What Do Hair Follicles Do and What is Their Main Function?
Overview
Welcome to today's blog post, we will be talking about what hair follicles do and what their main function is. While it has a lot to do with our skin and other things like sebaceous glands, (I promise I will be breaking these hard-to-say terms down as we go) its sole purpose is to grow your hair!
But before we dive in, it’s important to know the meanings behind these terms to get a deeper understanding of it, and without further ado let's get into it.
What does 'Hair' mean?
Hair is from the “Old English hær "hair, a hair," from Proto-Germanic’ meaning to stand out, to rise to a point.
What is the meaning of 'follicle'?
Follicle derives from the Latin word folliculus meaning "a little sack or bag".
What is Hair Follicle?
So imagine this, it’s a “stand out sack” - while this made me chuckle a bit, but the actual meaning according to the Cleveland Clinic is “the structures within your skin that grow your hair.” There is more to structure than it is mentioned here. Hair has structure, the hair follicle has layers upon layers of other cells and glands that make up the hair follicle.
To learn more about hair structure, visit What is Hair Structure? The Breakdown and its functions
And the place of the hair follicle in all of this is like a pocket that holds your hair together. This pocket consists of hair bulb, root, shaft and other muscles and glands.
Functions
As mentioned before its sole purpose is to grow hair, but here are a few responsibilities of the hair follicles
Produces sebum or also known as the oil you randomly feel on your hands, skin and hair sometimes
Hair follicles have nerve endings
Helps repair skin after injury
Form new blood vessels
Act as a sensitive touch receptor
Frequently Asked Questions
Do hair follicles grow back if pulled out?
Hair follicle is rooted within your dermis, epidermis, and hypodermis, therefore it has layers upon layers. However you are able to pull out a hair shaft and you will notice a bulb around it called a hair bulb that was attached to the hair follicle.
Can you regrow hair follicles?
Depending on the severity of your hair follicles, it may take up to 4 years for it to grow back. However, a healthy hair follicle typically takes up to 1 to 2 months to grow back.
What is the clear stuff around a hair root?
Sebum, a natural oil that is produced by a microscopic gland called the sebaceous. This is attached to the hair follicle which helps pump natural oil to your hair.
Are new hair follicles created constantly?
Yes, brand new hair cells are continuously being made in the hair bulb near the hair papilla.