Healthy hair follicles are the crux for healthy hair strands. It’s significant to have a good immune system in order to have a healthy hair growth.

A weak immune system could lead you in a situation where any infection to your hair follicle could ultimately reach deeper tissues of skin. It would then have an adverse affect on the structure of hair follicles. A more serious infection could affect the Anagen phase of hair cycle growth.

Hair Follicle Definition

Hair follicle definitions could vary; it depends on how you want to describe hair follicles.

A definition purely reflects your angle of viewing hair follicles. A single definition won’t be enough to describe hair follicles. But, a series of definitions would eventually help you understand a hair follicle on a human body.

The most striking feature of hair follicles is the cells which they obtain from the skin.

1) What Is A Hair Follicle?

In short, or in simpler terms, a hair follicle is a tubular formation which contains the root of the hair.

If you seek a medical definition of hair follicles, then a hair follicle would be defined as a tubular development, which arises due to epidermis closing on the corium.

You may also define hair follicle as a casing which covers the bottom part of the hair.

2) How Epidermis Helps Hair Follicle?

Before you read further about hair follicles, you should know what an epidermis is.

An epidermis is an outer covering of the skin, and the root of the hair which lie inside hair follicle grows, penetrates and comes out of epidermis.

On certain terms, epidermis plays a great part in creating a cover for hair follicles. It is essential that a hair follicle remains covered by a strong layer, which makes sure that it gets proper heat and temperature, so that hair grows naturally.

3) How Hair Follicle Leads To Growth Of Hair?

A hair follicle is attached to many significant glands and muscle fiber.

Each hair follicle inside a human body is surrounded by a gland known as sebaceous gland, which produces oil.

This oil producing gland makes the surroundings of hair follicle flexible.

The oil also fills the pores, and eases the pain out of the process when hair penetrates the epidermis and pushes out in the open.

4) What Causes Hair Follicle To Grow Vertical?

A muscle fiber called arrector pili, is attached to hair follicles, and these muscle fibers causes hair follicle to enter pores in the body and lead them vertically straight above.

The pressure created by muscle fibers helps the hair to stand straight and rise above the surface.

5) When Does Balding Takes Place?

A damaged hair follicle could lead to complete baldness.

Hair follicles need to be protected, and taken care of.

Dead cells attached to hair follicles could also be a cause for baldness.

It’s therefore, important to understand the fact that healthy hair follicle generates healthy hair.

6) What Does Hair Follicle Look Like?

As you know that hair follicle is a tubular shaped formation, which lies underneath the skin and grows naturally to push out in the open. Though, the shape is an elongated one, yet the structure of hair follicle is unique and composed of different types of cells and compositions.

The structure of hair follicles is similar throughout the body.

a) Base of the Hair Follicle

The base of hair follicle has a nipple like structure, called Papilla, and it has a shape of a pear.

A Papilla is made up of tissues which maintain the composition of hair follicles.

The contents of Papilla also provide enough support for hair roots to grow naturally.

Papilla contains a duct ring which has connecting tissues. These connecting tissues pull together the structure of hair follicles.

What surrounds Papilla in hair follicles?

Papilla is surrounded by epithelial cells, and these cells are either squamous, or column shaped.

These epithelial cells cover the connecting tissues, which lie inside Papilla.

There is a thin membrane between papilla and epithelial cells, which is called basement membrane.

The basement membranes are involved in producing new blood vessels, and they also block bad cells to penetrate inside and harm Papilla.

b) Root Sheath in Hair Follicles

A root sheath is an active member of hair follicle structure. An internal root sheath plays its role in the formation of hair.

It is cylindrical in shape, and acts in hair formation.

While outer root sheath exists along with epidermis, it doesn’t play any role in the formation of hair.

c) Hair Fiber

It is the outer most structure, which contains a layer called cuticle. A cuticle protects the cortex and basement membranes.

d) Arrector pili

Arrector pili play a subdued role in human beings, but they play a greater role in animals.

It’s significant to know the fact, as how a hair stands on its own.

Arrector pili consists of muscle fibers, and plays an important role in providing padding between erect hairs, which possibly explains the reasons on how a hair stands on its own.

These arrector pili are attached with hair follicles, and provide heat between erect hairs, which is vital for the erection of hair.

e) Sebaceous glands

They are the oil producing glands in the skin. The oils produced by sebaceous glands releases sebum which goes inside hair follicles through a channel.

Sebaceous glands maintain water balance in hair follicles.

f) Sweat glands

Sweat glands are instrumental in maintaining body temperature.

The role of sweat glands increases in summer.

It helps to bring body temperatures down, and keep your body cool. Sweat glands are found just below epidermis.

7) Where Does Hair Follicle Grow?

You would also find hair follicles present in almost every part of the body, except in few places such as penis, palms, soles and lips.