Vellus hair is short, fine, light-colored, and barely noticeable hair that develops on most of a person's body from his/her childhood. Exceptions include the lips, the back of the ear, the palm of the hand, the sole of the foot, some external genital areas, the navel and scar tissue. The density of hair – the number of hair follicles per area of skin – varies from person to person. Each strand of vellus hair is usually less than 2 mm (1/13 inch) long and the follicle is not connected to a sebaceous gland.
Vellus hair is most easily observed on children and adult women, as they generally have less terminal hair to obscure it. Vellus hair is not lanugo hair. Lanugo hair is a much thicker type of hair that, in human forms, normally grows only on fetuses.
Vellus hair is differentiated from the more visible terminal or androgenic hair, which develops only during and after puberty, usually to a greater extent on men than it does on women.
Read more about Vellus Hair: Production, Function, Complications
Other articles related to "vellus hair, hair":
... The unusual growth of vellus hair is a side effect of some types of disease and some types of mental disorder ... An abundance of vellus hair can develop from an increase in the production of the cortisol hormone in a person with Cushing's syndrome ... Anorexia nervosa increases vellus hair ...
... Mutations in the gene HR can lead to complete hair loss, though this is not typical in humans ... comprehend why humans are essentially hairless, it is essential to understand that mammalian body hair is not merely an aesthetic characteristic it protects the skin from wounds, bites, heat, cold, and UV ... benefits stemming from the loss of human body hair must be great enough to outweigh the loss of these protective functions by nakedness ...
... Androgenic hair, colloquially body hair, is the terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty ... It is differentiated from the head hair and less visible vellus hair, which are much finer and lighter in color ... The growth of androgenic hair is related to the level of androgens (male hormones) in the individual ...
Famous quotes containing the word hair:
“The drama critic on your paper said my chablis-tinted hair was like a soft halo over wide set, inviting eyes, and my mouth, my mouth was a lush tunnel through which golden notes came.”
—Samuel Fuller (b. 1911)