Normal Hair Loss
Hair actually covers most of your body before you are born. Lanugo is the term assigned to this baby
fine, silky hair, which is shed shortly after birth. Lanugo is replaced with vellus which covers most of
the body including the head, and is often not visible to the naked eye. Vellus is short, fine, non-pig-
mented hair found more abundantly on women. Certain follicles are predetermined to produce long,
thick pigmented hair, like normal scalp and eyebrow hair. This hair is referred to as terminal hair and
replaces vellus hair around the time of puberty.
Everyone loses some hair every day.
Actually between 40 and 100 strands of hair is the average
daily hair loss.
That's not as much as it sounds, considering that the average head has about 100,000
individual strands of hair.
Androgenetic Hair Loss
Alopecia, or excessive hair loss, may be caused by a fungal or bacterial infection or inflammatory dis-
ease of the scalp. This abnormal condition occurs in both men and women. If the scalp appears
abnormal at all, do not attempt any services. Instead suggest that your client see a dermatologist.
When there is no apparent scalp abnormality, hair loss may be caused by nutritional deficiency,
drugs, emotional trauma and other physiological changes.
The most common form of alopecia is androgenetic alopecia, a combination of heredity, hormones
and age that causes progressive shrinking, or miniaturization, of certain scalp follicles. This shrink-
ing causes a shortening of the hair's growing cycle. Over time, as the active growth phase (anagen)
becomes shorter, the resting phase (telogen) becomes longer. Eventually, there is no growth at all.
Recognizing Androgenetic Alopecia
In general, asking questions about family history will give a good indication of whether the hair loss
is androgenetic or another type of alopecia. Ask your client if his/her parents or more distant rela-
tives have hair loss, whether thinning has been gradual over several years or sudden or patchy. If the
hair loss was sudden or patchy, advise your client to talk to a physician. If your client is a woman,
ask her about crash diets, oral contraceptives, medications such as certain cardiovascular conditions,
vitamin deficiencies, and thyroid disorders to rule out hair loss created by these factors.
Because hair length and thickness are determined by how long
the hair is allowed to grow before entering the next resting and
shedding phase, the hair-loss process is thus a gradual conversion
of terminal hair follicles to vellus-like follicles.
The net result is an increasing number of short, thin hairs that
are barely visible above the scalp surface, and eventually no more
hair is produced out of these follicles. In addition, more follicles
are in the resting phase at the same time. Consequently, there is
less scalp coverage.
192
SALON FUNDAMENTALS
PROGRESSIVE MINIATURIZATION
OF THE HAIR FOLLICLE
