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Hair Track: Our revolutionary hair tracking app

We have launched a new mobile app, “Hair Track”. Designed to help individuals track their hair loss and growth. Download the app today.

Hair Structure

You may not notice them in your day-to-day life, but your scalp (and other areas of your body) is full of hair follicles – in fact, your head alone has around 100,000 of them! [1] These follicles are responsible for hair growth, which means healthier hair follicles lead to healthier hair overall.

Unfortunately, hair follicles aren’t immune to damage, and it’s even possible to damage them to the point of no return. This is called hair follicle destruction, or dead hair follicles, and means you can never grow hair from that follicle again.

You’re in the right place to learn more about dead hair follicles, including common causes, symptoms, and treatment options.

Understanding Hair Follicles

To understand why you are losing hair, it helps to know the anatomy of your strands and scalp. Here are all the parts:

  • Hair
  • Skin
  • Sebum
  • Sebaceous Gland
  • Follicle
  • Bulb Papilla

The hair follicle is the part we are focusing on here. The hair follicle lives below the skin, where the hair grows from (while the bulb papilla generates the hair). It is a tiny hole that varies significantly in depth and size; some people with denser hair may have larger follicles. You cannot physically see hair follicles on your scalp because they live under the skin and are microscopic – you can only see your scalp and hair.

Hair structure

What Are Dead Hair Follicles?

A dead hair follicle is a follicle that has sustained so much damage that it can no longer grow any hair. In this situation, there is no chance of regeneration. There are many potential causes of dead hair follicles, which we’ll cover a little further down.

What Do Dead Hair Follicles Look Like?

You are likely wondering – what does a dead hair follicle look like? You cannot physically see hair follicles, but there are ways to tell if your hair follicles are dead. Typically, dead hair follicles lead to a smooth patch of bald skin on the scalp – it typically will not look like general hair thinning.

Doctors and hair specialists can get a look at your hair follicles by using a microscope. With this method, they can see whether your hair follicles are dead, dormant, or damaged.

Can Dead Hair Follicles Come Back to Life?

Fully destroyed hair follicles cannot usually come back to life without surgical intervention, such as a hair transplant. However, you can revive damaged or dormant hair follicles. Only when the follicles are extremely, deeply damaged does it become irreversible.

How to Know if Hair Follicles Are Dead

Wondering if you have dead hair follicles? Here are some ways to tell.

Check Your Scalp

One of the easiest ways to see if you have dead hair follicles is by checking your scalp. Do you have any smooth bald patches? In some cases, your scalp may show scarring where the dead hair follicles are. It’s important to note that different causes of dead hair follicles will show differently – an uneven hairline, for example, indicates dead hair follicles caused by androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern hair loss).

Visit a Hair Specialist or Dermatologist

A doctor will be able to examine your scalp with the right instruments to see your hair follicles up close. This will give you a clear indication of whether your hair follicles are dead or simply dormant. Plus, it will put you on the path to a good hair restoration journey.

What Damages Hair Follicles?

There are many different kinds of hair loss causes that can damage your hair follicles and lead to bald patches and an uneven hairline. These include:

A Poor Diet

Every human being needs a nutritious diet to keep themselves healthy and full of energy. Your hair follicles need these nutrients, too – without them, you may experience hair follicle damage and subsequent hair loss.

Stress

Another common form of hair loss is stress. Too much stress leads to telogen effluvium, a type of fast-occurring hair loss. The good news is that while the hair follicles get damaged by this, it usually is not permanent.

Genetics

Genetics greatly affects how much hair you lose during your life. Androgenetic alopecia (such as male pattern hair loss) is extremely common, affecting 80% of men and 50% of women at some point in life. [2] It can look different on men and women – women tend to lose hair from all over, whereas men may experience a receding, uneven hairline, and hair loss at the crown. This type of hair loss is determined by your family history, and it is more likely to occur during the general aging process.

Androgenetic Alopecia

Keep in mind some hairlines are natural and not indicative of hair thinning. For example, some people naturally have a widow s peak, which may be mistaken for an uneven or receding hairline, but is just the way the hairline is for that person.

Traction Alopecia

Traction alopecia refers to a type of hair loss caused by pulling at the hair follicles, which leads to damage, which can sometimes cause dead hair follicles and be permanent. Wearing tight hairstyles every day can lead to this, such as tight braids or a ponytail. Wearing clip-in extensions consistently can also cause traction alopecia.

Medications

Certain medications can damage the hair follicles and lead to hair loss. Some of these include chemotherapy, certain antibiotics, certain antidepressants, and blood thinners.

Folliculitis

Folliculitis is a type of infection that targets the hair follicles, causing itchy, inflamed bumps on the skin. Mild cases are easily treatable, but severe folliculitis can lead to permanent hair loss due to dying hair follicles.

How to Treat Damaged Hair Follicles

Are your hair follicles damaged but not yet dying? Here are some ways to bring them back to life and, hopefully, grow out your hair:

Use a Hair Loss Medication

A hair loss medication may be the solution to your dying hair follicles. There are several types of options available. First, there is minoxidil, a type of topical treatment you can purchase over the counter. This one works by stimulating blood flow to the scalp, which can help revive dying follicles.

Then, there are medications that prevent the production of dihydrotestosterone DHT, which includes finasteride and dutasteride. Both of these medications require a prescription and are only available to assigned men at birth. It works by blocking the hormone that causes male pattern baldness.

If you do try a hair loss medication, it helps to use a hair track app to see the results.

Try PRP Therapy

PRP (platelet rich plasma) therapy is a type of treatment that uses a patient’s blood to encourage healing within the body, and this can be used to stimulate hair follicles and treat hair loss. For this treatment, you’ll go to a clinic that will take some of your own blood and then inject that same blood back into your scalp at the area that needs it most – for example, into an uneven hairline. The results usually show through within three to six months.

Massage Your Scalp

Massaging your scalp may seem too simple, but it can help stimulate the hair follicles and encourage growth. It works because it increases blood flow to the follicles, which can activate the dormant ones. Try performing a scalp massage for five minutes on yourself every day.

Eat Well

Your hair follicles cannot be healthy without proper nutrition, so eat a highly nutritious diet. You can supplement with multivitamins if you find it hard to get all you need from diet alone.

Avoid Tight Hairstyles

Tight hairstyles that continuously pull on your strands are actually doing a lot of damage to your hair follicles, even if you can’t see them. In fact, tight hairstyles are one of the most common causes of dead hair follicles, leading to permanent hair loss. Avoid this by switching up your hairstyles from time to time and avoiding ones that tug too hard.

A Solution to Dead Hair Follicles

There is a solution to dead hair follicles, one that will allow you to grow a full head of hair once more: a hair transplant.

A hair transplant works for restoring hair because it takes healthy hair follicles from another area of the scalp. Even if you have dead hair follicles at the crown of your head, a hair transplant will work because it will transplant healthy follicles, which will take root and begin growing brand-new hairs.

No medication can mimic this – so, if you have destroyed hair follicles (rather than dying or dormant ones), this is your only real option outside of wigs and hairpieces.

The good news is that hair transplants have become increasingly sophisticated over the years. The FUE (follicular unit extraction) method is particularly popular, as it extracts individual hair follicles, which means natural results and minimal scarring. If you want to see what a hair transplant can do, check out our patients gallery.

Final Thoughts

It’s best to prevent dead hair follicles by practising good hair care and making attempts to revive damaged or dormant follicles, whether that’s through hair loss medications or PRP injections. However, if you do experience dead hair follicles, remember a hair transplant is a long-term solution.

Are you interested in starting a hair loss treatment that will stand the test of time? Get in touch with Harley Street Hair Clinic today to begin your hair restoration journey. Whether you have an uneven hairline, bald patches, or hair loss from all over the scalp, we can help you.

Sources:

  1. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-many-hairs-on-a-human-head#:~:text=per%20square%20centimeter).-,Hair%20follicles,of%20hairs%20on%20your%20head.
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24566563/#:~:text=Abstract,%2C%205%2Dalpha%20reductase%20inhibitors.
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