What our hair says about us

From the point of view of physiology, the presence of hair on the head does not play any role for our body. Their length, color, shape or their complete absence does not affect health in any way. But for our psychological comfort, hair is of exceptional importance: they provide an opportunity for self-expression, self-decoration.

And it turns out to be so important that today there is an entire industry in the world that supports the beauty of hair, funding laboratories for their study. And a new medical discipline is developing – trichology, the science of hair health. Why is their condition so important? Why are women so concerned about covering up their gray hair, while men are so concerned about a barely visible bald spot? The answers to these questions go deep into our unconscious and into the past of humanity.

Connection with the spirit world

Since ancient times, various mysterious properties have been attributed to hair, for example, a connection with the world of spirits or the underworld. This explains many customs and prejudices, both in the pagan cults of the past and in modern religious traditions. Let’s say, according to the Aztec beliefs, hair is the “house of the gods”, so the priests were not supposed to cut their hair until their death, and their hair sometimes reached the length of their feet.

It is customary to wear long hair among Orthodox priests, Sikhs, and Jews. Representatives of African tribes, such as the Yoruba, compare hair with a bush (forest), which is considered the abode of spirits – therefore, hair must be taken care of, kept clean, and decorated. And among the inhabitants of Togo, to this day, it is customary to carefully approach the choice of a hairdresser and in no case cut your hair after sunset. In the latter case, spirits can steal cut hair and through it harm a person.

The idea that a cut strand retains some kind of intangible connection with its owner is found in many cultures – from magical voodoo rituals to the custom of keeping a lover’s curl or the first strand of a baby. The most poetic custom associated with the first hair of a child is found in Japan: a calligraphy brush is made from it, which is then kept in the family.

Here are some more examples: the Chinese adhere to the custom of not cutting their hair for 49 days after the death of a relative, while his soul is still on earth. In India and some other countries of the East, a woman must cut her hair after the death of her husband. Perhaps the source of all these superstitions is the intuitive knowledge of the ancients that hair is a unique part of the human body – alive and dead at the same time.

Living and dead

Their visible part is absolutely dead. It consists of dead cells – keratin scales, tightly linked together around the core. The core consists of spiral-shaped protein molecules intertwined with each other like a rope. This is what provides the hair with such strength and elasticity: a strand of ten hairs can withstand a weight of up to 10 kg. And the average amount of hair on a human head could support a weight of 12 tons.

Before the hair breaks, it can be stretched almost twice. Not surprisingly, this durable fiber can be dyed, heat-set, permed, or straightened with little or no harm.

If the roots are not damaged, nothing threatens our hair – growing back, it will be exactly the same as before, retaining the genetically predetermined color and density. But no matter how zealous we are with cosmetic masks and rinses, they will not be able to cope with negative changes if they occur in the invisible part of the hair – its root.

“The hair root (bulb) is closely connected with all processes occurring in the human body. It is sensitive to hormonal changes, vitamin deficiencies, illness, or psychological conditions such as depression, chronic anxiety, or stress. In this case, the growing hair will be thinner, duller and weaker, says Anna Goncharova, a trichologist-endocrinologist. – Hair can be literally decomposed into microelements – this gives a lot of useful information, say, for forensic scientists. But in order to solve a problem with hair – for example, with hair loss – sometimes the efforts of a gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, neuropathologist and, of course, a psychotherapist are required.

Information encoded in the hair

In the structure of a growing hair, as in the annual rings of a tree, all changes that occur with the body are recorded. Isn’t this our belief that cutting your hair means getting rid of the burden of the past? According to the Italian psychotherapist Gloria Rossi, “changing hairstyle, color, hair length is one of the ways people have to approve the changes that have taken place in their lives or express a desire for such changes.”

She gives an example from her own psychotherapeutic practice: after disappointment in their personal lives, women tend to cut their hair short, thereby, as it were, getting rid of their femininity, which brought them suffering. And some of us just love dramatic changes – whether it’s the length, the shape of the haircut or the color of the hair. According to Gloria Rossi, the hairstyle symbolizes temporary changes, rather than some special personality type.

“To play with your image means to be in search of your own inner identity. We try different extreme options, we constantly change the hairstyle, but then, when our own ideal image is finally found, the search process stops, ”continues Rossi. This idea is developed by psychologist Nina Knyazeva: “Psychological comfort will be achieved only if the image corresponds to the internal state of a person. If a match is not found, sometimes this can become an impetus to illness, to borderline states of the psyche.

The power of femininity

In all cultures and at all times, hair was considered one of the main criteria for external attractiveness. As Nina Knyazeva explains, “a woman’s thick, shiny hair is a sign of physical, and hence reproductive, health. It has always been of great importance to a man when he chooses a mate.” At first, this choice was made at the level of instinct, then it was already socially regulated: when choosing a bride, matchmakers evaluated not only her appearance and complexion, but also the thickness of her hair (or the thickness of a braid resembling a wheat ear – a symbol of fertility), and, of course, their color.

“Now we know that gray hair is genetically programmed and can appear at a very early age,” continues Nina Knyazeva. – Nevertheless, it is associated with the onset of age-related changes. From the point of view of biology, it was supposed to serve as a sign that the reproductive period in a woman’s life is over, which means that she automatically becomes less attractive to young men.

Despite the fact that civilization has taken us far from nature, these ancient mechanisms still work on an unconscious level: women are afraid of losing their sexual attractiveness and therefore they are so eager to mask their gray hair. Men, on the other hand, treat their own gray hair much more calmly. It not only does not affect their sexual attractiveness in any significant way, but is often perceived as a symbol of maturity, life experience, and success. Men are much more concerned about another problem – the appearance of baldness.

fears in my head

The life force is concentrated in the hair. It can be embezzled or stolen – this is the custom of scalping, which is often attributed only to North American Indians. In fact, the custom of scalping an enemy in order to obtain his strength existed in Europe too – among the Gauls, Franks, and Scythian tribes. Therefore, the loss of hair by a man is equated with the loss of strength – this is what the myth of Samson and Delilah says.

“For a man, hair loss symbolizes castration, the loss of masculinity,” says Massimo Baldini, professor of semiotics at the University of Rome. “Or the arbitrary renunciation of one’s own sexuality—that’s what the monk’s clean-shaven head symbolizes. And for the military and prisoners, it is a sign of subordination and coercion. So, the long hair of hippies symbolize sexual freedom, and the shaved heads of Taoists and Buddhist monks symbolize renunciation of everything earthly and sexual abstinence.

It is the activity of male hormones that is the main cause of male pattern baldness. Here is how the dermatologist of Vichy laboratories Maria Shevchenko comments on this scientific fact: “Androgen hormones have a dual effect on the hair follicles: they are one of the factors leading to atrophy of the hair follicles on the head, and at the same time stimulate hair growth in the facial zone, that is, mustaches and beards “. The problem of hair loss is most significant for men: according to Etude Vichy / Sofres, 54% put it in the first place, while 34% are primarily concerned with excess weight, 7% with wrinkles and 2% with gray hair.

Looking for remedies for baldness or taking the resulting baldness for granted? Everyone has a choice.

“At the initial stage of hair loss, you can try a local remedy: for example, aminexil ampoules prevent hormone-dependent hardening of collagen around the hair follicle and stimulate hair growth,” says Maria Shevchenko. – There are also radical methods, such as transplantation, which involves transplanting the actual hair or pieces of skin with hair. There are also artificial implants – synthetic fibers implanted into the scalp, which cannot be distinguished from natural hair.

A hair’s breadth from ideal

So, hair, this ancient rudiment left to us from our ancestors, can tell a lot about both the soul and the body. Despite the fact that civilization, or rather, modern ecology and constant stress are recognized as the most destructive factors for the health and beauty of hair, we find a cure for them precisely in the achievements of scientific and technological progress.

New technologies offer ever more advanced means, for example, cosmeceutical preparations – pills to increase hair density. Modern trichology provides more and more complete diagnostics and more and more effective treatment, in which psychotherapy also plays an important role. But who knows whether our distant descendants will be just as sensitive to the magic of hair, or whether impeccably smooth skin or silky artificial fiber will replace lush hair.