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DOES SHAVING CAUSE hair to grow faster, coarser and darker? This age-old question is still
asked repeatedly. A quick anatomy lesson on the structure of a hair follicle should help.
The hair follicle and its hair are fundamentally one structure. This structure can be divided
anatomically into three segments:
(1) Infundibulum - the upper, funnel-shaped indentation that extends from the polar orifice in
the epidermis (the little hole where we aim our needle) to the entrance of the sebaceous gland.
(2) Isthmus - the short midsection of the follicle, bounded by the sebaceous gland duct and the
arrector pili muscle.
(3) Inferior - extending from the arrector muscle to the base of the follicle.
The expanded lower end of the follicle is the hair bulb, which encloses the oval-shaped
vascular-connective tissue papilla. This is an upgrowth of the dermis containing the blood supply
and nerve endings to nourish the follicle.
An anatomic change occurs at the isthmus. The entire follicle beneath the isthmus, can be
considered “temporary” because it disappears during the involutional stage, or stage of regression
of the hair follicle cycle, and reforms again during the growth cycle.
The upper segments, isthmus and infundibular, are “permanent.” At the isthmus, the cells of
the inner root sheath disintegrate, and the outer root sheath -- which is no longer in contact with an
inner root sheath -- begins to cornify, and form the hair we aim to remove.
The hair shaft (this is the hair that is cut off when shaving) is a dead, cornified structure that
extends from the follicle above the surface of the skin: only the follicle is alive. To make any
difference in hair growth, the follicle itself must be disturbed. Shaving or cutting the dead structure
(hair) will not have any effect on the follicle itself.
Shaving hair is really a form of cutting hair (how many of us tell patient's it is OK to cut
with scissors?), done with a razor that cuts off the hair close to the skin. And, like cutting with
scissors, shaving has no effect on hair growth. This myth was exploded by Dr. Mildred Trotter at
the Washington University School of Medicine.
Under Dr. Trotter's observation, three girls shaved their legs from knee to ankle, twice a
week for a period of eight months. At the end of this time, microscopic examination revealed that
there was absolutely no increase in the diameter or color of the hairs before or after the shaving
period.
Reprinted with the permission of International Hair Route Magazine and Linda C. Edsell