Reverse taper??

[SparrowWings]

I found a shed hair just before my shower tonight. I'm guessing it was actually from combing/braiding this morning, since I hadn't undone the braid yet when I found it. Regardless, it was definitely mine, and definitely shed (had the little bulb on one end), and most likely either a hair trimmed during my mega-cut almost two years ago, or one that got snipped during my one and only joke of an S&D session a couple weeks back because the end looked pretty blunt.

None of that is unusual, though. What is unusual is the thickness and color of that strand.

The top 1.5 inches or so (root end) are extremely light, to the point of looking nearly white. Below that, it quickly transitions to my standard hair color (dark blonde), and over the course of the length it continues to shift to full-on brown. Now, my hair is completely virgin. No dyes, henna, bleaching, nothing that would affect the color, except perhaps the last two showers' ACV rinses, and that was mostly on the length, and should've made it lighter (if anything). Why would the color get darker like that? Why is the root so pale?

The root end of the hair (hard to tell the length, with the color shift) is also significantly finer than the bottom end. My hair is somewhere around the upper end of fine, yet this strand went from mid-fine (finer than the rest of my hair, but not baby fine) at the root, to unquestionably medium thickness, possibly even the upper end of medium, at the end. Yet I thought the ends were supposed to wind up thinner from age. Any ideas what would cause this reversed taper, where it's actually the new hair that's thinner?

Interesting side note, during that one lone S&D session, a single strand of very brown, very thick hair jumped out at me. It was the only one that color or texture, and both aspects were significantly different from the rest of my hair, which seemed a bit strange, but whatever. I'm wondering if this strand I found on the floor is actually the same one, given that I still haven't seen a second strand to match anywhere on my head. Though, at only 24", it seems like this strand would be too short to be the one I saw previously...

[spirals]

Two possibilities come to mind: you're starting to grey or there's been a change in your health. Maybe for a couple of months you've been deficient in some vitamin or something? As far as grey: I noticed some of my hairs looked lighter to me (like highlights, 'cept I hadn't highlighted my hair) and later on I noticed I'd started getting sparklies the color chrome. Actually, my friend noticed before I did.

[missrandie]

I've had the color change like that on a few strands as they get ready to shed. It's almost like the melanocyte shuts down its production in anticipation of temporary dormancy.

[spirals]

I've had the color change like that on a few strands as they get ready to shed. It's almost like the melanocyte shuts down its production in anticipation of temporary dormancy.

That makes more sense, actually.

[Sweets]

I've had the color change like that on a few strands as they get ready to shed. It's almost like the melanocyte shuts down its production in anticipation of temporary dormancy.

Thi is exactly what I was going to say, just a lot more scientific. I think you hair was reaching it's terminal, and ready to go.

Here's to a new, healthy one sprouting in it's place!

[SparrowWings]

Two possibilities come to mind: you're starting to grey or there's been a change in your health. Maybe for a couple of months you've been deficient in some vitamin or something? As far as grey: I noticed some of my hairs looked lighter to me (like highlights, 'cept I hadn't highlighted my hair) and later on I noticed I'd started getting sparklies the color chrome. Actually, my friend noticed before I did.
I highly doubt it's grey; I don't think either of my parents started greying for at least a few more years. If it is, so be it, but I doubt it.
I also don't expect it's anything health related, since I've had a pretty stable routine for the past several years now. Though, come to think of it, I did start taking a low-ish dose vitamin D supplement in mid-January... I've never heard of that turning hair white.


I've had the color change like that on a few strands as they get ready to shed. It's almost like the melanocyte shuts down its production in anticipation of temporary dormancy.
That's interesting! I never would have expected that, but I've also never been able to see it, since my hair is generally fine enough and light-colored enough to be very hard to see what would normally be minor color changes on a single strand.

What about the thickness change? Does that typically happen when a hair approaches terminal, too? I did try looking at a couple sheds from this morning, but they were my normal blonde, fine hair, and I definitely couldn't distinguish a difference in color or thickness, end to end.

[meteor]

I've had the color change like that on a few strands as they get ready to shed. It's almost like the melanocyte shuts down its production in anticipation of temporary dormancy.

I suspect that this is what's happening, too. :agree:

I think it might be more visible on thicker and darker strands rather than on finer and lighter ones (where everything is more blurred because the strand is fine and the lack of pigment less visible because of lighter baseline).

I wonder if it's possible that the inch and a half or so of smaller diameter at the root simply corresponds to the Catagen phase :hmm: (short transitional stage that occurs at the end of the Anagen phase, signals the end of the active growth of a hair and lasts for about 2–3 weeks while the hair converts to a "club hair" -> prepping for Telogen phase). This process cuts the hair off from its blood supply and from the cells that produce new hair. (However, 2-3 weeks should produce only 1/4 of inch - 3/8 of an inch of length, on average, not one and a half inches, technically? :hmm:)

"No pigment is produced during this phase and the follicle stops producing hair. The follicle shrinks to about 1/6 of its normal length. The base of the follicle moves upwards towards the surface of the skin. The dermal papilla breaks away to rest below. A new hair forms in the hair bulb itself, underneath the existing hair without the old hair falling out - hair bulb rises up, but stays in the skin." (http://www.revalid.com/all_about_hair/hair_growth_cycles/catagen_phase.html)

"Hair is actively pigmented only during the anagen stage of the hair cycle, to which the melanogenic activity of follicular melanocytes is stringently coupled; melanin formation is switched-off in catagen remaining absent through telogen." (Hair Follicle Pigmentation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1201498/; Melanogenesis is coupled to murine anagen: toward new concepts for the role of melanocytes and the regulation of melanogenesis in hair growth: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0022202X94946205/1-s2.0-S0022202X94946205-main.pdf?_tid=8cca3ea2-fdb5-11e5-b9ed-00000aab0f6c&acdnat=1460139369_ea576faba55e11154d71f70570611601 , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8326158)

Once the club hair is formed, it's ready for the Telogen (resting) phase.
In the Telogen phase, hair just rests (doesn't grow), ready to fall out. And it lasts for a few months (~ 3 months: http://dermatology.about.com/od/hairloss/fl/What-is-the-Anagen-Phase-of-Hair-Growth.htm), until it sheds. During this time the hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle while the dermal papilla stays in a resting phase underneath. Whereas during Catagen phase hair still grows, just not the same way (i.e. beginning to form "club hair"), am I correct?


I just wish we could find some specific studies on this refinement at the roots phenomenon (if you know of any, please share :flower:), because it would be good to differentiate between this natural thinning (presumably during catagen?) as the hair is preparing to go into telogen stage and shed, versus the kind of thinning of the strands that happens due to dietary deficiencies, health issues or possibly DHT exposure with age (androgenetic alopecia) which can lead to miniaturization of hair. :hmm:
I found some pictures of this phenomenon under microscope, by the way, it seems like there is quite a variation in how roots can look: http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=111676



I think it would really help if folks who see this thread looked at their shed strands and let us know if they've noticed this phenomenon, too, especially on thicker, more easily visible strands? :flower: This might give us an idea of how common this is... :) It would be great to see this stuff under microscope, too...

Personally, I've seen that diameter change at the roots of my shed hair, too, SparrowWings, but only on some strands. I do suspect it's normal (I simply didn't look at my shed strands before, so I have no reference to compare to, sorry).

[SparrowWings]

meteor, do you do anything other than looking up hair-related articles on all kinds of topics all day? Don't get me wrong, it's fabulous having all this information, but my word, the number of things you find! It must take hours every day! I've never even heard half of those words, and never realized hair really had phases, beyond "growing" and "shedding".


Personally, I've seen that diameter change at the roots of my shed hair, too, SparrowWings, but only on some strands. I do suspect it's normal (I simply didn't look at my shed strands before, so I have no reference to compare to, sorry).
I agree, considering my circumstances have gone from generally healthy to nothing-changed, I wasn't concerned about it, just curious. Its darker color caught my eye, and from there, the visible/tactile size and textural differences did as well. I don't typically look at my shed strands either, and on the rare occasions over the years when I have, they've always been evenly pale and thin. Maybe with a microscope there would've been a discernible difference between root and end, but not to my naked eye.

Another thought: Would seasonal changes have played a part? We've had a ridiculously mild second half of the winter, so perhaps my scalp switched from winter to summer hair already. Does summer hair tend to be thicker or thinner? (Though, I can't say I've noticed any seasonal shedding changes... Usually it increases pretty dramatically for a couple weeks before settling back to normal, when it's a seasonal thing. The cat and I used to have competitions for who could cover more of the floor each day, during those phases! :rollin:)

[meteor]

^ :lol: Ha-ha, I'm just a fast googler, LOL! :lol: Actually, information kind of adds up over time on the LHC (lots of info is repeated on TLHC frequently), especially if you like to look into research in free time. ;)


Another thought: Would seasonal changes have played a part? We've had a ridiculously mild second half of the winter, so perhaps my scalp switched from winter to summer hair already. Does summer hair tend to be thicker or thinner? (Though, I can't say I've noticed any seasonal shedding changes... Usually it increases pretty dramatically for a couple weeks before settling back to normal, when it's a seasonal thing. The cat and I used to have competitions for who could cover more of the floor each day, during those phases! :rollin:)

Interesting idea. :D I haven't seen much reliable info on seasonal changes, but here is a study that does cover it, in part:
- Monthly changes in hair growth parameters of Chinese subjects, observed along a full year: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264243256_Monthly_changes_in_hair_growth_parameter s_of_Chinese_subjects_observed_along_a_full_year

Unfortunately, the study not in open access, but you can see my quick overview of it here: post # 165 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136845&p=3196037&viewfull=1#post3196037)

- On strand thickness fluctuations:

The study notes some minor fluctuations month-to-month in strand diameter (not more than 5 microns, judging by the graphs).


- On growth rate fluctuations (T stands for "Telogen", "A" stands for "Anagen"):

"With regard to T%, Fig. 1a below illustrates the average changes in T% along a full year for Chinese subjects, for both genders, indicating a higher value in September, as compared to other months. Whereas Fig. 1b illustrates the average changes in A% along a full year, indicating a lower value in September. Separating genders indicate that such changes appear not only more pronounced in men but show an earlier onset (July) than women as shown by Fig. 2 However, all T% values remain in the range of a normal healthy head of hair (i.e. below 15%)."

From Summary (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25065943): "Results show an increased rate of telogen hairs (growing arrest) around August-September in the study group, as previously reported in European subjects albeit of a lower extent and remaining within the normal range of healthy head hair parameters."

[missrandie]

You rock, Meteor. I hadn't been back here for a bit, but I do have hairs that "pinch off" when their time has come. Generally I noticed these the most when I had my pixie, because I had demarcation lines with my dye, then natural hair, then whatever the natural colors did. I would also notice that the shed hairs had grown slower between dye jobs, because they were reaching the end.

[meteor]

^ Thanks so much, missrandie! :flowers: I agree about those easily "pinched off" hairs :agree: - it must be the Telogen-phase hairs ready to go. :agree: And I think that's why we typically shed more on our wash days, rather than on non-wash days, or shed more during firm scalp massages, scalp washes, scalp oiling, etc - it's likely the hair in Telogen phase (that has months to physically come out) that's loosened up, I suspect.

By the way, here's something interesting on the so-called "hair pull test" that dermatologists and trichologists use to identify excessive shedding. (Hair-pull test with microscopic evaluation is used for help with diagnosing Telogen Effluvium, for example - http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0701/p93.html)

"Hair loss associated with excessive shedding results in a positive “gentle hair pull” test. Grasp a lock of hairs to determine if any can be extracted with firm pull. Normally 0-2 telogen hairs can be extracted: these are hairs in the resting phase, identified using magnification by a rounded bulb at the proximal end. An elongated or tapered end indicates anagen hair (growing phase); anagen hairs extracted by the gentle hair pull test are pathologic." (http://www.dermnetnz.org/doctors/principles/hair.html)
"Normal range is one to three hairs per pull." (out of approximately 100 hairs in one bunch) (http://www.americanhairloss.org/women_hair_loss/diagnosis.asp)

[SparrowWings]

I would also notice that the shed hairs had grown slower between dye jobs, because they were reaching the end.
Interesting! I had always assumed when people grew out dye and the line started getting less defined, it was due strictly to strands growing at slightly different speeds. I never considered that it could also be because of some strands basically not growing, if they were at end-of-life. That certainly explains how the blurring can be quite so dramatic while still not being too far from the scalp. The things you learn!

How deep is the follicle in the scalp when it's growing? And at what point does the melanin get added? If the melanin is added near the surface, but the follicle is fairly deep, could the embedded length account for the extra length of colorless hair beyond what seems reasonable for it to have grown while it was shutting down?

[missrandie]

Interesting! I had always assumed when people grew out dye and the line started getting less defined, it was due strictly to strands growing at slightly different speeds. I never considered that it could also be because of some strands basically not growing, if they were at end-of-life. That certainly explains how the blurring can be quite so dramatic while still not being too far from the scalp. The things you learn!

How deep is the follicle in the scalp when it's growing? And at what point does the melanin get added? If the melanin is added near the surface, but the follicle is fairly deep, could the embedded length account for the extra length of colorless hair beyond what seems reasonable for it to have grown while it was shutting down?

Depth of the follicle: roughly 4mm. Melanin is added at the bulb of the hair shift, so it's within the actual matrix. I just consider the color change and thickness change to be the "slow power down" of the follicle.

Also, I looked at some of my shed hairs. It's typical for my hairs to go pale anywhere from 1/8 to 3/4 of an inch from the root. Which tells me that my hairs take anywhere from a few days to a month to go through their shutdown. But, given that some hairs tend to start growing slower as well, that could be a skewed result.

[meteor]

How deep is the follicle in the scalp when it's growing? And at what point does the melanin get added? If the melanin is added near the surface, but the follicle is fairly deep, could the embedded length account for the extra length of colorless hair beyond what seems reasonable for it to have grown while it was shutting down?

That's a great question! :D

The follicle is, on average, about 2-5 mm long, but different for different people, different parts of the body (see picture (http://www.clairefrancoise.com.au/content-images/How%20IPL%20Hair%20Removal%20Works.jpg)for details) and different hairs. Here's an interesting table that correlates hair strand thickness with length of follicle (the finer the strand, the shorter the follicle): http://www.ijps.org/viewimage.asp?img=ijps_2008_41_3_101_43606_b1.jpg

The mean length of a scalp hair follicle is 4.16 mm. (Morphometric analysis of the human scalp hair follicle: practical implications for the hair transplant surgeon and hair regeneration studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21070465)

I would imagine that pigment is added right away (at the Hair Matrix level, where new cells are generated - right above hair papilla) - because if the pigment was added only at a later stage, we wouldn't be able to see pigmented hair all the way to the root if the hair is plucked out. But I'm really not sure, I'm hypothesizing here, because it looks like not much is known about the specific details on follicular melanogenesis. Here is a picture of melanocyte distribution in the human anagen scalp hair follicle: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1201498/figure/F1/

In the fully developed human scalp, anagen follicle melanocytes can be assigned to distinct anatomic compartments of region-specific differentiation status. In the mature hair follicle, melanotic dopa (dihydroxyphenylalanine)-positive melanocytes are readily detectable in the basal layer of the infundibulum and around the upper DP; moderately differentiated melanocytes may also be detected in the basal layer of the sebaceous gland. (Hair Follicle Pigmentation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1201498/)

I can't actually find much information on where exactly pigment is added, but this study looks at it, but I don't know, it kind of looks like the details of the pigmentation process (and when it switches off with ageing) are still kind of unclear.

Aging of the Hair Follicle Pigmentation System (under "Development of the Hair Follicle Pigmentation Units"): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938584/


As the hair follicle develops the progeny of melanoblasts/melanocytes which proliferate in the epidermis (often called 'transit or transient-amplifying' melanocytes), leave that compartment and move into the developing hair follicle. There, melanocytes may become/remain dopa-oxidase-positive cells (i.e., express active tyrosinase) or remain dopa-oxidase-negative cells (i.e., either fail to express tyrosinase or express an inactive tyrosinase) depending on the intra-follicular compartment in which they reside. Such compartmentalization of follicular melanocyte subpopulations during skin development is likely to be very important for considerations of melanocyte 'renewal' during the hair growth cycle, the role of the stem melanocyte reservoir, and during age-related pigmentation changes and age-related depletion of functioning melanocytes during graying.


Proximal to these melanocyte subpopulations are scattered dopa oxidase-negative and so amelanotic melanocytes of the mid-to-lower outer root sheath. These follicular pigment cells may represent a pool of "transient" melanocytes that migrate from precursor melanocyte stores in the hair follicle bulge to other areas of the outer root sheath.[23]

The hair bulb matrix is the principal site for the fully differentiated follicular melanocyte subpopulation; these melanocytes are distributed, in particular, within the matrix above and around the upper dermal papilla. These differentiated cells (perhaps including even some terminally differentiated) transfer their melanin granules to keratinocytes of the hair cortex and less so to the medulla and very rarely to the hair cuticle. However, we have shown that the transient lower hair follicle and bulb also contain an enigmatic additional but minor subpopulation of poorly differentiated melanocytes[24] distributed to the most proximal and peripheral regions of the growing hair bulb. The true function of this minor population is unclear at this stage, but it may represent a migratory population that maintains bulbar complement of functioning melanocytes or it may indeed have a nonpigmentary role.[25] We and others have attempted to characterize these multiple subpopulations of melanocytes using in vitro strategies. While immature follicular melanocytes can be detected in primary cultures of follicular melanocytes, it is not yet clear whether some of these cells may indeed have bona fide melanoblast or stem cell potential.


Active hair follicle pigmentation occurs only during active hair growth (i.e., anagen), and one would imagine that the duration of this anagen phase could have direct implications for follicular melanocyte homeostasis. Thus, while some scalp hair follicles bulbar melanocytes will be engaged in melanogenesis for up to 10 years, active melanogenesis of less than 1 month is likely in eyebrow hair follicles. [...]

No melanin pigment is actively produced (tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein 1 mRNA and protein are also undetectable) during telogen, the relative-resting stage of the hair cycle. This runt stage of the hair cycle consists of less that 30% of the growing hair follicles in terms of tissue mass but still contains all cell precursors needed to reconstitute a fully pigmented growing anagen hair follicle. Whatever factor or factors that trigger the resting telogen hair follicle into early anagen may also be responsible for the reactivation of the follicular pigmentary unit.

[AJNinami]

I'm a blonde, and actually a most of my hairs are like this. They aren't shed, but they are naturally level 10 at the roots and move to a darker color about that distance down. It's not something to worry about, I don't think. It makes my hair look softer! But it also looks like it's thinning out when pulled back (even though it isn't).

[spirals]

^ That's a neat feature. I don't have that. Most of my hairs are even color all the way down, even if they are different colors than each other (from very dark golden brown to dark golden blonde).