HAIRS

Dr. Twisha Shah

The Study of Hair
• identify the various parts of
a hair
• describe variations in the
structure of the medulla,
cortex, and cuticle
• distinguish between human
and nonhuman hair
• determine if two examples
of hair are likely to be from
the same person
• explain how hair can be used
in a forensic investigation
• calculate the medullary
index for a hair
Types of
Medulla
The medulla (the
inner section) can
be hollow or filled,
absent,
fragmented,
continuous,
doubled,
pigmented, or un-
pigmented.
Types of Hair
• The cross section of a hair can be
circular, triangular, irregular, or
flattened influencing the curl of the
hair.
• The texture of a hair can be coarse
or fine.
• Different regions of the body on
which hair can vary are
(1) head,
(2) eyebrows and lashes,
(3) mustache and beard,
(4) underarms,
(5) overall body (auxiliary hair), and
(6) pubic.
• The body area from which a hair originated can be determined by
general morphology. Length, shape, size, color, stiffness, curliness, and
microscopic appearance all contribute to the determination of body
area.
• Pigmentation and medullar appearance also influence body area
identification. Hairs that exhibit microscopic characteristics shared by
different anatomical areas are often referred to as body hairs.

BODY AREA
DETERMINATION
 Head hair
• Longest hairs on the human body
• characterized as having a uniform
diameter and, often, a cut tip.
• can appear uncut, with tapered
tips but are more often cut with
scissors, razors, or clippers
• these hairs are subject to more
alteration than hairs from other
body areas include use of hair
dyes, rinses, permanents,
frosts,etc.
Pubic Hairs
• Pubic hairs are not subject to as much change as head
hairs over time, and because of this, a sample taken a
year or more after a crime may still be suitable for
meaningful comparison purposes.
• It is recommended that a known pubic hair sample be
obtained as soon as possible after a crime and should
contain at least 25 full-length hairs taken from different
areas of the pubic region.
• Pubic hairs are generally coarse and wiry in appearance.
They exhibit considerable diameter variation or buckling
and often have a continuous to discontinuous medulla.
While tapered tips are common, these hairs may also be
abraded or cut.
Facial hair
• Facial hairs are more
commonly called beard
hairs or mustache hairs.
These hairs are coarse in
appearance and can have
a triangular cross section.
• characteristics include a
wide medulla
 The Life Cycle of Hair

Hair proceeds through 3 stages as it

develops:
1. During the long anagen stage, hair
actively grows. The cells around the
follicle rapidly divide and deposit
materials in the hair.
2. In the catagen stage, the hair grows and
changes.
3. Hair is in the telogen stage when the
follicle becomes dormant. During this
stage, hairs easily can be lost.
ANAGEN: GROWING PHASE
• The stages of hair growth begin with the anagen phase. It’s the longest phase, lasting about 3 to 5
years for the hairs on your head, though for some people a single hair could continue growing for
7 or more years.

• Fortunately, the anagen phase differs with different types of hair. For example, the anagen phase
for eyebrow hairs and pubic hairs is much shorter than the phase for your scalp hairs.

• During the anagen phase, your hair follicles are pushing out hairs that will continue to grow until
they’re cut or until they reach the end of their lifespan and fall out.
• Hair plucked at the anagen stage of growth need a strong pull to detach them from the dermal
papilla. The roots will appear fleshy and dark , sometimes with pigmentation.
• They may be stretched or broken or both. When anagen hair is removed quickly (even by
brushing or combing), sheath tissue may be attached. In fact, anagen hairs plucked with a very
quick jerk may come away surrounded by all the elements of the lower portion of the follicle,
including the papilla. Because the root and sheath tissues are metabolically and mitotically active
they are amenable to enzyme typing , sexing by fluorescent chromosome analysis, and DNA
typing by the polymerase chain reaction
CATAGEN: TRANSITION PHASE
• The catagen phase starts when the anagen phase ends, and tends to last about 10 days or so.
During this chapter, hair follicles shrink and hair growth slows. The hair also separates from the
bottom of the hair follicle, yet remains in place during its final days of growing.

• Only about 5 percent of the hairs on your head are in the catagen phase at any given time. As
catagen begins, the inner root sheath begins to disintegrate. Melanin production stops. The
dendrites contract and no more pigment is injected into the (still growing) cortex
which thus becomes pale or white at the root end.

• Hairs at this stage would normally stay attached to the remains of the follicle, but if they are
pulled out the roots will often appear non-pigmented and brush-like, sometimes surrounded by
the epithelial sac but with no sheath material adhering.
TELOGEN: RESTING PHASE
• The telogen phase typically lasts around 3 months. An estimated 10 to 15 percent of your scalp
hairs are in this phase.

• Hairs don’t grow during the telogen phase, but they don’t usually fall out either. The telogen
phase is also when new hairs start to form in follicles that have just released hairs during the
catagen phase.
• Hair at telogen stage form the majority of ‘naturally shed’(exogen) hairs found on clothing and
the like, and this is expected as, compared with hairs in anagen phase, they require only a small
force to dislodge them. Typically they do not have any root sheath attached, no medulla near the
root and little or no pigment in the root.
EXOGEN: SHEDDING PHASE
• The exogen phase is essentially an extension or a part of the telogen stage of hair growth. During
the exogen phase, hair is shed from the scalp, often helped along by washing and brushing.
Losing 50 to 100 hairs per day during the exogen phase is normal.

• During the exogen phase, which can last about 2 to 5 months, new hairs are growing in the
follicles as old hairs fall away.

• Approximately 50 to 150 hairs are reported to fall out on a daily basis, representing the exogen
phase. The hair growth cycle starts again after the hair shedding observed in the exogen phase.
Hair roots
 Animal Hair and Human Hair

Imbricate. Coronal Spinous

The outermost layer of the hair shaft (the cuticle), is typically different in animals and humans.

• The cuticle scales in animals tend to resemble petals (spinous) or they give the appearance of a stack of crowns
(coronal).
• The cuticle scales in humans commonly are flattened and narrow (imbricate).
Human
Hairs
TIP OF THE SHAFT
 Collectio
n of Hair
Specimen
 • Macroscopic investigation can indicate length,
colour, and curliness.
• Microscopic investigation can indicate fine
detail in hair structure.
• Phase contrast microscopy, for example,
Using Hair in an can show the presence of dye or other
Investigation treatments.
• Electron microscopes can provide more
detail of the surface or interior of the
sample. In the sample above, note the
overlapping scales and the pigment
granules in the cortex.