6 important questions about hair and hair follicles answered
On the YIONN blog, I have written quite a bit about it: hair follicles.
And specifically about inflamed hair follicles.
For many women, a cause of pain, irritation and itching.
Time to dive deeper and explore exactly what hair follicles are, their function and also why they sometimes become inflamed.
The more you know about hair follicles, the better you can understand them and avoid dealing with an ingrown or inflamed one.
1. What is a hair follicle?
A hair follicle – also called a hair follicle – is located in the skin and it is the place from which a hair grows. Hair follicles are found all over your body, from your toes to your scalp.
In total, there are as many as five million. Not surprisingly, one of them sometimes gets infected.
Each individual hair follicle is composed of four parts: a hair root, a sebaceous gland, the inner and outer root sheaths and the arrector pili muscle (nice to know: the contraction of this muscle caused chicken skin).
Each hair grows from a hair follicle and over time the hair stops growing and then falls out. After this, the growth process begins again. Extraordinary, don’t you think?
2. How does hair grow in a hair follicle?
Hair grows in different phases from a hair follicle. This is called the hair growth cycle.
It is a rhythmic process and consists of the growth phase, the transition phase and the resting phase.
In the growth phase the hair grows, in the transition phase the growth stops and the hair becomes looser in the hair follicle.
In the final phase, the resting phase, the hair falls out.
The hair follicle then takes a break and then starts the process all over again.
3. What is the use of hair anyway?
If you spend as much time shaving and depilating as I do then you’ve probably wondered at times what on earth the point of hair is.
On our heads we like to have a full head of hair, but the hair on our legs, toes, armpits, face and intimate parts we often would rather lose than get rid of.
To properly answer the question about the usefulness of hair, it is good to know that we have two types of hairs : down hairs (also called vellus hairs) and terminal hairs.
The latter are longer, firmer, thicker and darker than the short, thin, soft downy hairs and have different functions:
Eyelashes protect our body from dirt and dust.
- Armpit hairs allow perspiration to be absorbed.
- Pubic hair shows that we are fertile.
- Head hair protects you from the scorching sun and UV rays.
- Body hair helped our ancestors keep themselves warm. Now that is no longer necessary for most people.
4. Why do hair follicles become inflamed?
You can recognize an inflamed hair follicle by the yellow or white pimple that appears as a result of the inflammation.
The inflamed hair follicle may also hurt and itch.
Basically, inflamed hair follicles can occur all over your body, but they are most common on the face, arms, legs and buttocks.
Usually several hair follicles are inflamed at the same time.
Because of a bacterium or other invader
In many cases, the inflammation is caused by bacteria. A fungus, yeast or parasite may also be the cause.
Hair removal allows the bacteria access to the hair follicle, causing it to become inflamed.
Because of an ingrown hair
A second cause why a hair follicle becomes inflamed is because of an ingrown hair.
The hair is then shaved off too short, preventing the hair from growing outward, but growing back into the skin.
An inflammation with disfiguring pimple is the result.
5. What to do with an inflamed hair follicle?
Unfortunately, once a hair follicle on your neck, back, nose or wherever is inflamed, there is no magic cure to make the inflammation go away immediately. This usually happens on its own after 1 or 2 weeks.
Meanwhile, it is important that you leave the inflammation alone, do not touch it and do not smear anything on it (i.e., do not squeeze it). By doing so, you may be causing new inflammation. It is also better to wait a while before hair removal again.
Moreover, if the inflamed hair follicle is caused by a bacterium, you should pay extra attention to your hygiene: wash your hands with soap more often than usual, keep your nails short and change towels daily. This prevents the bacteria (or fungus, yeast or parasite) from spreading further.
6. Can you prevent inflamed hair follicles?
Yes, the good news is that you can indeed take steps to prevent inflamed hair follicles in the future. This allows you to replace your multi-blade razor with a single-blade razor, which prevents hair from getting under the skin.
Or, and this is my super tip, start using the YIONN Raka lotion daily. This lotion is specially designed to prevent ingrown hairs, itching and red bumps.
I get to hear daily from users that it has changed their lives, which is great, right? Check out the YIONN Raka reviews and get convinced too.
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