Asked by: Dave Jefferies, Barrow-In-Furness
Most of the skin on your body is actually covered with tiny hairs called vellus hairs that give your skin a slightly velvety, peach-fuzz look. With male pattern baldness, the hair follicles shrink and turn into skin cells, so there are no hairs at all – not even vellus hairs.
But the scalp is particularly shiny because of the sebaceous glands. These secrete oil and are found all over our skin, but the scalp has a lot more and this oil coats the skin and provides a more uniform reflective surface. What’s more, studies suggest that more active sebaceous glands could actually play a role in early hair loss.
Read more:
Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun facts.
Latest
