Why is our hair important?

Did you know that humans have hair all over our bodies? Although sometimes we are not able to see it, really, the only places where we do not have hair are the palms of our hands, the soles of our feet and our lips.

Hair is an essential part of our appearance and is often considered a reflection of our personality. In addition, it can also be a sign of good health . Our hair performs many important functions in our body and today we are going to discuss them with the aim that we are even more motivated to take care of it.

Protection against sun rays 🌞

The importance of hair is especially clear when we refer to protection against the sun's rays. The scalp is especially susceptible to damage caused by the sun's rays and the hair acts as a protector against ultraviolet radiation . Therefore, people with hair loss should be more careful when exposed to the sun directly.

Excessive and unprotected exposure to the sun's rays can have negative consequences on the scalp, such as:

Barrier against external agents 🦠

Hair on certain areas of the body, such as the nostrils and eyebrows, helps prevent foreign particles, dust, or microbes from entering the airways or eyes, acting as a physical barrier. It also helps filter the air we breathe, providing additional protection. Likewise, eyebrows and eyelashes can help protect the eyes by decreasing the amount of light and airborne particles that come into contact with them.

Temperature regulator 🌡️

Another notable reason for the importance of hair is its role as a thermal regulator. And hair helps regulate body temperature by acting as an insulator and behaving differently depending on the climate in which we find ourselves.

In cold climates, hair helps retain body heat close to the skin and prevent excessive heat loss . This occurs through the contraction of a muscle that is inserted into the hair follicle (the piloerector muscle), and which causes the hair to stand upright (hence the expression “making your hair stand on end”). The hair in this position traps air and acts as an insulator to protect the body from the cold. In fact, people who have more hair or more hair will usually be better protected against the cold.

On the other hand, in warmer temperatures, the piloerector muscle relaxes causing the hair to flatten. Hair in this position also better protects the scalp and skin from direct solar radiation, and allows sweat to evaporate from the skin, helping in the body's cooling process . Sweat is distributed through the hair follicles and is then released on the surface of the hair, allowing the body to cool through evaporation.

Provides tactile sensitivity 🌾

The sense of touch is a fundamental part of our daily experience, allowing us to interact with the world around us. Although we usually attribute tactile sensitivity to our nerve endings in our skin, there is a surprising element that also plays a crucial role: our hair .

Hair follicles are surrounded by nerve endings that detect tactile stimuli and transmit the information to the nervous system. It is surprising how, even before an object touches our skin, our hair allows us to feel it and differentiate between different stimuli.

In addition to their role in sensitivity, hair follicles also help us detect movement. When something brushes or moves over our hair, the nerve endings in the hair follicles capture these changes and provide us with information about the direction and speed of the movement. This feature is especially useful in situations where we need to react quickly, such as when detecting an insect.

Identification sign 🙋‍♂️🙋

Hair is an integral part of our body image and has a major influence on our self-esteem and confidence . It is also a means of visual expression and communication, as it can be a reflection of our personality, culture and individual preferences . Furthermore, it is one of the structures in our body that can most easily be changed or manipulated. We can wave, straighten, dye, braid, style or cut our hair, and unlike tattoos or body piercings, the changes made to our hair are completely reversible.

As you see, there are many reasons why we must take into account the importance of hair.

Taking care of our hair is taking care of an essential part of our body, because it plays many functions both in our identity and also in our health . Not only does it protect us from the sun's rays and act as a physical barrier, but it also helps regulate body temperature and provides us with tactile sensitivity to interact with the world around us. Furthermore, hair is a form of personal expression and influences our self-esteem and confidence, so it is important to be consistent and take care of it every day.