HEALTH REPORT
Could your hair do with some
herbal therapy?
I f you’ve noticed your – or even if you just want to keep it looking its best, maybe herbs can help, as Erika Morvay explains. Your hair’s physical characteristics like its natural colour, texture and how curly or straight it is are with you from birth. Since they’re due to your genetic make-up and beyond your control, any changes you make to your hair (whether at home or with the help of your hairdresser) will only be temporary. On the other hand, the health of your hair – its shine, volume and strength – can be affected by a wide range of different factors, many of which you can influence. Understanding your hair To get a good understanding of what influences hair health, it’s useful to first understand the basics of its structure and how it grows. hair becoming thinner, finer or losing condition
Hair follicles – your hair’s growth factories Hairs are implanted in little pockets in the scalp called follicles, which are nourished by blood vessels. As each strand of hair grows, its root
remains in the follicle while its shaft emerges from the scalp and continues to lengthen until it’s cut, broken or falls out. The hair follicles continually progress through a life cycle consisting of three phases:
Hair growth cycle 1. GROWTH PHASE: Nourishment of hair follicle via blood supply enables hair growth.
Growth (anagen) phase: The hair follicle receives
nourishment from its blood supply and the hair strand grows as much as a centimetre per month for several years at a time Transition (catagen) phase: The hair follicle detaches from its blood supply over a period of two to three weeks and the hair strand stops growing.
Resting (telogen) phase: The lack of
3. TRANSITION PHASE: Hair follicle detaches from nourishing blood supply.
2. RESTING PHASE: Without nourishment, the hair dies and falls out.
nourishment causes the hair to die and fall out.
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ISSUE 53 • 2019
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