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.
When you see a white bulb on a shed hair, it generally means that the hair has completed its life cycle and has been naturally shed to make room for new hair growth. Shedding 50 to 100 hairs per day, with or without a white bulb, is considered normal and part of the natural hair shedding process.
Telogen effluvium is a common type of hair loss that affects people after they experience severe stress or a change to their body. Symptoms include thinning hair, usually around the top of your head. Treatment exists to reverse hair loss, but hair will typically grow back in three to six months without treatment.
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.
For most people, the most obvious sign of hair follicle damage is hair loss. As your follicles become damaged, they may stop growing new hairs, resulting in a receding hairline, bald spot at your crown (the area at the top of your head) or diffuse thinning. Irritated skin.
When your hair follicles have died or become inactive the skin on the scalp takes on a smooth, shiny appearance. This indicates that hair loss has progressed to the stage of true baldness.
So what is this small white particle? In fact, the white small particles in the roots of the hair are fat particles composed of sebum and oil.
The role of the white bulb is to help the hair follicle root to the scalp, which then allows the hair to grow until it is shed. It's important to keep in mind that the white bulb is not the actual hair root, but rather, the protein bulb that is present during a specific phase of the hair growth cycle.
Kraleti explains that your hair turns gray or white when the pigment cells in the follicle surrounding the hair die. “When you pluck a hair a new one will grow in its place and because the pigment cells are no longer producing pigment, this new hair will also be white.”
If it's an acute disorder, such as trauma, then the hair loss is likely temporary and should rectify itself in time. Medical conditions, such as hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, require a simple blood test for a diagnosis, after which a hair loss treatment can be sought.
How Do You Know When Telogen Effluvium Is Ending? If you notice hair regrowth after 3-6 months of shedding, then it is an indication of the recovery from telogen effluvium. If this regrowth is consistent for more than 3 months without any further abnormal hair fall, then your telogen effluvium has come to end.
Telogen effluvium is generally reversible. A person with this condition does not lose all their hair, although it may become noticeably thin. Telogen effluvium is a form of hair loss characterized by hair thinning or an increase in hair shedding.
If the doctor gently tugs on some hairs on your scalp and four or more hairs come out, you probably have telogen effluvium. Also, the hairs will look like hairs in the telogen phase — they will have a white bulb at the end that was in the scalp, and will not have a gel-like covering around that end of the hair.
Expect recovery in 6-12 months; however, chronic telogen effluvium can last up to 7 years.
It consists of a growing phase (anagen), an involuting phase (catagen), and a resting phase (telogen). The anagen phase can last for about two to five years, and around 90% of scalp hair is in this phase [8]. The catagen phase is a much shorter phase, lasting three to six weeks.
Nits (eggs) are tiny white specks attached to hairs close to the scalp. Unlike dandruff or sand, nits can't be shaken off the hair shafts. Best places to look for nits: behind the ears and along the hairline at the neck. Itching of the scalp is the main symptom.
Telogen effluvium usually resolves completely without any treatment over several months. The normal duration of telogen is approximately 100 days (3 to 6 months) after which period the hair starts growing again.
The white flakes could also result from a product build-up on your scalp - such accumulation happens when the styling products are not washed off clean even after what you presumed was thorough shampooing and conditioning. The build-up may include the residues of hair cleansers, as well!
Only one hair grows per follicle. When your strand turns gray or white, the pigment cells in that follicle have already died.
Laser hair removal
The laser emits a beam of light, which the pigment (color) in your hair absorbs. Over time, this can destroy the hair follicle, so the hair cannot grow back. While it takes about 6 treatments from a dermatologist to destroy a follicle, the hair will grow back thinner and finer after each treatment.
"ACV unblocks follicles in the scalp so that strands have freedom to thrive," Ruggeri says. (Note: If you do use dry shampoo, Ruggeri advises spraying it on the mid-lengths of hair, rather than the roots, to prevent clogging the follicle).
There is no specific time in which a hair follicle dies. The well being of a hair follicle totally depends on the nourishment it is given, both in terms of the food you eat and the nourishment you provide to your hair externally. The time taken for a hair follicle to die depends on the present condition it is in.