Dear Science,
In these slow economic times, everyone is looking for ways to
save and ways to make a little extra scratch. I thought I would see if
you might be able to answer a question for me.
I have undiagnosed impulse control disorder, and I pluck various
hairs on my body when bored or stressed. I have become an expert hair
plucker. I can pluck a hair from any part of my body, and it will come
out with a perfect follicle intact. I can pluck hairs from infected
glands, and extract and remove ingrown hairs, single follicles with
multiple roots (as opposed to split hairs), even the occasional
follicle with a very good blood supply where the removal causes
bleeding.
I want to put this well-honed skill to good use.
Is there some sort of hair or dermatology lab that would be
interested in my hairs? Would school-laboratory supply stores be
interested? I could mount and preserve them in slides if
necessary.
And, yes, I know this is gross.
Plucked Hard And Put Away Wet
Good for you: Hair follicles are fucking amazing. Bad for
you: You get no more of them after birth. Those you’ve already plucked
out aren’t coming back.
That little plug of tissue at the base of each and every hair on
your body contains the skin stem cell, specialized cells that
give rise to new hair as well as new skin. For hair production there is
a regimented cycle—with a time of growth, slowing down,
and resting. In the most common forms of baldness, the hair follicles
stick around but spend more time resting than growing.
Scores of labs are trying to cure baldness. The existing
drugs—minoxidil (Rogaine) and finasteride (Propecia)—are
somewhat crappy at the task. Minoxidil’s hair-saving power was
discovered by accident; the drug started as a nearly useless
blood-pressure medication. Patients in the early trials noticed more
hair on their heads. How? We still have no clue. Finasteride
works by blocking the conversion of the male sex hormone testosterone
to its more potent cousin DHT. DHT shuts down hair follicles (again,
nobody really understands why), so blocking the generation of
DHT from testosterone seems to keep a few more follicles active. DHT
also enlarges prostates and is responsible for penis growth during
puberty. Just saying.
When Dr. Elaine Fuchs discovered the skin stem cell a few years ago,
she was flooded with calls from desperate men seeking the
luscious crop of hair found in their youth. I doubt she—or
other scientists working on hair follicles—would find your skill
too useful. SSRI drugs, however, can do a splendid job on
obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Else, see if your local
waxing shop is harried with business.
Disgustingly Yours,
Science
Send your science questions to
dearscience@thestranger.com.
If Hair follicles don’t come back… how come the first brazilian I had didn’t rid me of my hairs, or at least most? My sugaring Lady is amazing and I know because she SHOWS me that she gets at least 90% of the follicles. What gives? those things hurt.
There’s a whole group of people who pluck hairs, and even a term for the medical disorder – trichotrillomania. Just in case you were interested.
Most Brazilians don’t actually remove follicles, along with other wax jobs. They remove the root yes, but not most follicles. The little spots that bleed… those are removed follicles. However, the longer you continue to wax, the more follicles are removed and the slower the growth process
I recall in biology class having to pluck hairs and mount them on slides to study the follicle. Because I could pluck mine out in their entirety, the whole class got a good view of their makeup.
I can’t believe Science missed the most obvious career choice- Electrology! Electrologists must be very precise, and use electrical current to burn the follicle to kill it. My sister is an electrologist, and she makes $85 an hour, and had a full schedule within four months of starting her business. Even in this financial climate, she can’t accept any more clients. She got into the field because she loves plucking hairs (not compulsively, just enjoys it).
The reason hairs come back is because the stem cell(s) at the root are actually very difficult to kill and/or get rid of. Needle-electrolysis is supposed to electrocute the shit out of it, turning some of the surrounding fats into lye, and that lye sitting on top of it is supposed to kill it… but even that is not effective 100% of the time.
Permanently killing hair follicles is very difficult. After YEARS of plucking, well-groomed people’s eyebrows tend to grow into their preferred shape naturally, if they’re good at it… but even then the stem cells are still not removed, and if activated by the appropriate hormone (most frequently dihydrotesterone, but to a lesser extent by others, including estrogens) it will produce another hair follicle and hair.
Rest assured, Plucked Hard, your skills are in demand. Get thee to an electrology training program, get licensed, and rent yourself a small commercial space, and you can be looking at $70-130 an hour as fast as you can schedule clients. If you want to build up a client base fast, start up in an area with EITHER lots of women seeking electrolysis (i.e. near a beach) OR with a lot of transsexual women (we don’t really tend to congregate, but I’ve heard a lot of us live in San Francisco) and undercut the going rate by 25%-35%. It can be tedious work, but it sounds like you have just the disposition for it.
The disorder this person has is called Trichotillomania. I have it and it sucks. “Trichsters” are also prone to picking and often have scabs all over their bodies. mmmmmm…good times.
I hate TTM, too. I remember always being able to get really nice hairs with the root on them when we did DNA labs in biotech. Good times, good times. Fortunately I was able to stop plucking. Anti-anxiety meds and buying fabric to pull on when nervous did the trick.
Ooops, I meant have.
Suppose you’ve been pulling and twirling since birth, and they are presently in their early 50’s. Is there hope? Mostly pulling Head hair —especially when driving…and when nervous and frustrated, liking the wirey and curly hairs, the thicker ones…and a few times pulling the pubic hairs…they come out easy and are not interesting, but not noticable to others. No one knows except the fam and my docs., who don’t do much about it. No one has referred me to the Trich clinic in Santa Cruz, CA near where I live. And about the head hair…with the white bulbish thing at the end that is sometimes moist…is that the entire root/folicle? Is that what won’t grow back? anyone else out there like this and feels there is hope? How did you STOP? I NEED TO STOP! I HAVE BALD SPOTS AFTER NOT HAVING THEM FOR 10 YEARS! I can’t stand it when the wind blows…my hair shows…and the hair where I twirlled and pulled the most on the left side, that hair is GRAY— no actually it is WHITE! KINKY, AND SHORTER won’t grow to any length, just stay’s short. Can women get air implants too?