Whats up with the strange strand of hair? Pic..

[MissHair]

Ive found like 5 of these so far as they stand straight up my scalp.. Weird afro curled strands of hair.. I have naturally very straight and heavy hair..
Where do these strands come from? My genes?

I compared the weird strand next to my normal straight one..

Do you know why some strands are curly? I would love to know why.

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4316/strangestrandsi7.jpg

[Ndnlady]

This usually happens to me :( when one of my strands of hair get stretched beyond what it is supposed to, it may have been when your hair was wet or the last time you combed or brushed, that the hair got overstretched.

[MissHair]

Oh Ive never heard of hair getting overstretched, I learn something new everyday. Thank you.

[awesometruffle]

That happens to me too and I don't think they're from stretching. They don't feel stretched out--they feel thicker and coarser than the rest of my hair. I guess maybe it's a confused or damaged follicle? But I don't know. They are always very easy to pull out, and I've never noticed one that's more than a few inches long. I've also never noticed one that's not near my part, but maybe that's just because other ones would get covered up.

[Anathema]

I have quite a few of those kind of strands aswell. No clue why they are there, but I'm sure it's not from being stretched. They're just very coarse and alot curlier than all my other strands are. Most of them are found higher up on my head, and I try to pluck them as soon as I can because it's fun (?!).

I did find some of those really long aswell though, hiding under the rest of the hair.

[Ndnlady]

Ok, I think Anathema and awesometruffle are both right because I tried to take one of my hairs (that I had laying on the floor:p) and break it and the end curled up but it didn't get any thicker! I learn something new everyday too!:)

[cheekytweety]

I get quite a few off those, and they are usually thicker, coarser and darker than my normal hair

[shrimp]

I get those too, and not only super coarse black ones, but also super fine white-blonde ones.

My hair has issues :lol:

[harley mama]

Or, it could be a random curly hair that is trying to sneak on board and take over! ;)

[coppercurls]

Or, it could be a random curly hair that is trying to sneak on board and take over! ;)

Ha!:p

Every once in a while I find a rogue straight hair on my head. So who knows?

[MissHair]

I would love if I had some afro gene that took over my scalp.. :D Im so tired of straight hair.. But yeah, the strand is very very coarse and thick... Strange..

[Gladtobemom]

I get them too, a dermatologist told me once that if a hair is jerked out of its follicle at a bad angle, then the hair that grows back can grow weird like that.

She said the best thing to do was to get the area warm with a damp very warm rag, then get someone to carefully tweeze it. Many times if the follicle can relax it will grow a new hair in a better orientation. She said don't just jerk on them because that can damage the follicle more.

DH pulls mine, I used to get many more before when I used to brush out tangles instead of combing carefully. I think I jerked alot of hairs out.

[Ineedmorehair]

I first noticed hairs like these maybe 3-4 years ago and became obsessed with them because I could not understand how someone with thin, baby-fine hair could also have random thick, super kinky hairs. After a ton of obsessive research I (and I am NO doctor:D so this is just MY opinion) am convinced it has something to do with insulin resistance. A lot of articles I have read on the topic seem to mention the fact that people with insulin resistance have certain abnormalities happening to their bodies (excess hair or hair loss, hair follicle abnormalities which cause hair to grow thinner or thicker and in texture different from the rest, etc). I am just convinced these hairs are a direct result of something that isn't right within the body.

[nappywomyn]

I first noticed hairs like these maybe 3-4 years ago and became obsessed with them because I could not understand how someone with thin, baby-fine hair could also have random thick, super kinky hairs. After a ton of obsessive research I (and I am NO doctor:D so this is just MY opinion) am convinced it has something to do with insulin resistance. A lot of articles I have read on the topic seem to mention the fact that people with insulin resistance have certain abnormalities happening to their bodies (excess hair or hair loss, hair follicle abnormalities which cause hair to grow thinner or thicker and in texture different from the rest, etc). I am just convinced these hairs are a direct result of something that isn't right within the body.

Oh, wow!!! That's amazing! My hair is the opposite, where MOST of my hairs look like the curly one, but I also have these random, 1a straight, uber-fine hairs, too! What really makes it interesting is that I was just diagnosed as being insulin resistant, most likely since I was pretty young, too.

[DotDotDot]

Am I the crazy one here who doesn't seem to have anything like this at all? Not that I've noticed, anyway.

[julya]

I have seen a few of these on my head too, but I've never pulled one. They are so coarse it seems like it would really hurt.

[toodramatik]

Yeah. I get them too, they piss me off cause they're just so.. gross. Maybe they're damaged?

[Millielie]

I've them too. A lot of them. But I've a lot of that baby fine hair too. I always thought that it would be something quite normal...

[Dianyla]

I get these. I call 'em headpubes. I started getting them about 4 years ago. Coarse, crinkly, and completely different from all of the rest of my hair on my head. I have a number of hairs that are completely normal for several feet, and then the few inches of new growth next to my head are this new texture.

I'm fairly sure they are due to certain hormonal and thyroid issues I've been having. I hope to have a better answer within the next few months. :)


Am I the crazy one here who doesn't seem to have anything like this at all? Not that I've noticed, anyway.
Call us back in 15 years! :silly:

[toodramatik]

Hormones? Thyroids? Insulin? Someone Tell Me You're All Wrong, Cause I'm Sixteen.

:(

[goodenough]

Could it be part of the aging process--I started getting these just as I am noticing my first few grays. And it seems my hair over all is wavier. I think keeping my hair shorter was what was making it straight. I'm going to not brush next time I wash to see how wavy I'm getting (now that I'm almost waist.) I have a whole section at the nape like this, and they also break off, I think because i brush that area along w/my straight hair.

[Millielie]

Hormones? Thyroids? Insulin? Someone Tell Me You're All Wrong, Cause I'm Sixteen.

:(

I have had no problems with all that things until a few months ago and I'm having those weird hairs for years. They are coarse, thick and jet black but I still think that it is something pretty normal :shrug:

[spidermom]

I've got just about every texture and color on my head, from fine, black, and extremely tightly curled to white, straight, and coarse. I'm a genuine mutt!

[DotDotDot]

<snip> Call us back in 15 years! :silly:

Haha I will. Assuming that it is age-related.

[Katze]

heh, I thought it was just genetic?

I don't notice them too often, but have found them since being at LHC and paying closer attention. They were almost like horsehair, and very coarse and black. Looked a lot like that pic!

Normally, I do have some "M" thickness hair that is like 2c waviness and much darker - most of my nape hairs are like this - so I just thought it was Dad's darker genes coming out. Most of my hair is super-F to almost-M, translucent-to-light-brown in color.

Couldn't it just be the product of centuries of people marrying people with differnent genes?!?

[Dianyla]

Hormones? Thyroids? Insulin? Someone Tell Me You're All Wrong, Cause I'm Sixteen.

:(
Um, sixteen-year olds can have hormonal problems too, you know? I've been dealing with them in one form or another since I was about 11 years old. :shrug:

I'm not saying that you do have hormonal balance problems. But it's not impossible based on your age.

[toodramatik]

Um, sixteen-year olds can have hormonal problems too, you know? I've been dealing with them in one form or another since I was about 11 years old. :shrug:

I'm not saying that you do have hormonal balance problems. But it's not impossible based on your age.

Yeah, I know. I guess it was more the thyroid and insulin stuff that scared the crapola out of me

[Gumball]

I've had random hairs like that before, too. I would have one that would be straight or wavy for most of the way down and right in the middle it would tightly spiral like a small spring. Boggles my mind every time I find one! I can't help but stare at it dumbfounded.

[Tap Dancer]

I find those hairs sometimes and I pull them out. :p

[sipnsun]

The only ones I get that are a different texture are the silver ones that have been popping up quite a bit lately. I guess I never noticed because I always bleached my hair before joining LHC and now I've been growing my natural hair for nearly a year. I couldn't explain why you would have one that is the same color as your hair, but the follicle being damaged or stressed or hormones seems to be the most logical. If you are very careful with your hair, it's probably hormones, if not, it could be stress on the hair.

[Molster]

I'm hoping they're pretty normal!

I've had those for years and years (I can usually find them towards the back of my head). Thankfully they're not too noticeable, but as they are dark, course and kinky, they are totally different from the usual fine, straightish blond stuff on the rest of my head. 'Headpubes' is a good word for them - I like that.

[TheSpottedCow]

I have a bunch on the back of my head and always have. They only grow on the back crown part. I plucked one once in the eighth grade and put it under a microscope and the root looked like an octopus. It bled, so I must have ripped the follicle out or it was some demented root. But anyway, they don't want to come out, I had to rip that one out and the ones I have now can be yanked on and not come out. Mine are black, whereas the rest of my hair is Lt brown. They are not round, but rather squareish or flat and very thick.

I always thought they kindof looked and felt like African hair. They don't break as easily as some African hair... and I'm white. But that's always what they remind me of. They don't really bother me that much, I just leave them there.

[FlipHunny]

I always wondered if I was the only one who got these :P And yes, I agree on the term "headpubes" because that's pretty much what I thought they looked like anyway >.< But I have a birthmark on my head and that's the only spot they grow. I always thought that it was the skin of the birthmark that caused it to grow that way.

I hope its not the insulin thing, but my dad is diebetic so it wouldn't be unlikely that there's something going on with my insulin too.