Have you ever felt a few thick, stiff, twisted hairs on your head and finally itched and plucked them off?
I really want to take a look|Source: Douyin@Lingyin @天晴了 Video screenshot Appearance, these hairs look like "steel wool", like a variant version of ordinary hair. Because the shape is so strange, the majority of netizens also nickname them "hair kings". How did this weird hair come about? Hair Adventures first talks about the conclusion: the hair king is most likely determined by nature, and many strange-shaped hairs are, in the final analysis, the "pot" of hair follicles. Let's take a look at the growth of the hair. Normally, hair is produced in the hair follicles located on the surface of the scalp, which can be said to be the "base" of hair growth. When a hair follicle is in the anagen phase, the cells inside it grow rapidly by dividing, and new hair forms in the hair follicle and gradually grows out of the scalp and extends to the surface of the skin.
Cross-sectional view of hair follicles|Source: Reference 3Because of this, the "appearance" of hair follicles and hair can be said to be closely related. A study by Bruno A. Bernard, Ph.D., found that the morphology of hair follicles largely determines the shape of hair. If the hair follicles are round and straight, the hair will come out silky, and the hair that has not experienced bumps will be naturally straight and smooth. Conversely, if the hair follicle is oval or flattened, and the internal channels are crooked, the path of hair growth will be full of twists and turns. When the "lucky ones" come up with great effort, they will find that their bodies have not only become uneven in the process of difficult growth, but also bent.
Hair follicles are crooked|Source: Reference 9 In order to facilitate observation, Sarah E. Medland, a scholar at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia, and others also thoughtfully classified the hair according to different curl degrees. You can judge for yourself which rank the hair king on your head belongs to.
There are 8 different levels of hair curl|Source: Reference 7Seeing this, I don't know if you have noticed that the hair king is very similar to private hair in some aspects. In fact, the reason why the hair on the private parts is curly is essentially because the hair follicles here are mostly oval or flattened. In addition, because the place where pubic hair grows is very hidden, it will often be rubbed against clothing and body, and it will be in a state of "compression" for a long time, which itself is more likely to be curled due to injury. But what about some hairs that are not only curvy, but also extra thick? In fact, it is a hair follicle deformity known as Pili multigemini, which is characterized by the presence of multiple separate hair substrates and papillae inside some hair follicles, resulting in the growth of multiple hairs.
Source: Reference 10 In this case, some hairs are "separated" from birth, and it is easy to see from the appearance that there are multiple hairs in one hair follicle. Some hairs are "entangled" with each other all the time, forming a thick hair, which can only be seen under an electron microscope. However, after all, everyone is a hair follicle, and if you don't consider the difference in appearance, then theoretically you can also use the hair follicles of your private parts for hair transplantation. Once, a doctor named Kuldeep Saxena in India transplanted the pubic hair of a patient to his head for the benefit of people with hair loss. Although the patient was finally freed from the pain of being "extremely smart" after the hair transplant, his new hair still retains the rough, curly nature of pubic hair - but as long as he doesn't say it, no one will know that he doesn't have hair on his head. But the problem is that pubic hair has a short life cycle and grows very slowly, falling out before it grows. This also means that the length of the friend's hair will be very limited from now on, and it will fall out before it grows long...... It's still good to have original hair. What to do if there are too many "hair kings" Of course, it is a trivial matter to have a few hair kings once in a while, but if a large number of thick and curly hair appears, we must be vigilant. In addition to the "natural hair king" who is born in the naturally oval or flat hair follicle, some hair kings appear because we do not take care of our hair. The first may be a lack of nutrients. Hair is mainly composed of keratin, vitamins and trace elements such as zinc and calcium can maintain hair health. Kong Qingtao, a dermatologist at the Eastern Theater General Hospital, once pointed out that if you do not develop good eating habits and often eat partially and pickily, it may lead to a lack of vitamins and proteins in the body, and the hair follicles of the scalp will not be supplied with nutrients, which will cause a large number of hair to appear dry and frizzy, uneven in thickness and bending. Secondly, if you do not pay attention to the cleanliness and hygiene of the scalp in your life, it may cause fungal or other pathogenic bacteria infection in the scalp area, which will affect the normal growth of hair. Frequent hair dyeing and perming can also cause damage to the keratin in the hair and affect the hair texture, making the hair curly and rough. Of course, the body's own hormonal changes also contribute to the "mutation" of certain hairs. For example, after puberty, the hair follicles in the private parts are stimulated by sex hormones and gradually grow twisted hairs. In addition to this, the appearance of the hair king may also have a pathological cause, i.e. Björnstad syndrome. It typically presents with a twisted longitudinal axis of the hair, a dull and brittle texture, and does not tolerate stretching well. This condition usually begins in newborns and infants, and is often accompanied by intellectual disability and sensorineural hearing impairment, and as of 2021, fewer than 50 cases have been recorded worldwide, which can be said to be extremely rare.
Source: Reference 2 In addition, the appearance of the rosary hair (monilethrix) is also very similar to that of some hair kings. It clinically appears as dry, dull, brittle, and sparse hair. The appearance is uneven, with alternating narrow parts and oval nodule parts, resembling rosaries. In general, it occurs in infancy and occurs with erythema and prominent follicular keratotic papules.
Source: Reference 2Because both diseases are caused by genetic mutations, there is basically no cure. However, both of these conditions occur in newborns or infants, so if you are found in adolescence or adulthood, it is likely that it has nothing to do with the above diseases. So, is there any way to eliminate the Fat King? Is it okay to just unplug it? There is a high probability that it will not work. As mentioned earlier, the production of the hair king is inseparable from the hair follicles, even if the hair is pulled out, but the hair follicles are still there, and the hair that grows later is likely to be the hair king. Moreover, pulling out a hair generally does not affect the growth of other surrounding hairs, unless a long time and a large amount of hair pulling may damage the hair follicles, induce hair loss and even folliculitis, but there should not be many ruthless people who can do this...... Moreover, although these hair kings are twisted and stout, they are hair, and maybe three on top of one, which is better than no hair at all.
Resources:
[1] Guo Zhendong. (1996). Causes of hair loss and frizz. China Cosmetics (02), 29.
[2] Wu Zhihua. Modern Dermatology. People's Health Press.
[3] Howard Bennett, translated by Zhou Xiaozhu (2018). Body book for kids. Beijing United Publishing Company.
[4] Popular Science China: Why Asians are mostly "straight", while Europeans and Africans are mostly "bent".
[5] Doctor Lilac: Can the hair on the private parts be used for hair transplantation?
[6] Professor Yang Xichuan of the Department of Dermatology: The thick and curvy "hair king" will be bald if he pulls it out?
[7] Medland, Sarah E. , et al. "Common Variants in the Trichohyalin Gene Are Associated with Straight Hair in Europeans." American Journal of Human Genetics 85.5(2009):750-755.
[8] James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. (10th ed.). Saunders.
[9]thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/articles/2018/hair-texture-can-change/
[10]itscharmingtime.com/treatment-and-causes-of-multiple-hairs-in-one-follicle/
[11] NCATS（遗传和罕见病信息中心）：Björnstad syndrome.
Header image source: Douyin @ringtone @天晴了 video screenshot
Author: Min Min Du Yuxin Editor: Tennessee Duty Editor: Min Min
Click to enter the "Oops My Rabbit Store"▼
▼ If you think today's article is not bad, move your fingers, and give Yi Yujun a click to read