Hair is an important part of our appearance and identity, and our efforts to keep it clean and well-groomed has created an estimated $80 billion industry.
This industry offers us many products and claims that they keep our hair beautiful, shiny and healthy.
But how do you actually have healthy hair? Whether they are straight, or curly, long or short, aren't they just dead proteins?
What is hair?
A hair is a thin filament or thread of cylindrical structure that grows on the human scalp and is divided into two parts, an inner part made up of roots and tufts and an outer, stem-like thread that is visible on its own. The first is hair.
Dr Sharon Wong, a scalp and hair specialist, explained to the BBC's Crowd Science programmed: 'Filaments are not living things. Technically, we have the living part, which is the follicle, and then we basically have the dead part, which is the fiber that comes out of the scalp, and that's what we care about the most. '
Experts say that each hair has its own follicle, which has a different depth.
Every hair follicle in our body has about 5 million on our scalp. Hair goes through a cycle of growth and this is an independent process that does not affect other follicles, so human hair growth is not synchronized. As humans, not all of our hair falls out at the same time.
Experts say that one of the amazing things about the human body is the fact that follicles have the ability to regenerate themselves so that whenever a hair falls out naturally, it is replaced by another. The hair comes.
If we zoom in on the filament, we will see that it is a tubular structure with the base of the bulb of the hair follicle, called the dermal papilla.
At the top of the hair follicle, there are sections of stem cells that send chills down the follicle or to the root, and they are the ones that will tell the follicle to grow a filament.
"We all have a genetically predetermined length of this hair growth cycle that can range from two years to about seven years," says Dr. Wong.
'This is why some people can only grow their hair to shoulder length and some have much longer hair.'
But after the growth phase ends, the hair follicle goes into a sort of resting phase where strands stop growing.
And then it goes into the resting or telogen phase during which the hair begins to fall out and the growth phase begins again.
What is healthy hair?
Although hair isn't biologically a living thing, that doesn't mean there's no difference between healthy hair and unhealthy hair, says dermatologist Sharon Wong.
"If you look at an undamaged strand under the microscope, you'll see that the outer layer, which is the cuticle, is very well formed like a hair net. It's smooth and flat." It is like a protective layer on your hair against heat and chemicals.
'Because over time, due to excessive ultraviolet rays (UV waves) on the hair, or other factors, the cuticle is damaged and when you look at a damaged strand, you see a cuticle. which does not look flat and clean'.
A damaged cuticle makes the strand more vulnerable, which means chemicals, heat and damage can reach the center of the hair and weaken it from the inside and out.
This can be seen on ends of hair that are split or split, or when hair loses its color.
We asked Dr. Wong what we should do to keep our hair texture healthy. Should we stop using dryers and straighteners?
"It really has to do with the intensity of the heat coming out of these devices and how often you use them," she says.
'For example, if you use a flat iron to straighten your hair, ideally it should be less than 180 degrees because above that you can really damage or damage the hair protein. Let's get started, and don't forget that your hair is 90 percent protein.'
'But if you use it regularly two or three times a week, it becomes cumulative damage and then your hair starts to break a lot.'
How often should hair be washed?
As for shampoo and conditioner, how often should we use them?
"The purpose of shampoo is to cleanse your scalp and ensure that there is a good foundation for healthy hair growth," says a dermatologist.
The conditioner is for the strand, to prevent it from growing and drying out the hair.
'On the frequency of hair washing, there is no one-size-fits-all formula, mainly related to scalp cleansing.
If one has a very greasy or oily scalp, you may need to wash your hair every day. And if your scalp is very dry, daily washing will not help.
Dermatologists say the ideal would be to find out what works best for different people's scalps.
"It also depends on your lifestyle, or if you're using a lot of hair products, so I'd ideally recommend washing it at the end of the day," she adds.
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