Hi Dr.Rassman,
I find this blog full of great info and discussion. My question is concerning hair follicle structure and balding. I notice recently that when some of my hair falls out I have two or even three strands of hair connected together. They seem to be connected together by the root or what looks like a “white bulb”. Does this indicate follicular damage or a sign of permanent balding? Thanks for your time.
A follicular unit consists of one, two, three, or sometimes four hairs, and that is the basic anatomy. It is natural to see two or three hair follicles fall out. When hair falls out during normal hair cycling, the entire follicular unit falls out with a bulb and a new hair starts up high in the dermis which grows down into the deep dermis. This does not mean you are necessarily balding, as this can be normal hair cycling and happens to every human being with hair.