Why are humans so hairy?

Human hair is undoubtedly strange. Most of our hair is short and wispy, though in some places it’s thick and curly. Compared to our primates, we are practically bald.

The two types of hair –

Our human hair comes in two types: terminal and vellus. Terminal hair is the thicker and darker hair that can be seen on the scalp, eyebrows and eyelashes. The Vellus hair is the thin, near enough invisible hair that can be found on the rest of the body.

Our human hair is a product of evolution. During our Homo erectus stage, we migrated to the Savannah and due to the warmer climate our hair began to shed to keep ourselves cool. This removes an unnecessary insulating layer and allowed the body to be cooled by sweat. As the weather got colder at night, the hair loss resulted in innovations such as clothes! Due to the hot sun during the day, head hair became thicker and more luxuriant, protecting their head from sun. Evidence from genetics suggests that we became fur-less approximately 1.7 million years age.

Parasites?

Another reason for our hair loss was to increase the resistant of disease. Other animals have proven that hair is a prime habitat for growth of parasites. So therefore, the removal of hair on our body reduced our chances of catching parasites and bugs. 

Sexual Selection -

Sexual selection could be seen as a possibility to why humans are so hairy! Ancestors who had the least hairs were considered the most attractive, and therefore were more successful in producing offspring. It was a seen as good health if you were hairless.

Balding - 

Human males are the only known primates that experience balding. By the age of 30, a quarter of men will have started to go bald and by 45, that figure goes up to 50%. Male pattern baldness has a known trajectory: hair begins to disappear on the crown areas and then moves up, leaving a centre of thin/bald hair. Interestingly, people with bald hair still have just as many hair follicles as people with a full head of hair. The difference is that those hair follicles don't function properly. 

Our HairMax laser devices help rejuvenate those hair follicles to reverse the hair cycle. We have a number of devices ranging in price, check them out today at hairmax.co.uk.