If a hair is plucked out with its follicle, will it grow back?

[M.McDonough]

I'm not sure about this.
If a hair is plucked out with its follicle, will it grow back?

[Nique1202]

From my experience with waxing and plucking areas other than my head (legs and eyebrows) I will say that plucking or ripping hair out follicle-and-all will often lead to the hair growing back finer and thinner over time, and if you repeat it over and over for years sometimes the hair just stops growing at all. I waxed my legs in my late teens and early 20s at least once a month, and there are patches of the hair that still haven't grown back when I haven't so much as shaved them in 5 years, and I plucked my eyebrows almost religiously and now it's only every month or two that I have to pluck two or three hairs to reshape them. (It's lucky I still like the shape I chose back then!)

The difference won't be immediately noticeable, though. If you just do it once or twice by accident it's probably not going to be a big deal.

[M.McDonough]

From my experience with waxing and plucking areas other than my head (legs and eyebrows) I will say that plucking or ripping hair out follicle-and-all will often lead to the hair growing back finer and thinner over time, and if you repeat it over and over for years sometimes the hair just stops growing at all. I waxed my legs in my late teens and early 20s at least once a month, and there are patches of the hair that still haven't grown back when I haven't so much as shaved them in 5 years, and I plucked my eyebrows almost religiously and now it's only every month or two that I have to pluck two or three hairs to reshape them. (It's lucky I still like the shape I chose back then!)

The difference won't be immediately noticeable, though. If you just do it once or twice by accident it's probably not going to be a big deal.

Thank you, but of course I wasn't talking about body hair.

[Nique1202]

Thank you, but of course I wasn't talking about body hair.

No, but body hair and head hair all grow out of follicles the same way, it's just a matter of the length of the growth phase. I would assume that body hair principles could be applied to head hair with regard to plucking, since all the follicles are of the same design. If my eyebrows and my legs respond the same way to having the hair plucked, why shouldn't my head?

[lapushka]

I think hair pulled out once or twice will grow back, but if you have something along the lines of trich and you pull at the same areas over and over again, yes, I think you'd likely end up with bald patches, or spaces where the hair will grow back sparser. Odd, my brows have completely grown back now (a year, a year and a half of absolutely NO plucking (not even to "shape" them)) after I had them in a thin line. I wondered why they never grew back over the years, but I was continuously "shaping" them as they came back in and that is a killer right there. If you want hair to grow back, then do NOT pluck - at all!

[M.McDonough]

Well, that reminds me. I've got a weird hair around my collarbone that keeps coming back after a while every time I pluck it out. LOL

[cathair]

Good god yes, it will grow back. Otherwise I would have hairless legs and arms :D

There was an study on rats where hair was plucked out in different patterns. I think it was to test whether plucking made hair grow back thicker or thinner. It had some pretty interesting results, that were surprising to me. But I can't find it now :/ annoying.

[Arctic]

As someone who's suffering from trichotillomania, and pulled out a fair share of my hairs during my life - yes they usually grow back. But over time the hair follicles might become damaged (if the same hair are pulled out over and over), and start to produce hair that differs from its texture from the other, "normal" hairs. Also, I have read that each follicle is genetically able to grow hair X times during person's (or follicle's? not sure) life, so if same hair is pulled out many times the follicle might not grow new hairs any more. I don't know if that is true, or not.

[MsPharaohMoan]

How can you tell visually if a follicle has been ripped out?

[cathair]

I found it, it was mice not rats :)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150409133407.htm

If the hair was plucked out randomly instead of one spot, growth decreased. If it was plucked out densely in one spot, hair growth increased dramatically.

Of course, this is only one study and it's on mice not people. I wouldn't recommend trying it!

I thought it was interesting that it could mean plucking out eyebrows makes them thicker, but it wouldn't have any bearing on shaving legs. Maybe.

[Arctic]

^^ I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's when the root has some sticky, moist-feeling stuff attached to it, that you might even be able to see as white-ish substance. Sometimes there might be even blood, but I've never had that from m head hair.

[M.McDonough]

How can you tell visually if a follicle has been ripped out?

Look up hair follicle plucked out

[Lucibel]

In my experience, yes. I have had trichotillomania (a mental disorder characterized by the impulse to pull hair) since I was 11 - it has greatly improved in recent years, but when I was younger I would pluck hairs, often follicle and all, until I had bald spots. I focused mostly on my hairline and temples, and all of the hair regrew. However, repeated plucking can cause permanent follicle damage. If it was only once, you have nothing to worry about. :)

[Angelica]

Eventually, hair will be permanently damaged and it will not grow back. I saw a woman on TV who had a severe form of trich and had plucked her head almost completely bald, she admitted that she had done so much damage her hair would not grow again and she having a special mesh fitted to stop plucking her remaining hair and have artificial hair weaved instead. I have trich also and have lost most of my eyebrows because of plucking them since childhood. It took a long time to completely damage them but I think if you care about hair you should not pluck at all.

[lapushka]

OP, I wonder... Why the question?

[M.McDonough]

OP, I wonder... Why the question?

Because I'm not sure and it's actually related to one of the threads I posted here earlier. Plus I obsess about the slightest things! I don't like that side of me.

[Anje]

For what it's worth, I've got this one hair on my neck. Just one, so I know that follicle. I've plucked it at least 5 or 6 times now. It took more time off this last time before growing again, but it was still at it yesterday when I noticed and yanked that stupid hair again.

[M.McDonough]

For what it's worth, I've got this one hair on my neck. Just one, so I know that follicle. I've plucked it at least 5 or 6 times now. It took more time off this last time before growing again, but it was still at it yesterday when I noticed and yanked that stupid hair again.

Oh my God, me too. haha...I just said that

[Hairkay]

It's not necessarily true for everyone that hair won't grow back. From what I recall of biology. Each hair has a follicle and underneath the current hair a tiny new hair complete with it's new follicle will be forming. You'd have to be damaging that new hidden hair for there to be a difference in grow. There are many women with excess body hair especially those with PCOS and they've tried everything yet hair still grows back. It's the same with those with with that rare condition where they're covered from head to foot in thick hair. Nothing stops their hair regrowing. Even laser treatment will just be temporary giving them a reprieve of anything of a few months to 6 months then the hair is back yet again.

[Nadine <3]

They do grow back, but repeatedly ripping it out will damage it and eventually it might not grow back. For example, I've been waxing my nether regions for several years and the first few times you do it, the hair grows back pretty normally. Because I've been doing it for years, if I let it grow a bit it's sparser than it used to be and the hair is finer because I have dead and damaged follicles. That's over the course of several years.

[iYaap]

I've heard the follicles on the back of your head will always grow back. That's why hair transplantations work.

[chen bao jun]

I think the best answer is 'it depends'. On the person and their biology, probably and also (mostly)on if you damage the follicle. I think it is the damage to the follicle that would make it not grow back, not actually plucking the hair--and I don't have a good handle on what damages foliicles. Chemicals do sometimes, but not always. Ditto having the hair dragged out (as in a heavy hair weave done repeatedly). People may have different strength in their follicles, if that makes sense?

And if you would like the hair to grow back sometime, better not do it.

I only have anecdotal evidence--I have had trich and as a child not only pulled hair out by the roots but also ate it (yeah, gross). I would still pull out hairs though not as compulsively, in my twenties and thirties. Mostly from the front of my head. No effect whatsoever. Never had a hair weave but know people who have gone permanently bald in spots from them, usually over time, but some people can't even have it done once. Never plucked my eyebrows but did run into a wall once and had to have stitches in one. It didn't used to show that there is a permanent bald spot from that but it does now. (my eyebrows have undoubtedly thinned with age). I also have a couple of annoying (white) hairs that keep showing up on my chin now that menopause has happened that I keep plucking, that cheerfully show up again and again--wish they would go AWAY but it will probably get worse. And there is a spot on my head, hard to find but I know its there, where some hairdresser burned a spot with a hot straightening comb where hair has never grown since. In probably 50 years (I was a little girl). Its a tiny spot, maybe the size of a fingernail clipping? But it always feel very smooth and no hair grows there. I stopped parting my hair on the left side because of it though it was invisible to others and since I've had natural hair some years now, have forgot where it is exactly and can't find it.

I know its easier said than done, not pulling out hairs if you have trich, in my case it was one of a set of obsessive compulsive behaviors that didn't go away so much as get switched for different ones? To other OCD people this will make sense, probably not to others. Behavior modification therapy can help, medication also can help, but they don't really go away permanently, I find (not the hairs. The OCD behaviors). I have a bunch of LHC related ones now, of course--checking forum compulsively, talking myself out of buying more hairtoys, measuring hair too much--worrying about doing all of the above and then doing them again--

I'm laughing but the OCD is real and when you have a destructive compulsive habit, it is absolute hell.

[Phanaferous]

http://www.dermweb.com/hairnailsmucousmembranes/structure.htm

http://shs2.westport.k12.ct.us/forensics/09-trace_evidence/splitting_hairs.htm

OK. See the above articles; it was the best I could find with a quick search; they are science based from a dermatology school and a crime lab course.

A couple of clarifiers; when you pluck a hair out and you see a bulbous end, that is the hair root, not the follicle. In a brunette, the root will be almost black in color, soft and wet feeling. This is a hair that was in active growth, or anagen phase. If you pull a hair out and you see a white tip, the hair was in catagen or telogen phase. Sometimes you will get a "sleeve" of soft white stuff on the end of a catagen or telogen hair--this sleeve was part of the inner root sheath, which diminishes as a hair gets ready to shed naturally.

You would only remove the follicle if you took a chunk of scalp with the hair; it would be bloody and painful; you'd never pull out the follicle with tweezers or your hairbrush.

To stop hair from growing out of a follicle, there are natural (going bald) and pathogenic (scalp infection) methods. Or you can physically destroy the follicle with an electrical current (electrolysis) or light (laser hair removal). Repeated plucking, as others have stated, can damage the follicle, leading to a change in hair texture or color; ingrown hairs can also become a problem . Some thought is now being given to infection/ itching of the follicle due to trichotillomania and the resulting regrowth-- see this link-- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3250028/. Damage can accumulate and lead to premature death of the follicle from the compulsive pulling.

I've been afflicted with trichotillomania since age 13. It's been a tough road, and in the process of trying to help myself, I learned a lot about hair structure. Because I pull body hair, I tried both electrolysis and laser hair removal-- the pulling gave me ingrown hairs that I picked at, and my legs were covered in scabs. I wished for all my hair (except the hair on my head) to disappear so it would no longer tempt me-- if plucking was going to kill off my follicles it would have happened years ago, but the hairs kept coming back. Finally I coughed up the money for a series of seven laser treatments, and this was the key to greatly reducing my trich compulsions.

Anyways, hope this helps, and a shy wave hello to the other trichsters on here.

[jazzhands]

Sometimes I ask myself the same question. I wish that one annoying nipple hair would follow my brows' lead and disappear without a trace. :confused:

[M.McDonough]

http://www.dermweb.com/hairnailsmucousmembranes/structure.htmhttp://shs2.westport.k12.ct.us/forensics/09-trace_evidence/splitting_hairs.htmOK. See the above articles; it was the best I could find with a quick search; they are science based from a dermatology school and a crime lab course.A couple of clarifiers; when you pluck a hair out and you see a bulbous end, that is the hair root, not the follicle. In a brunette, the root will be almost black in color, soft and wet feeling. This is a hair that was in active growth, or anagen phase. If you pull a hair out and you see a white tip, the hair was in catagen or telogen phase. Sometimes you will get a "sleeve" of soft white stuff on the end of a catagen or telogen hair--this sleeve was part of the inner root sheath, which diminishes as a hair gets ready to shed naturally.You would only remove the follicle if you took a chunk of scalp with the hair; it would be bloody and painful; you'd never pull out the follicle with tweezers or your hairbrush.To stop hair from growing out of a follicle, there are natural (going bald) and pathogenic (scalp infection) methods. Or you can physically destroy the follicle with an electrical current (electrolysis) or light (laser hair removal). Repeated plucking, as others have stated, can damage the follicle, leading to a change in hair texture or color; ingrown hairs can also become a problem . Some thought is now being given to infection/ itching of the follicle due to trichotillomania and the resulting regrowth-- see this link-- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3250028/. Damage can accumulate and lead to premature death of the follicle from the compulsive pulling.I've been afflicted with trichotillomania since age 13. It's been a tough road, and in the process of trying to help myself, I learned a lot about hair structure. Because I pull body hair, I tried both electrolysis and laser hair removal-- the pulling gave me ingrown hairs that I picked at, and my legs were covered in scabs. I wished for all my hair (except the hair on my head) to disappear so it would no longer tempt me-- if plucking was going to kill off my follicles it would have happened years ago, but the hairs kept coming back. Finally I coughed up the money for a series of seven laser treatments, and this was the key to greatly reducing my trich compulsions. Anyways, hope this helps, and a shy wave hello to the other trichsters on here.Wow and a new member?? Thanks

[Phanaferous]

You are welcome. :)

[chen bao jun]

Phanaferous that was an awesome post. I think I must always have yanked out hair ready to shed as I always remember seeing a white bulb on the end, never a black one, and I have very black hair. I thought of the white bulb as 'normal'.

Hope you get some relief with the trich. As I said, anti depressant and anti anxiety medication helped my OCD a lot, not getting rid of it but calming it down to the point that I could do some behavioral therapy and get a certain amount of relief. I'm not on meds at the moment, but I would go back on them in a heartbeat rather than go through that awful cycle when you keep trying to stop some obsessive habit on your own and then even when you're not doing, its literally ALL you think about or can think about and you can't get on with your daily life at all.

Its genetic and not completely a curse as I know it makes me very precise and helps me do beautiful arts and crafts and so forth, but its horrible when you know you're being crazy and can't stop (having to check that all the doors are locked, not minute after you just checked and you KNOW that they are locked) and even worse when people who don't understand (most people) start trying to reason you into stopping something you WANT to stop already and tell you all the reasons that you shouldn't do it and explain(usually in a superior way) how, if you'd just devlelop some will power...

[lapushka]

Phanaferous that was an awesome post.

Yes, I agree! :agree: :)

[Phanaferous]

Phanaferous that was an awesome post. I think I must always have yanked out hair ready to shed as I always remember seeing a white bulb on the end, never a black one, and I have very black hair. I thought of the white bulb as 'normal'.

Hope you get some relief with the trich. As I said, anti depressant and anti anxiety medication helped my OCD a lot, not getting rid of it but calming it down to the point that I could do some behavioral therapy and get a certain amount of relief. I'm not on meds at the moment, but I would go back on them in a heartbeat rather than go through that awful cycle when you keep trying to stop some obsessive habit on your own and then even when you're not doing, its literally ALL you think about or can think about and you can't get on with your daily life at all.

Its genetic and not completely a curse as I know it makes me very precise and helps me do beautiful arts and crafts and so forth, but its horrible when you know you're being crazy and can't stop (having to check that all the doors are locked, not minute after you just checked and you KNOW that they are locked) and even worse when people who don't understand (most people) start trying to reason you into stopping something you WANT to stop already and tell you all the reasons that you shouldn't do it and explain(usually in a superior way) how, if you'd just devlelop some will power...

I find that if I pull unconsciously, just rifling through and yanking what's loose, I get white tips. If I am searching for a satisfying hair to pull, I choose the coarser ones or ones that have a thick base; these are usually actively growing black tips.

It's tough with any type of compulsive behavior; I know what you are talking about. Not at all about willpower, I agree. My husband never really understood my pulling until I pointed out his nail biting. Then he got it.

I'm glad you found an answer with a mix of medication and therapy. I am at a good place now with my trich; my eyebrows suffer the most now, but happily there are brow pencils for that, and I don't beat myself up about it anymore.

[TheaLee]

Well, that's my worrying about pulling out the follicle gone. :I I had a friend who got some of her hair pulled out by a metalworking lathe. It was horrible because she got (minorly!) injured and I'm sure the loss was traumatic for her as well, but I think it actually grew back? That was in high school though, I don't know if I'll ever see her again but Ill ask her if I do.

[hayheadsbird]

I know with laser treatment the hair did grow back, but much slower and finer. I had mine done in the dermatology dept of a local hospital and they documented it with photos. (Private patients fees helped fund the research and offset costs for NHS paitents)
8 years later it's still much less than is was - which in my case is a good thing!