Hair follicles are part of your skin that are responsible for growing your hair. If you accidentally pull out a strand of your hair and it has a ball (bulb) on the end of it, you didn't pull out the follicle, and instead, you removed your hair root. That root grows back and your hair will grow back, too.
When you pull out your hair "by the root," you may observe a transparent swelling called the "bulb." The area above the bulb usually seen on a plucked hair is the root sheath, the growing area of a hair. The size of the hair bulb on a plucked hair varies with the phase of growth the hair was in.
“A black dot is defined as a hair in which the upper part of the hair root remains adherent to the hair-follicle ostium, giving the macroscopic appearance of a macrocomedo.
"The white bulb at the end of the hair is keratin (or protein) and is the same keratin that makes up your skin and nails.
Black bulbs mean the hair was in Anagen phase when it fell out, rather than telogen phase. That means the black bulbs are hairs that were still growing, which you shouldn't be losing. Stress would cause Anagen phase hair loss, and so would DHT (which would be male pattern baldness AKA androgenic alopecia).
Single-strand knots (also known as fairy knots) are small knots that form along the hair strand, especially in curly and coily hair. Due to the nature of curly and coily hair, when a strand grows from the follicle, it can loop and tie around itself or other strands. This causes a little knot to form.
Hair casts or pseudonits are 2-7 mm long, discrete, firm, shiny, white, freely movable tubular accretions that encircle the hair shafts of the scalp. [1] Even though they are not unusual, there is scarce literature on them and underdiagnosis is common.
At the base of the hair root is a small ball-like formation called a bulb. This is where new cells are formed. These cells receive nutrition from the blood supply under the skin.
Black dots generally represent hair follicles that have broken off at the level of the scalp. Black dots can also be caused by a variety of different “dyes” that dye the hair follicle opening and therefore do not actually represent broken hairs.
At the base of the hair, the hair root widens to a round hair bulb. The hair papilla, which supplies the hair root with blood, is found inside the bottom of the hair bulb. New hair cells are constantly being made in the hair bulb, close to the papilla.
Telogen (shedding): This is the resting stage of your hair growth cycle. The hair follicle is inactive, and there's a white bulb of keratin at the root (club hair). The bulb of keratin keeps the hair in the follicle until it sheds, which then starts the hair growth cycle over again.
Dandruff flakes are actually dead skin cells that naturally fall off the scalp — more so if you scratch. Many people think that a dry scalp is synonymous with dandruff, but either a dry scalp or an overly oily scalp can cause excess cells to clump and fall off, forming dandruff flakes.
Myth: A hair falling out with a white bulb attached means it won't grow back. False! If you notice that some of your fallen hairs have a small white lump or bulb at the root, you shouldn't worry. This does not mean that the root of your hair has been removed, or that the follicle is dead.
“If a follicle has closed, disappeared, scarred, or not generated a new hair in years, then a new hair wouldn't be able to grow,” Fusco says. But if the follicle is still intact, yes, it is possible to regrow the hair—or to improve the health of the existing thinner hairs.
Piedra is the Spanish word for stone. White piedra appears as white or light brown stones that loosely attach to the tip of a hair shaft and may group to form clusters. The stones, which people sometimes call concretions or nodules, feel gritty and are easy to remove.
Hairballs, also known as trichobezoars, are most commonly associated with cats. In humans, they are often the result of a disorder known as trichophagia (hair eating or chewing), which can occur with a mental disorder known as trichotillomania (hair pulling).
As mentioned above, head lice look like tiny sesame seeds with legs, and reside mostly on the scalp and within the first ¼ inch of hair. Nits, or head lice eggs, will be firmly attached to the hair shaft close to the scalp.
The balls you are seeing are called single strand knots and unfortunately, they come with the natural hair territory. They're also commonly referred to as fairy knots because they're so impossibly small, that only a fairy could've tied them.
Bumps on the scalp can result from a variety of health issues, such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, pilar cysts, hives, or ringworm. Some causes of bumps, such as skin cancer, require urgent medical attention. But often, a person can address the issue at home.
Should you cut fairy knots? I know it's not fun to hear, but a haircut is both the cure and the prevention. “No matter how gentle you are, the ends of your hair will degrade after a certain point, and you need to regularly trim those ends off to keep them from knotting,” says Santiago.
Fairy Knots may seem like just a nuisance but they are sign that your hair needs a llittle TLC. Going for regular trims or dustings are a good way to rid yourself of dry/ dead ends that have been weakened by weather, dryness or excessive friction.
The hair bulb comprises the expanded portion of the inferior hair follicle and contains the dermal papilla and hair matrix. The dermal papilla consists of mesenchymal cells which function in the regulation of hair growth.