What was the theory on black bulbs?

[Guest]

Lately I´m seeing more and more hairs fall out with black bulbs. I haven´t really grasped what the white bulb means - a big with bulb means healthy hair and normal hairloss or something like that - I really pay little attention to the white bulbs.

There was a theory on black bulbs - what was it?

 

[Cassin]

I am doing well fighting male pattern baldness.....and I have lost recently.......

Hair with black bulbs

Hair with white bulbs

I even lost one that had both.......NO BS.......it was like the cookie in seinfeld........"Look to the Cookie!"

Hair that got real thin towards the shaft

Hair that got thicker

The only way to judge a hair is to have in under a microscope, and even then it's not 100%.

 

[drinkrum]

Bulbs generally don't mean jack because the bulb can be covered with grease, can flake off with some skin, etc. that changes its color and consistency.

However, if you see that your hair is gradually thinning and whitening toward the root, that is a sign that things don't look bright. Make sure that your hair is long enough so that you can get a clear view of the change in the diameter of the hair shaft. Sometimes, hair tapers off towards the root -- this is normal.

D.

 

[Deaner]

Umm, so you say it's not looking too bright if it's thinning towards the root, but then you say that it's totally normal for it to taper off? Which is it?

 

[bombscience]

I hope this puts the black bulb vs. white bulb controversy to rest. This is my email exchange with a hairloss doctor recently.

Question:
I have read that if you notice a larger white bulb (not sebum), as
opposed to a small black one, at the terminal end of hair, that it is
a sign that the hair has gone telogen permanently. Is this true?

>
> ---------
> It is probably a misstatement of what was written. A follicle
> experiences a hair growth cycle over its, hopefully, long life. It
> grows in the anagen phase for 2 to 6 years. At the end of the anagen
> phase, it goes into the telogen phase for 100 days. The follicle sheds
> at the end of the telogen phase. Somewhat like a phoenix raising from
> the ashes, a new follicle is formed from the dermal papilla, and the
> cycle continues. When the follicle sheds in this fashion, there is a
> bulb at the proximal end of the shaft. If the follicle is pulled out
> early in the telogen phase, it typically has a nice white bulb. If the
> follicle sheds at the end of the telogen phase, then it can be dark,
> friable, and hardly recognizable. I'll ask some philosophical
> questions, "100 days is that permanent?" Or is it the fact that the
> follicle has finally dislodged permanent? It seems like a case of
> semantics to me.
> -------
>
> The hairs that I lose all have this white bulb. What would cause
> these hair to be lost ealy in the telogen phase? Does this relate in
> anyway to a new follicle forming from the dermal
> papilla?

A hair shaft would be lost early (shed) if you pull it out by scrubbing
your hair, combining your hair, or otherwise applying traction to the hair
shaft. This is no big deal. At the end of the 100 day telogen phase for
that follicle, a new shaft grows back in, in place of the one that shed.

 

[bombscience]

Umm, so you say it's not looking too bright if it's thinning towards the root, but then you say that it's totally normal for it to taper off? Which is it?

Oh and to answer this question:

Me:
I know that it is possible for a hair to completely miniaturize
in 1 growth cycle. The hair I lose thins from tip to root, becoming
less pigmented. Some hairs are thinner and less colorful over a
shorter period of the shaft than others. Is this miniaturization?

Doctor:
Yes.

 

[Brasileirao]

I hope this puts the black bulb vs. white bulb controversy to rest. This is my email exchange with a hairloss doctor recently.

Question:
I have read that if you notice a larger white bulb (not sebum), as
opposed to a small black one, at the terminal end of hair, that it is
a sign that the hair has gone telogen permanently. Is this true?
quote]

'First, let's address the issue of 'the non-white bulbs'. Hair that is shed at the end of the approximately 100 days of the telogen phase is distinguished by its fully keratinized club, which is surrounded by an epithelial sac. The amount of 'clubbing', i.e. bulging of the scalp end, can be very variable. Often the white color of the club end may only be appreciated by cutting through the clubbed end and looking at it through a magnifying lens. The keratinized cells will be unpigmented; hence they are referred to as 'white'. It is called a club hair, because early writers noted that telogen resting hair shaft bulbs had a slight bulge that resembled a club. The interior of the telogen hair shaft bulb is white or colorless. The telogen hair shaft bulb (club hair bulb) consists of shrunken hair matrix cells that have stopped growing and are unpigmented.
However, if you're referring to clubbing as the whitish clump of debris sometimes seen at the scalp end of hairs which are shed, it is common not to see the slightly oily cluster of dead epithelial cells and sebum. These dead cells and the accumulated sebum are extremely friable and do not adhere to the keratinized cells of the bulb, so they are easily abraded off by the surrounding hair shafts. '

I think its wrong to say that the hair goes into telogen permanently. When a hair is shed it is most likely due to the fact that a NEW one is forming and thus pushing it out. Also, when a person takes a drug like Propecia the hairs all go into a syncronized shed, since there is a lower amount of DHT the hair shaft now must regroup and sort of re-program itself. This is why I believe that if one catches their hair loss early some of the damage can be reversed, giving great reqrowth and thickening. If a hair still grows out to lets say 2 inches but becomes thinner at the bottom it may be miniturizing. However, this would take time to occur and it would be over a few cycles not just one.

Anyways, I may be wrong but those are my 2 cents.

Tony Montana

 

[drinkrum]

Umm, so you say it's not looking too bright if it's thinning towards the root, but then you say that it's totally normal for it to taper off? Which is it?

Hair shafts often times taper off at the very end of a growth cycle. So if you look at a hair shaft that shows no real gradual thinning nor discoloration and that slightly tapers off at the very end where it is connected to the bulb, I wouldn't be too worried.

On the other hand, if you notice a hair that gradually thins along much of the shaft, then I would think the hair is miniaturizing. But I am not a doctor nor a hair specialist; I'm just speaking from my experience and knowledge of the subject.

D.

 

[bombscience]

I think its wrong to say that the hair goes into telogen permanently. When a hair is shed it is most likely due to the fact that a NEW one is forming and thus pushing it out. Also, when a person takes a drug like Propecia the hairs all go into a syncronized shed, since there is a lower amount of DHT the hair shaft now must regroup and sort of re-program itself. This is why I believe that if one catches their hair loss early some of the damage can be reversed, giving great reqrowth and thickening. If a hair still grows out to lets say 2 inches but becomes thinner at the bottom it may be miniturizing. However, this would take time to occur and it would be over a few cycles not just one.
Tony Montana

Read that whole thing I posed up there, the conversation basically says this. White nor Black does not mean a good or bad thing. But hair can miniaturize completely in 1 cycle I know that.

 

[Brasileirao]

So when you miniaturize do you mean that a hair that grows 2 inches can all of the sudden become velus hair? I would think that the hair would slowly grow smaller and smaller i.e. from 2 to 1 inch from 1 to 1/2 inch etc...

????

Tony

 

[Roger Heeler]

My bulbs

I have written about these white bulbs before and I am glad some of you have finally responded on this thread. Some say it is normal, but I have to say that I only began getting these big white bulbs (a material size, that is), about two years ago - starting with my first telogen effluvium.

I have never seen any black bulbs, however have noticed many of these white bulbs laying on top of my scalp, unaccompanied by hair. I never had this before. I can't help but to think that there is something to it.

My dermatologist claimed that these are hairs that are in the growth stage. I often wonder if these are hairs which are getting kicked out of my scalp thanks to my immunue system?

 

[Brasileirao]

Re: My bulbs

I have written about these white bulbs before and I am glad some of you have finally responded on this thread. Some say it is normal, but I have to say that I only began getting these big white bulbs (a material size, that is), about two years ago - starting with my first telogen effluvium.

I have never seen any black bulbs, however have noticed many of these white bulbs laying on top of my scalp, unaccompanied by hair. I never had this before. I can't help but to think that there is something to it.

My dermatologist claimed that these are hairs that are in the growth stage. I often wonder if these are hairs which are getting kicked out of my scalp thanks to my immunue system?

How was it determined that you had telogen effluvium? What is going on with your immune system? I too hvae a lot of white bulbs....

Thanks,
Tony

 

[bombscience]

So when you miniaturize do you mean that a hair that grows 2 inches can all of the sudden become velus hair? I would think that the hair would slowly grow smaller and smaller i.e. from 2 to 1 inch from 1 to 1/2 inch etc...

????

Tony

You are correct sir. The indication of a hair that is miniaturizing is a hairshaft that loses pigment and thickness as it appraches the root. This usually occurs over 1 inch or more. However some hairs can completely miniaturize over 1-3 inches. Yes a healthy follicle over one anagen phase can go from being completely unaffected from male pattern baldness to a follicle that will never grow a hair again. It all depends on the severity of your hairloss.

 

[hans]

I know Im digging up a very old post, but I'm very curious as to what Bombscience said about hair thinning in 1 cycle. This is because every since I've started propecia I've seen this happening to me alot now. Not just the typical last mm white-bulb type of thin... but thinning along the shaft. But, I did read somewhere online that disputes the claim that hair can thin in one cycle. I cant find it anymore though. Anyone have any experience with this?