Very odd theory

[ilovelonghair]

I suffer from insomnia and out of boredom I sometimes think of the craziest things. So here it is:

I was wondering if terminal length could be somewhat influenced by hair getting 'heavy' and pulling on the root. Hair is quite strongly attached to the scalp, it takes a bit of effort to pull a single hair out. But would that be different for each person, would some people's roots be 'less fastened' in the skin? Could a single hair get a bit too heavy and fall out due to that? Or could, if it was possible for hair to be less strongly rooted, single hairs fall out due to tight updo's?

[spidermom]

I think in general the hair does not fall out because it's heavy. However, I have noticed that people with dreadlocks often get bald spots around them, and I think maybe the fact that the shed hairs are locked in cause the locks to get too heavy over time - heavy enough to pull out hairs.

I'm sure I've pulled out hairs while trying various up-dos and braids.

[halo_tightens]

Nah, not in my book.

Since we do know that each hair is attached to the head for only a limited amount of time, that sort of automatically gives it a terminal length. If it can only grow for x years, it can only ever get x inches long.

Weight can contribute in its own way, I'm sure, especially if there's unnatural tension on some strands and not others. It can cause hairs to come out-- but by no means is it the normal mechanism by which hairs are naturally shed.

[luxepiggy]

I don't think individual hairs could get too heavy, but I've read that too-tight updos can cause hair loss - I think it's called traction alopecia?

ETA: Mayo clinic's hair loss page: "Traction alopecia. Bald patches can occur if you regularly wear certain hairstyles, such as pigtails, braids or cornrows, or if you use tight rollers. Hair loss typically occurs between the rows or at the part where hair is pulled tightly." http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hair-loss/DS00278/DSECTION=symptoms

[Elenna]

It may be a reason for hair to come out.

Daily handling and washing has a bearing on whether a hair comes out. Detangling seems to cause the most hair to come out. However, we all lose some hair everyday. Since hair goes through growth cycles and may be ready to fall out.

Many have people have scalp or other problems that cause shedding.

The wrong products can cause hair to fall out.

Seasonally, people go through a shedding phase.

Tight, unevenly distributed hairstyles or misplaced hairtoys can weaken the roots.

[Neneka]

Wow! I was thinking about that last night when I couldn't sleep. I thought that if a single hair got so heavy your scalps' skin should start to give up and start to stretch... Hair can hold a weight of a human body and I saw somewhere a video clip of a woman pulling a truck with her hair. I think that skin gives up before hair does... And hair should be really really LONG! I am not sure but this is what I thought last night and now I am very tired because I didn't sleep much. :D

[ilovelonghair]

Neneka that's funny, it must be an insomnia thought :D

[Igor]

George Micheal has a theory like that, only it goes in the “other” way: The longer hair gets, the stronger the root becomes
He then also has the theory that parting opposite your natural growth pattern will make it do “push-ups” (That is the exact word used) and make the root stronger
He claims that people will shed less from strengthening the root that way and when you grow your hair to the floor, the root will be so strong you only shed 2 hairs a day
Uhm, yea… No.

First of all, losing a hair is caused by two reasons:
1) The normal shedding that is regulated by hormones and body chemistry
2) Pulling on the hair, adding a force on the strands weight and gravity

Hair can fall out due to a less strong, but constant tug and a constant constriction. The Japanese geishas who have their hair in an extremely tight updo, only re-done once a week with no “down time” to relax can grow quite bald around the partings!
But that is pretty extreme, as all Traction alopecia causing updos. It is not something you can “get” from normal, everyday wear

If you look at the follicle, I like to imagine it sort of like a glove or a bag surrounding the hair strand. There is a single muscle connected to the follicle not to the hair itself. The muscle, musculus arrector pilli, is able to contract which is what makes “goose bumps” when the hair shifts more perpendicular to the skin. It doesn’t in any way make the hair more or less “secured” in the skin or make it fall out easier if it should weaken.

The physiology of the follicle (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Gray944.png) should show that the hair strand can’t be more or less fastened in the follicle. Shedding comes down to body chemistry or too hard handling

[Chestershire]

lots of my friends told me that too. I've always wondered if that's a fact or they're just teasing :V

[jojo]

I suffer from insomnia and out of boredom I sometimes think of the craziest things. So here it is:

I was wondering if terminal length could be somewhat influenced by hair getting 'heavy' and pulling on the root. Hair is quite strongly attached to the scalp, it takes a bit of effort to pull a single hair out. But would that be different for each person, would some people's roots be 'less fastened' in the skin? Could a single hair get a bit too heavy and fall out due to that? Or could, if it was possible for hair to be less strongly rooted, single hairs fall out due to tight updo's?
this is so weird but i have had problems sleeping and was wondering this exact same question...........twighlight zone stuff, really weird gonna go and read the replies, i think it could be possible though, like each hair follicle is genetically programmed to hold a certain weight and once it reaches this weight it sheds. sounds feasible to me

[jojo]

Wow! I was thinking about that last night when I couldn't sleep. I thought that if a single hair got so heavy your scalps' skin should start to give up and start to stretch... Hair can hold a weight of a human body and I saw somewhere a video clip of a woman pulling a truck with her hair. I think that skin gives up before hair does... And hair should be really really LONG! I am not sure but this is what I thought last night and now I am very tired because I didn't sleep much. :D

PMSL! ha ha how really funny were obsessed!...its not right ya know!:cheese:

[christine1989]

There should be a thread totally dedicated to "insomnia thoughts" :). I think that weight could come in to play but from what I hear the terminal length is 100% genetic. Nonetheless, keeping it up as it gets near terminal can't hurt.

[ilovelonghair]

There should be a thread totally dedicated to "insomnia thoughts" :). I think that weight could come in to play but from what I hear the terminal length is 100% genetic. Nonetheless, keeping it up as it gets near terminal can't hurt.

I come up with the craziest thoughts and ideas, sometimes with my best ideas too :):

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?p=1308130#post1308130

[Thinthondiel]

He claims that people will shed less from strengthening the root that way and when you grow your hair to the floor, the root will be so strong you only shed 2 hairs a day


I'm sure it may be true that people who have floor-length hair don't shed a lot, but I don't think it's because their hair is long - I think it's the other way around. They're able to grow their hair that long because each hair has a long cycle/grows for a really long time before it sheds, so it's only logical that they don't shed a lot. Shedding only two hairs a day seems unlikely in any case, though.

[HereIGrowAgain]

My 2 cents is that I've noticed I loose a lot less hair in the shower and when combing my hair now that it is super short. When it was longer, the longer it got, the more hair I seemed to loose when showering and detangling. Even finger combing throughout the day would yield more sheds.

So, I think the weight of hair, and the amount of stress it is placed under can contribute to shedding more.

[Sanyia]

I think you see less shedding when hair is short because it doesn't get caught in itself. It just falls off, unnoticed.

Long hair gets tangled, so while it might have fallen off, it gets caught/tangled on other hair until you comb it off or wash.

[moonkitty]

I love that crazy thinking because I think the same way!:eyebrows:

[Neneka]

We are maybe now being vaguely creepy. :D

And now I can't stop thinking how a stretched human scalp looks like. And then if you stretch it and get the excess part cut off, could you attach it to somewhere else? You would have hair growing in some weird place like stomach or you could protect you hands from the cold with a fur like that!

[Dragon]

Thats a very interesting question. I've never thort of that before.

[rosek]

Igor - I love how logical and scientific so many of your posts are. I agree with you - I don't think length in itself influences how likely or not your hair is to shed.

Also, I don't think the weight of an individual hair is enough to damage the follicle - its all about force and how you handle it.


George Micheal has a theory like that, only it goes in the “other” way: The longer hair gets, the stronger the root becomes
He then also has the theory that parting opposite your natural growth pattern will make it do “push-ups” (That is the exact word used) and make the root stronger
He claims that people will shed less from strengthening the root that way and when you grow your hair to the floor, the root will be so strong you only shed 2 hairs a day
Uhm, yea… No.

First of all, losing a hair is caused by two reasons:
1) The normal shedding that is regulated by hormones and body chemistry
2) Pulling on the hair, adding a force on the strands weight and gravity

Hair can fall out due to a less strong, but constant tug and a constant constriction. The Japanese geishas who have their hair in an extremely tight updo, only re-done once a week with no “down time” to relax can grow quite bald around the partings!
But that is pretty extreme, as all Traction alopecia causing updos. It is not something you can “get” from normal, everyday wear

If you look at the follicle, I like to imagine it sort of like a glove or a bag surrounding the hair strand. There is a single muscle connected to the follicle not to the hair itself. The muscle, musculus arrector pilli, is able to contract which is what makes “goose bumps” when the hair shifts more perpendicular to the skin. It doesn’t in any way make the hair more or less “secured” in the skin or make it fall out easier if it should weaken.

The physiology of the follicle (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Gray944.png) should show that the hair strand can’t be more or less fastened in the follicle. Shedding comes down to body chemistry or too hard handling

[Igor]

Thank you, Rosek. It’s good to know there are people that appreciate the time and effort spent on trying to actually answer a question :flowers:

[enfys]

I thought science established that shedding is based on a cycle and happens regardless of length. I know plenty of people (100% of them) who shed hair every day and that's with all different hair types and length.

Terminal length is determined by the time a hair can grow for, not an actual length. The old arguement we use of why we don't need to trim every six weeks applies here; the ends and roots don't know how far apart they are. Your hair doesn't know how long it is it just merrily sheds every X-years.

Also, a hair pulling out through weight is basically like plucking. That would hurt for a start. And take a lot more weight than one hair would ever weigh. My hair is firmly rooted at least.

[aenflex]

Heaviness certianly effects hair and hair fall.
But I think terminal length is pretty much a genentic type thing, predetermined and programmed and pretty much unchangeable without medical intervention??

[Bene]

This is more of a hypothesis than a theory. Gravity is a theory.


Sorry, I've just been reading a bunch of nonsense articles where people discount something because it's "just a theory". It occurs to me that people throw that word around too easily.

[Henrietta]

I suffer from insomnia and out of boredom I sometimes think of the craziest things. So here it is:

I was wondering if terminal length could be somewhat influenced by hair getting 'heavy' and pulling on the root. Hair is quite strongly attached to the scalp, it takes a bit of effort to pull a single hair out. But would that be different for each person, would some people's roots be 'less fastened' in the skin? Could a single hair get a bit too heavy and fall out due to that? Or could, if it was possible for hair to be less strongly rooted, single hairs fall out due to tight updo's?

The last statement is very, very, very likely to be true. Especially if someone does tight, let's say, ponytail everyday and in the same place.
The rest also seems reasonable. Weight plus age and weakness of every single hairs... I think that it has something to do with terminal length.

[Igor]

If growing from shoulder to, say, classic would put so much strain/weight on the follicle from the added length that hair would start falling out from that, we would all be bald as eggs from the pull from even the gentlest combing

[Darkhorse1]

Ah, insomnia thoughts! Glad I'm not the only one.

Igor is right--hair shedding is science. The hair folice has a cycle of life, and long, short, whatever may be, nothing can strengthen what is meant to only last for a certain amount of time. Obviously, if you are harder on your hair, the strand will snap sooner, but the shed rate won't until the folicle is ready--unless someone pulls your hair out from the roots--and btw, that HURTS! ;) (long story of goofing around with my brother as a kid, got my hair caught under him and a few strands were pulled from the root--that smarts for days!)

[Peter]

If growing from shoulder to, say, classic would put so much strain/weight on the follicle from the added length that hair would start falling out from that, we would all be bald as eggs from the pull from even the gentlest combing
This is completely correct.

The weight of a single hair is not nearly sufficient to actually "pull" it out.

[phistash]

This is more of a hypothesis than a theory. Gravity is a theory.


Sorry, I've just been reading a bunch of nonsense articles where people discount something because it's "just a theory". It occurs to me that people throw that word around too easily.


Yes, thank you for saying this. Recently, someone I know "refuted" evolutionary theory on Facebook with that exact argument. "You know, people, it's just a theory." And several people agreed! I'm really starting to think that the philosophy of science as well as advanced logic need to be mandatory in higher education.

ETA: this was in no way aimed at the OP. I was just annoyed with my friend.

[ilovelonghair]

They're able to grow their hair that long because each hair has a long cycle/grows for a really long time before it sheds, so it's only logical that they don't shed a lot.

There is hope for me! I shed very little.


My 2 cents is that I've noticed I loose a lot less hair in the shower and when combing my hair now that it is super short. When it was longer, the longer it got, the more hair I seemed to loose when showering and detangling. Even finger combing throughout the day would yield more sheds.

My ex said the same: but longer shed hairs look like a lot more even if they are the same amount as short shed hairs.



ETA: this was in no way aimed at the OP. I was just annoyed with my friend.

LOL, there was a reason I called it 'very odd' theory :p. That happens when you don't sleep!