Dynamics of Hair
Understanding Regrowth
Types of Hair & Appearance
• Vellus - fine short hair, often referred to as peach fuzz.
No pigment or medulla present. Only 1mm long!
• Accelerated vellus – Appears on the cheeks in mature
women.
• Terminal – course pigmented hair that covers the scalp,
arms, legs, and facial areas of men and women. Can
grow to lengths of 3 feet.
• Deep terminal- scalp hair and beard hair.
• Lanugo – soft downy hair, that covers the fetuses in
utero. Often shed at birth, however, can remain to shed
at a later stage.
Stages of Hair Growth
1. Anagen hair will be fully pigmented,
however, new anagen hair may present
white tips. The shaft of the anagen hair
will be pigmented.
2. Catagen hair may begin to loose color
near the epidermis, with little pigment at
the shaft of the hair.
3. Telogen hair generally lacks pigment and
appears thinner at the epidermis.
Hair Releasing
• Anagen hair releases easily when the
timing & intensity is correct! Appears to be
syrupy upon release from epidermis.
• Telogen hair will not want to release from
epidermis. When extracted will present a
blunted base. Often referred to as a “club
Hair”!
Regrowth of Hair Following
Electrolysis or Laser
• Hair can regrow in in the same area of prior treatments.
• New growth – is not present a the time of treatment but
appears as new terminal hair.
• Alternate growth – is not present at time of initial
treatment but appears within twelve months.
• Hair conversion- is vellus hair that has converted to
coarser hair due to hormone changes.
• False growth – is perceived as regrowth but has
emerged naturally due to not having been treated in prior
treatments. A new anagen hair replacing a shedding
telogen hair.
Regrowth Cont.
• Distorted hair roots - the lower portion of the hair
appears soft, spongy, and stretches like a rubber
band and springs back into a distorted shape.
Distorted hairs are difficult to treat. When
treating with electrolysis use blending or
galvanic current to supply the lower section of
follicle with enough current/lye to remove the
hair. Distorted hairs are much easier to treat with
the laser provided the color of the hair is
absorbed with the wavelength of the laser.
True Regrowth
• True hair regrowth can be caused by the
following:
1. A bad insertion, angle off.
2. Improper depth of insertion, too shallow or
deep.
3. Improper current, not enough to
remove hair.
4. Incorrect needle size or width.
5. Tweezed hair! It didn’t slide out after
treatment.
Ingrown Hairs
• An ingrown hair can appear 2-4 months after a treatment with
electrolysis.
• Dead cells and sebum are trapped by the coiled hair within the
follicle – can be referred to as embedded hairs.
• Ingrown hair may be present in a large comedone.
• Folliculitus is an inflammation of the opening of the hair follicle.
Often presents as a form of acne.
• Ingrown hairs can be a result of plucking and difficult to distinguish
from electrolysis or laser treatments of the hair.
• Curly hair is a result of a distorted follicles which often become
infected.
• Often times ethnic habits results in tweezing of distorted hair which
presents cause for follicultus.
Other Types Regrowth
• Twin-pili – this is when two hairs are
growing in one follicle.
• Often one hair will emerge above the
surface of the skin, when treated the other
hair that remains under the surface of the
skin will die. It will shed at a later time and
appear to be regrowth.
Tombstone Hairs
• A tombstone hair can emerge 4-6 months
after treatment, this hair is dead but never
shed.
• Tombstone hair is more apparent after 6-8
laser hair removal treatments.
• Tombstone hairs appear to look thick, dark
and dried-out with no root or inflammation.
Corkscrew Hair
• Follicle is curved or in a circle formation.
• Difficult to treat with electrolysis due to the
curve of the follicle.
• Laser hair removal is excellent on
corkscrew hairs.
• Appears in skin of color clients.
Replacement Hair
• Replaces a teleogen hair in a new anagen
state of growth.
• May appear to clients as the same hair
that was present prior to treatments.
• Not regrowth it was never treated.
Causes of Regrowth
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Improper insertion
Needle length
Insufficient timing and intensity
Modality not correct for hair type
Hair growth stage – 80% of hair present
on the body at one time is in anagen!