You probably already know that each hair on your head (as well as your body) grows from a hair follicle. However, other than that, hair follicles are a topic that many aren’t very familiar with. The focus, especially when it comes to hair care, is usually placed on the hair itself, rather than the follicle that produces it. 

While this is understandable since your hair is what everyone sees, ignoring those follicles can sometimes be a big mistake. Understanding a little more about them can sometimes give you the knowledge that you need to take even better care of your locks and give them everything that they require to thrive.

Ready to make some waves in your hair follicle education? Read on as Evalectric shares nine things you likely don’t know about these hair-producing structures.

1) Each Hair Follicle Usually Produces 1-3 Hairs

The human body contains around five million hair follicles, with about 100,000 of these found on the scalp. Each hair follicle produces, on average, between one and three hairs, depending on where it’s located. Although unusual, some hair follicles can produce up to seven or eight hairs! Usually, the follicles on the hairline only produce one or two hairs, with the mid-scalp and the crown containing higher-density follicles.

2) Excessive Heat Styling Can Damage Hair Follicles

Go to Product

If you want your hair to look full and thick, hair follicle damage needs to be avoided at all costs. Once a hair follicle is damaged, hair growth slows down, or even completely stops. Sometimes, the follicle may even shed the hairs that it’s holding. 

What damages hair follicles? So many things, with excessive heat styling being an increasing problem. So many of the heated styling tools out there produce an excessive amount of heat, damaging follicles in a way that isn’t realized until it’s too late.

While you don’t need to stop heat styling your hair, you do need to opt for tools that keep the appearance of damage to a minimum. Evalectric’s Straight Brush Styler Peach Please, for example, comes with an adjustable temperature dial that puts you in control of how much heat you expose your hair to. It also boasts infrared heat technology and negative ion technology, both of which work to inhibit visible damage.

Your styling techniques will also affect how much, if any, damage your styling tools cause. Take blow drying, for instance. Hold your hair dryer too close to your scalp and the intense heat that you blast onto your hair follicles will undoubtedly cause damage. On the other hand, keep your hair dryer a safe distance from your scalp while you work (15cm is a good aim) and your hair follicles will come out of it feeling much healthier and happier!

3) Gentle Brushing and Massage Can Stimulate Hair Follicles

While damage can cause your hair follicles to put a stop to hair growth, there’s plenty that you can do to keep your hair follicles stimulated. Gentle brushing, which is essentially a form of a scalp massage, is one. 

Whether you massage your scalp with a hairbrush or with your fingers, this gives circulation in your scalp a boost. This essentially means that blood flow speeds up, giving your hair follicles a greater supply of nutrients and oxygen. As you can imagine, this allows them to work more efficiently, resulting in a healthier-looking head of hair.

The amazing effects that a gentle massage can have on the scalp and its hair follicles are now being increasingly backed up by science. In fact, one study found that a four-minute scalp massage each day left the hair feeling significantly thicker after 24 weeks.

4) Your Hair Follicles Need to be Kept Hydrated

Go to Product

When it comes to hydration, every single cell in your body needs plenty of moisture to function properly. Your hair follicles are no exception. If they don’t receive enough water, the hairs that they produce will be dry, rough, brittle, and very easily broken.

How do you keep your hair follicles hydrated? It starts by drinking plenty of water. The water that you drink provides hydration to your hair follicles. However, since your hair follicles aren’t vital in the functioning of your body, they only receive the water that’s left over after your essential organs have taken their share. This is why it’s important to keep your body sufficiently topped up with water from within.

At the same time, you should also be providing hydration topically. The products that you use on your scalp can help to directly hydrate your hair follicles, bypassing the long route that internal moisture has to take. Hydrating shampoos, like the Evalectric Moisturizing Shampoo, are great for this. Unlike most of the other hair care products out there, shampoos are applied directly to the scalp. This gives you the perfect opportunity to provide some extra hydration to your hair follicles.

5) Your Diet Directly Impacts the Health of Your Hair Follicles

Earlier, we talked about how boosting circulation in the scalp helps to increase the amount of nutrients that your hair follicles receive. However, where do these nutrients come from in the first place? 

Well, these are the nutrients that you give to your body through your diet. This means that if your diet is lacking in adequate nutrition, increasing circulation isn’t going to do much for your hair follicles since your body doesn’t contain enough of the necessary nutrients to start with.

A varied, balanced, and fresh diet is key when it comes to keeping every part of your body healthy. With that said, there are certain nutrients that are known for being particularly beneficial when it comes to hair health…

Zinc is one. This mineral can be found in high quantities in oysters. Beef, eggs, and dairy products are also good sources. Biotin is also a key hair nutrient. You’ll find large amounts of it in beef liver, milk, eggs, nuts, seeds, and bananas. 

A vitamin D deficiency can also cause problems with the health of your hair. While you may be tempted to rectify this by soaking up some sun, be careful about doing so because, as you’re about to find out, sun exposure could leave you with damaged hair follicles…

6) Hair Follicles Can Easily be Harmed By the Environment

It’s common knowledge that the skin is highly susceptible to environmental damage, such as UV rays and pollution. So, it should come as no surprise that the hair follicles, which are found in the skin’s outer two layers, are prone to the same. 

Sun exposure is one of your skin’s greatest threats. Not only will they immediately leave your hair follicles feeling dehydrated but, in the long run, they’ll damage the structure of each follicle too. This will inhibit that follicle’s ability to grow healthy hair.

Pollution is extremely detrimental as well. This causes free radical damage, causing the skin and its components to prematurely age. This leaves the hair follicles weaker and, once again, unable to do their job properly. 

How can you prevent all of this environmental damage? 

The best way is by physically shielding your hair from the environment whenever possible. Wearing a hat, for example, will block UV rays from reaching your scalp. Wrapping your head in a scarf will have the same effect while also keeping pollutants away from your strands.

7) Hair Follicles Can Be Damaged While You Sleep

If the environment is so dangerous for your hair follicles, then surely this means that once you go to bed at night, those follicles are finally safe? 

Unfortunately, no. Each time your head rubs against your pillow, friction is created. Over time, this can damage your hair follicles while also leading to inflammatory conditions. 

When it comes to your hair, you need to keep friction to a minimum. The best way to do this is by giving your head a silk or satin pillowcase to snooze on each night. With these materials being so smooth, friction is minimized. They also don’t absorb moisture in the way that other fabrics do. This means that there’s less chance that your hair follicles will dehydrate while you sleep.

8) You Can’t Pull Your Hair Follicles Out

While some may tell you that plucking a hair will cause you to pull that hair follicle out, this isn’t true in the slightest. Although plucking should be avoided for other reasons (irritation, for example), your hair follicles are a tube-like structure within your skin that can’t be removed. 

If you do happen to notice a small round bulb at the end of a hair you’ve plucked, this is the root of that hair rather than the follicle. Don’t worry, removing this root doesn’t mean that your hair won’t grow back – it will since your hair follicle is still there!

9) Your Hair Follicles Can Be Affected by Stress

Stress affects just about every part of the body, including your hair follicles. When you’re significantly stressed, your hair follicles move into resting mode. This puts a stop to the growth of the hairs that the follicle is currently producing. Sure, the hairs that have already emerged from that follicle will stick around for a while. However, they’re more than likely to fall out within a few months. The more you’re stressed, the more this will happen.

If you want to keep your hair follicles healthy, keeping stress to a minimum is key. Make an effort to calm yourself down whenever you feel your stress levels starting to rise. Whether this means stopping what you’re doing to go for a job, taking five minutes to write your worries down, or listening to some soothing music and practicing a few breathing exercises, knowing how to beat stress will not only benefit your hair follicles but will do the world of good for the rest of your body too.

Summary

Hopefully, you’ve now learned a few new things about your hair follicles and how important they are. Keeping your hair follicles healthy will, in turn, give you a mane that looks full, thick, and vibrant, so keep all of the above information in mind!

Click here to shop for more bestselling hair products from Evalectric.