Hair Health

  About hair: Not just on your head

Did you know that your whole body is covered with hair? Well, almost your whole body. Your lips, the palms of your hands, and the bottom of your feet don't have hair on them. But just about everything else does, from your cheeks and fingers to your knees and toes, and, of course, your head.
Some of those hairs are so tiny and so light in color that they're really hard to see. On your cheeks, they're almost like peach fuzz. Hair on your arms and legs is a little easier to see and feel, and usually gets thicker as you get older. The longest and thickest hair of all is on your head.  

The hair on your body has some special jobs. It helps protect you and keep you warm. Your eyelashes keep dirt and dust out of your eyes. Your eyebrows also protect your eyes, and stop sweat from running into them.
Sometimes you can have problems with your hair or your scalp (the skin on your head) and you might need to talk to a doctor. It might sound kind of funny, but the best doctor to see for hair problems is a skin doctor (dermatologist). That's because hair grows out of your skin.
Look around and you'll notice that everybody's hair is different because there are so many combinations of hair types, colors, and styles. It can be short, long, curly, straight, thick, thin, blond, black, brown, or red. Most of those things are decided by the genes you get from your parents.

  Taking care of your hair

Hair may be dead, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't care for it. You should wash it regularly. Actually, what you really need to be sure to wash is your scalp. The best way to get your hair and scalp clean is to:

1. Get it really wet.
2. Use a small amount of shampoo. A squirt about the size of a quarter is enough.
3. Massage the shampoo into your scalp. Don't scrub the scalp too hard.
4. Rinse really well, until you don't see any more bubbles or suds on your head or going down the drain.
5. Gently dry your hair with a towel.
6. Comb it out carefully with a wide-tooth comb, especially if it's curly. Don't yank or tug on it, because that can break the hair or pull it out.
7. Let your hair air dry whenever you can. Hair dryers can be tough on hair.

If your scalp is itchy, dry, and flaky, it could be because you aren't rinsing all of the shampoo out. Or it could be because you have something called dandruff. If you have dandruff, when you scratch your head, the skin flakes off and lands on your clothes. It's really noticeable if you're wearing dark colors. You can use a special shampoo that your parents can buy at the store. There are many to choose from. Talk to your doctor or a skin doctor (dermatologist) to help you decide on the best shampoo for you.
How often you wash your hair depends on what it's like and what you do during the day. If your hair gets oily quickly, it needs to be washed more often. Straight hair can get oily quickly. Very curly hair is not as oily and can be washed less often. If you have very curly, kinky or thick hair, it might be too dry and look frizzy. Using a conditioner after you wash your hair might help, but that doesn't make it healthier. Remember, hair is already dead, but conditioner can make it look better.

All kinds of things can damage hair and make it break off or get too dry. To protect your hair, be careful around:

• The sun (which is one reason why you should wear a hat when you go outside).
• Chemicals (such as chlorine) in pools (so you should wash your hair after swimming in a pool).
• Products and treatments that make hair curly or straight or change its color.
• Things you use to style your hair, such as curling irons, flat irons and hair dryers (so don't use them too much, especially if your hair seems to be getting drier or breaks easily).

One of the common types of hair damage is split ends. Look really closely at the end of a hair, and you might notice that the end is split apart. Because hair is dead, though, you can't repair split ends. All you can do is cut them off.
If you're worried about your hair or scalp, ask your parents to take you to your doctor or a skin doctor, who also cares for hair.

  Losing hair

Every day you lose hair. About 50 to 100 of them fall off your head. That's normal and you probably don't notice because other hairs keep growing. But sometimes, people lose a lot more hair than that. Is your grandpa or dad bald or losing his hair? Maybe even your grandma has thin hair. It's pretty common. Half of all men have bald spots by the time they're 50. Some women do, too. There are some medicines that might help.
There are other reasons people can lose hair, too, including:

• Infections
• Certain medicines
• Cancer treatment
• Eating disorders, which happen when people don't eat enough or make themselves sick right after they eat.

Alopecia, a condition that makes hair fall out quickly, either in patches or completely. This can happen to kids and teenagers, but it's not very common. No one's exactly sure why it happens, but some people think it's because something happened to the person's immune system, which keeps you healthy. Usually hair will grow back on its own.   Hairstyles such as tight ponytails and braids that can pull out hair. Hair brushing too hard or too often.

Alopecia in a girl who had worn tight “corn row” braided hair for several year. Patches of alopecia occurred between the braids.

• Chemicals that are used to make the hair curly or straight, or change its color. They can damage hair and make it break.
• Styling products such as hair dryers, curling irons, and flat irons, which are used to straighten hair.

Luckily, most of these things can be stopped or treated. If you are losing more hair than you think you should, talk to your parents. They might take you to see a skin doctor (dermatologist), who treats hair problems.
If your parents want to know about hair loss, they can visit Hair Loss.

  Lice: Creepy crawlies in your hair

If your head has been extra itchy lately, and you think you feel things moving around on your scalp, you might have lice. Yuck! Lice are tiny bugs about the size of a sesame seed that like to live in human hair. Like mosquitoes, they feed on your blood. When they bite your scalp, it itches. Here are some things you should know about lice:

• They don't fly or jump. They spread when kids put their heads together or share hats, scarves, combs, or brushes. So try not to do that with your friends.
• Having them doesn't mean you're dirty. Lice are perfectly happy in clean or dirty hair.
• They're very common, especially in kids.
• You can get rid of them.

  Finding those tricky lice

 

A magnified picture of an adult louse.

If you feel itchy, or a note comes home from school that someone in your class has lice, be sure your parents look very closely at your hair and scalp (the skin on your head).

Because lice move quickly, it's often hard to see the live bugs. Your parents are more likely to see the eggs that lice lay. These eggs are called nits, which: A magnified picture of a nit attached to a strand of hair. Attach to the hair near the scalp. Look like tiny seeds. May be yellow, brown, tan, or even sort of clear. Are really hard to scrape off: If your mom or dad sees something on your hair and it comes off easily, it's probably just lint or a flake of skin. If it seems stuck to your hair, it might be a nit.   Head lice Also called Pediculus humanus capitis                 Head lice: This magnified picture of head lice on a fine-tooth comb shows that these bugs are tiny. Having head lice does not mean you are dirty. Most people get head lice when they have head-to-head contact with someone who has head lice. Head-to-head contact lets the lice crawl from one head to another head. The lice do not care whether the person has squeaky-clean hair or dirty hair. The lice are looking for human blood, which they need to survive. Millions of people get head lice each year. Head-lice infestations are especially common in schools. In the United States, it is believed that about 6 to 12 million children between 3 and 12 years of age get head lice each year. Head lice are not known to spread disease, but having head lice can make your scalp extremely itchy. If you scratch a lot, it can cause sores on the scalp that may lead to an infection. Some people lose sleep because the itch is so intense. Treatment, which most people can do at home, usually gets rid of head lice. If you have trouble getting rid of the lice or have an infection from scratching, you should see a dermatologist.