So hair grows by pulling itself upward? Perfect. I’m just going to stand under a ceiling fan and wait for my hair to pull itself back onto my bald spots. Science has finally given me a plan.
Tissot, N., Genty, G., Santoprete, R. et al. Mapping cell dynamics in human ex vivo hair follicles suggests pulling mechanism of hair growth. Nat Commun 16, 10267 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65143-x
Presumably it's produced at the same rate but destroyed by drying out and cracking as it gets longer and has less access to oil, so it slows down and may find an equilibrium where it stays the same length.
Sure. If your hair is breaking off at the same rate it’s growing it’ll be a stable length. I have no idea if that happens though. It seems farfetched that hair would actually be splitting that’s aggressively unless it’s visibly very unhealthy.
I'm reminded of a girlfriend who patiently explained to me that your hair grows more if you brush it regularly because the brush "pulls it and encouraged it to grow". She said her mother had taught her that.
I thought it was nonsense. Shows what I know. I suppose folk wisdom is vindicated again.
Immediately had to think of Baron von Münchausen pulling himself out of a swamp by his own hair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchhausen_trilemma
I just watched this for the first time last week and found it rather delightful.
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You don't say. Seeing that Munchausen is a byword for telling tall tales.
Look at his handle… not that yc is for these novelty accounts
So, the centrifugal force of head-banging is why metalheads grow long hair?
Or is that centripetal force? :)
So hair grows by pulling itself upward? Perfect. I’m just going to stand under a ceiling fan and wait for my hair to pull itself back onto my bald spots. Science has finally given me a plan.
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Put some mustard on your head and let a cow lick it dry... The pull will grow hair and the cow tongue will cleanse your aura.
irresponsible to not mention the risk of Cud Cap and Sympathetic Udder Syndrome. I even heard of one guy got Raging Horn
>the cow tongue will cleanse your aura
It's like that three-finger meme from the Tarantino movie, lol.
Tissot, N., Genty, G., Santoprete, R. et al. Mapping cell dynamics in human ex vivo hair follicles suggests pulling mechanism of hair growth. Nat Commun 16, 10267 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65143-x
Is this different from how hair grows on any other animal?
I wonder if that's why it slows/stops growing when split ends are present. I've always wondered how that worked if it was pushing.
I don’t think this is relevant to that at all. This “pulling” is inside the skin still.
But I am also pretty confident that hair does not stop growing because of split ends. That feels like an “old wives tail”.
Presumably it's produced at the same rate but destroyed by drying out and cracking as it gets longer and has less access to oil, so it slows down and may find an equilibrium where it stays the same length.
Sure. If your hair is breaking off at the same rate it’s growing it’ll be a stable length. I have no idea if that happens though. It seems farfetched that hair would actually be splitting that’s aggressively unless it’s visibly very unhealthy.
Damn so it is possible to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
rootstraps
I seem to remember there was a report about pulling on the hair of guinea pigs or some other small mammal encouraged hair growth.
I'm reminded of a girlfriend who patiently explained to me that your hair grows more if you brush it regularly because the brush "pulls it and encouraged it to grow". She said her mother had taught her that.
I thought it was nonsense. Shows what I know. I suppose folk wisdom is vindicated again.
You should be able to test this by brushing one side of your head more than the other
Curious if it works on beards, now.
Though, I would also somewhat expect pulling at it increases blood flow, which I would think to have some impact on growth?