Life Cycle Of A Hair

I remember when I was an electrolysis client I used to get so angry at my electrologist if I thought she was working in an area where I didn’t see any noticeable hairs. She must have tired of my saying “no, not that one, the other one that’s more noticeable!” She used to tell me that they will all be noticeable at some point and that just because I didn’t see them didn’t mean they wouldn’t bother me in the future.

It wasn’t until I looked through the microscope myself that I understood what she meant. When I was training I had a bad habit of skipping hairs because they were barely there under the microscope and nearly impossible to see and feel with the unaided eye. And then be I’d be confused when I noticed thicker, darker hairs in an area a few weeks after I had cleared it. These weren’t new hairs, they were the hairs I had skipped that had grown out and grown thicker.

I didn’t realize this until I started to pay attention to my own hair growth. When I worked on my legs and bikini line I would see tiny blonde hairs with fine pointed tips scattered throughout any given area. As I viewed my skin every day after treating myself I was able to notice that this fine blonde hair grew to be thick, deeply rooted dark hair – with blonde tips. It was a eureka moment for me as I finally understood why my electrologist insisted on getting the teeny, tiny ones that I didn’t notice.

The picture below gives an idea of what I’m speaking of. This is a patch of skin on a thigh that hasn’t been shaved for about 2 months. As you can see there are various textures of hair ranging from very fine to fine to slightly coarse. These hairs are in a different stage of growth ranging from active to those nearing the end of their growth cycle. They all need to be treated in order for this skin be be smooth and hair free.

Various stages of hair growth

Those tiny ones are exactly the type I’m speaking of. They’re fine (this image has been magnified) and slow-growing so they seem harmless. But give them some time and they will turn into the coarser type evident in the picture.

This is why regular electrolysis appointments are so crucial to achieving your hair removal goals. If you treat the hairs while they’re still in the early growth stage the follicle is much easier to disable permanently.

Further Reading:
https://www.follikill.com/2013/09/19/vellus-hair-and-why-you-need-them/