DIFFERENTIATING ANAGEN AND TELOGEN HAIRS

Being Able to Spot the Difference Between Anagen and Telogen Hairs is Important!

It is important to be able to differentiate anagen hairs from telogen hairs.

Anagen hairs are actively growing hairs. Most hairs on a person’s scalp are anagen hairs. They are firmly rooted in the scalp and therefore are rarely seen in hairs that routinely fall from the scalp. For most people, the only way to obtain an anagen hair is to forcefully pluck a hair from the scalp. In that case, one sees a hair fiber surrounded by a mass of keratinocytes. The hair is deeply pigmented at the bottom.

The routine retrieval of anagen hairs during a pull test or when reviewing hairs that are shed from the scalp suggests something is wrong. Anagen hair are not supposed to come out easily! Patients with active Scarring alopecias may notice that fairly normal looking anagen hairs are easily removed from the scalp. Patients with alopecia areata, patients undergoing chemotherapy and patients with loose anagen syndrome also lose anagen hairs but these anagen hairs are not really so typical looking like the one shown in the photo. They are special types of anagen hairs.