Some basics about hair I would like to start by giving you some information about

how hair grows so that you have at least a basic concept of hair growth and the hair
growth cycle. This will help you understand the causes of hair loss better, and it will
also make it easier for you to visualise the images in the self-hypnosis exercise
which you will find in Part II of the book.
The average adult has over 9,000 square centimetres of skin surface. Depending on
the body part, one square centimetre of skin contains about 10 hair follicles and 15
sebaceous glands, 100 sweat glands, half a metre of blood vessels, 2 metres of
nerves with 3,000 sensory cells at the ends of nerve fibres and a multitude of nerve
endings and sensory receptors that record pain, cold and heat. The skin is crucial to
the survival of a human being; that is why it is so dangerous if large areas of your
skin are burntyour body dries up and can no longer function.
The skin has a number of functions.
It acts as a flexible physical support and cover for underlying tissues. It helps
to maintain a steady body temperature through its extensive blood supply and
sweat glands. It facilitates waste removal from the body via the sweat glands.
It helps produce vitamin D. It helps keep the inside of the body moist.
The key role of hair in this context is to provide protection against heat loss. Hair
keeps the head warm by trapping air near the skin surface to provide an invisible,
insulating layer.
Hair is composed of a strong structural protein called keratin. This is the same kind
of protein that makes up the nails and the outer layer of skin. Each strand of hair
consists of three layers. The innermost layeris called medulla and is only present in
large thick hairs. The middle layer is known as the cortex. The cortex provides
strength and both the colour and texture of the hair. The outermost layer is known
as the cuticle. The cuticle is thin and colourless and serves as a protector of the
cortex.
Hair grows out of a hair follicle. The follicle is an indentation of the outer layer of the
scalp. The base of the follicle is shaped like a bulb, and at the bottom of this bulb is
the dermal papilla. The dermal papilla is the crucial
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source of nourishment for the entire follicle structure. It derives its nourishment
from a network of blood vessels in a deeper layer of the scalp.
Within the follicle are active cells which multiply and move forward to form a column
of tightly packed cells, and it is these tightly packed cells that we call hair.

You can imagine that it is very important for the dermal papilla to get good quality
blood from the surrounding blood vessels, because it is the blood that carries
nutrients to the hair follicles. The equation is simple:
No blood supply-no hairgrowth. Insufficient nutrients in the blood supply
insufficient hairgrowth. Toxins in the blood supplyhair falls out.
Under normal circumstances, hairgrowth in each follicle occurs in a cycle which is
divided into three stages:
source of nourishment for the entire follicle structure. It derives its nourishment
from a network of blood vessels in a deeper layer of the scalp.
Within the follicle are active cells which multiply and move forward to form a column
of tightly packed cells, and it is these tightly packed cells that we call hair.
You can imagine that it is very important for the dermal papilla to get good quality
blood from the surrounding blood vessels, because it is the blood that carries
nutrients to the hair follicles. The equation is simple:
No blood supply-no hairgrowth. Insufficient nutrients in the blood supply
insufficient hairgrowth. Toxins in the blood supplyhair falls out.
Under normal circumstances, hairgrowth in each follicle occurs in a cycle which is
divided into three stages:
source of nourishment for the entire follicle structure. It derives its nourishment
from a network of blood vessels in a deeper layer of the scalp.
Within the follicle are active cells which multiply and move forward to form a column
of tightly packed cells, and it is these tightly packed cells that we call hair.
You can imagine that it is very important for the dermal papilla to get good quality
blood from the surrounding blood vessels, because it is the blood that carries
nutrients to the hair follicles. The equation is simple:
No blood supply-no hairgrowth. Insufficient nutrients in the blood supply
insufficient hairgrowth. Toxins in the blood supplyhair falls out.
Under normal circumstances, hairgrowth in each follicle occurs in a cycle which is
divided into three stages:
source of nourishment for the entire follicle structure. It derives its nourishment
from a network of blood vessels in a deeper layer of the scalp.
Within the follicle are active cells which multiply and move forward to form a column
of tightly packed cells, and it is these tightly packed cells that we call hair.

You can imagine that it is very important for the dermal papilla to get good quality
blood from the surrounding blood vessels, because it is the blood that carries
nutrients to the hair follicles. The equation is simple:
No blood supply-no hair growth. Insufficient nutrients in the blood supply
insufficient hair growth. Toxins in the blood supplyhair falls out.