Bassukas, 1989  Title: Effects of plucking on the anatomy of
the anagen hair bulb. A light microscopic study.
Authors: Bassukas ID, Hornstein OP
Journal: Arch Dermatol Res 1989;281(3):188-92
PMID: 2774646, UI: 89373082
Affiliated institution: Department
of Dermatology, University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Federal Republic
of Germany.
Cited in: Dierickx
The effects of mechanical plucking on the anatomy
of human anagen hair bulbs were studied histologically in biopsy
specimens taken from scalp areas of ten volunteers immediately
after plucking. Anagen hair bulbs were shown to tear off not arbitrarily
but in reproducible patterns which include, apart from the "typical"
break conically surrounding the dermal papilla, three additional
break forms: (1) rupture of the hair around the upper third of
the papilla resulting in so-called dysplastic anagen hairs of
the trichogram, (2) rupture of the hair well above the dermal
papilla resulting in "broken" anagen hairs, (3) total
removal of the proximal follicle epithelium with removal of the
dermal papilla resulting in so-called papilla hairs of the trichogram.
Plucking also gives rise to alterations of the mesenchymal sheath
of the hair follicle mainly leading to hemorrhages and a distinct
edema entailing an increase in the volume of both the dermal papilla
and the underlying "papilla cushion" of Pinkus. The
different break types can be due to inappropriate plucking techniques
or may depend on different subphases of the anagen stage.
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