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 Dr. Lee is the founder and owner of Regrowth LLC, a company based in Los Angeles and dedicated to the treatment of hair loss. He has been developing innovative products and treating hair loss sufferers for the past 16 years. Dr. Lee is the creator of the Xandrox line of hair loss treatments.
Important Note: Due a busy schedule, Dr. Lee cannot answer any new questions at this time; however, he will be providing high quality answers to questions he receives from his own practice exclusively to Morphollica.com regularly
anonymous
2005-12-20
Shape of scalp end of hair
Is there any significance to the shape of the scalp end of the hair when it sheds?
The telogen hair has a club-shaped scalp (i.e. proximal) end within the hair follicle and retains that club shape when it is spontaneously shed. The grayish, oily accumulation around the bulb (or club) is a loosely attached cluster of dead cells from the epidermal column and sebum. Since this debris around the club end of the hair is easily abraded off, it is not always seen. If the hairs, which are shed, do not, in actuality, have a club end, it suggests an abnormal cause of hair loss. For example, physically damaged hair can break, in which case the scalp end will not have a bulb. Another example is hair that is shed due to alopecia areata, which has been described as having the appearance of an ‘exclamation point’. Hair on the scalp is normally shed at the end of the telogen (resting) phase. Once a hair has made the transition to the telogen phase, its existing hair shaft stops growing. The hair shaft during the telogen phase is no longer anchored securely in the dermis as it was in the anagen phase and can be easily is lodged with the gentle traction caused by brushing, shampooing or combing. More often than not, the shedding occurs unnoticed. But, since the hair can accumulate in the shower drain or on soapy hands, patients sometimes erroneously associate washing the hair with causing hair loss.
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