other mammals possess, whilst they use a purely a for thermal regulation and even for camouflage it serves a different function for you as a human being in modern society. Other mammals might use it for communicating displays, or it may have a defensive function protecting their sensitive regions from enemies. Where there is commonality is that for all mammals including yourself hair is very relevant for mating, its sensitivity allowing for optimum sensuality bringing the sense of touch beyond the skin barrier.
These days we use clothes for keeping warm but on our heads hairs function is primarily to insulate our bodies, and protect us from losing much of our heat through this region of our bodies, as here evaporates most of our body heat. So too it protects us from the dangers of ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
The hair on the rest of our bodies stands up in order to absorb heat, and thereby helping to keep our internal temperature regulated, this is called ‘piloerection.’ The ‘piloerection’ is easier to see demonstrated in other mammals, but can be seen by yourself every time you get the goose-bumps.
When the body is too warm the opposite occurs, and this erection of sorts lies flat. Hairs origins have been traced back to 300 million years ago, all the way back to the first lizards, if you are losing your hair you can thank evolution itself.
The fact that the human body hair is barely visible is down to or becoming larger mammals, this is a trend in nature with sees larger animals, losing their once extraordinary hairy hides.
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