Hair
is found on all body parts except the palms, soles, lips, nipples, and portions of the external reproductive organs. Most of this hair is fine and downy, but the hair on the head includes stronger types as well. After puberty, when sex hormones are made in quantity, there is noticeable hair in the axillary and pelvic regions of both sexes. In the male, a beard develops, and other parts of the body may also become quite hairy. When women produce more male sex hormone than usual, they can develop hirsutism, a condition characterized by excessive body and facial hair. Hormonal injections and electrolysis to kill roots are possible treatments. Hairs project from complex structures called hair follicles. These hair follicles are formed from epidermal cells but are located in the dermis of the skin (Fig. 1.1). Certain hair follicle cells continually divide, producing new cells that form a hair. At first, the cells are nourished by dermal blood vessels, but as the hair grows up and out of the follicle, they are pushed farther away from this source of nutrients, become keratinized, and die. The portion of a hair within the follicle is called the root, and the portion that extends beyond the skin is called the shaft.
The life span of any particular hair is usually three to four months for an eyelash and three to four years for a scalp hair; then it is shed and regrows. In males, baldness occurs when the hair on the head fails to regrow. Alopecia, meaning hair loss, can have many causes. Male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia, is an inherited condition. Alopecia areata is characterized by the sudden onset of patchy hair loss. It is most common among children and young adults, and can affect either sex. Each hair has one or more oil, or sebaceous, glands, whose ducts empty into the follicle. A smooth muscle, the arrector pili, attaches to the follicle in such a way that contraction of the muscle causes the hair to stand on end. If a person has had a scare or is cold, figoose bumpsfl develop due to contraction of these muscles.
