Hair shaft defects – the basic facts

Hair shaft defects – the main problems

‘Hair shaft’ is basically a medical term, which alternatively in common speech is known as a hair strand – those cover all visible parts of the hair i.e. everything apart from the root and follicle. It is very common that if our hair suffers from either diseases or improper care, it is directly reflected on our hair strands. It is the shafts which show all symptoms of various correlated hair problems. Hair shafts defects are much more common than people may realise, even if the symptoms may be very subtle at times, in many cases even completely invisible. However, even minor defects may lead to other more serious hair problems in the long term, for example hair thinning or substantial hair loss. So, what are the possible problems we could experience? You may not be aware of this but any major physical damage to hair shafts can lead to serious hair loss because hair follicles are indirectly affected. Vice versa, hair shaft defects may also result from improper formation of the hair follicles, which are more or less entirely responsible our hair strands. This kind of damage is usually determined by genetics, after all genetic baldness and hair loss always begins in the hair follicles.

Another typically encountered hair shaft defect is called ‘loose anagen system’. This type of condition manifests itself through weak hair strands being easily pulled out of the hair follicles.  In this peculiar case, your hair seems to grow very slowly, so slowly in fact that at times it may appear that you might never need a haircut again. Moreover, this condition also turns hair fragile, fine and generally weak. Your hair is very thin, especially underneath your scalp. Therefore, if you have a hair condition like this then the hair follicles that would normally protect your hair from falling out are weakened and don’t perform their usual role. These kind of conditions and hair related problems can frequently manifest themselves within children who are growing up. Finally, this is just one out of a hundred or more hair issues that are/may be related to hair shaft defects. Therefore we strongly recommend that as soon as you realise you may be experiencing some genetic/natural hair shaft defects, then get it diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.

Hair shaft defects – possible solutions

As previously mentioned, there can be many reasons for hair shaft defects arising. It’s worth to note that some of them are strictly (physically) natural or related to medical conditions (think for example of the aforementioned genetics or loose anagen system condition). However, many people don’t realise that there are hair shaft defects resulting from psychological issues. Stress, anxiety and prolonged exposure to stressful situations can impact the state of out hair strands, roots and follicles. It is worth knowing that hair shaft defects don’t always need to occur due to physical issues, therefore before you make any assumptions make sure you consider first whether your mental health is at its best.