Piedra is the Spanish word for stone. White piedra appears as white or light brown depositions that loosely attach to the tip of a hair shaft and may group to form clusters. The stones, sometimes called concretions or nodules, feel gritty and are easy to remove.
A white bulb at the end generally indicates that the hair is in the resting phase, and they a new hair has pushed it out (causing it to shed). This is the natural process of hair growth. A new one is simply taking its place.
Hair typically starts turning white from the roots due to a decrease in melanin production, which is responsible for hair color. As the hair grows, the new hair that emerges from the follicles is devoid of pigment, resulting in white or gray hair.
They might be sebum plugs, which are simply solidified hair and skin oils mixed with some stuck-on skin cells. If you have changed shampoos, or started or stopped swimming it might be that your body is just adjusting to new conditions.
Typically, dead hair follicles lead to a smooth patch of bald skin on the scalp – it typically will not look like general hair thinning. Doctors and hair specialists can get a look at your hair follicles by using a microscope.
The white bulb at the end of your hair is essentially a bundle of protein, known as keratin. The role of the white bulb is to help the hair follicle root to the scalp, which then allows the hair to grow until it is shed.
So what is this small white particle? In fact, the white small particles in the roots of the hair are fat particles composed of sebum and oil.
Scalp 101
Have you ever scratched your scalp and noticed white, waxy buildup under your nails? That's sebum mixed with dead skin cells. It's hard for shampoo alone to wash away your oily scalp issues. And issues like stress and weather can increase the scalp's sebum production, making you even oilier.
The main symptom of white piedra is the formation of clusters of tiny nodules along the hair shafts. These rock-like structures appear white, gray, or tan. The stone-like depositions are soft, gritty, and easy to remove. However, removal may cause the affected hair shafts to split or break.
What they are likely to be are a common type of fungi called saprophytic fungi. That's not a pathogenic or harmful fungi. Those little white, fuzzy balls are likely just fungal hyphae and the fuzziness around the spheres are the roots of the hyphae.
Sometimes when we touch our scalp with fingertips, especially in case of oily skin and if we are particularly careful, we might feel some very small sand grains. These are nothing but sebum leftovers, dandruff or “pollution” which lie on the scalp and prevent it from breathing properly.
Trichomycosis presents with yellow-white (occasionally red or black), soft, malodorous nodules and sheath-like structures on hair shafts (picture 1A-C).
If you accidentally pull out a strand of your hair and it has a ball (bulb) on the end of it, you didn't pull out the follicle, and instead, you removed your hair root. That root grows back and your hair will grow back, too.
A visible scalp through your hair can be a sign that it's thinning (but not always). The factors that contribute to thinning hair (and thus a visible scalp) include stress, diet, vitamin deficiency and ageing.
Telogen (shedding): This is the resting stage of your hair growth cycle. The hair follicle is inactive, and there's a white bulb of keratin at the root (club hair). The bulb of keratin keeps the hair in the follicle until it sheds, which then starts the hair growth cycle over again.
Scratching can disrupt the oil layer and add fungus to the scalp. Both of these are factors in dandruff and can trigger flaking. The skin sheds to get rid of the irritant or foreign object, and scratching just adds more of that.
Generally, he says, the range is somewhere between once a day and once a week. “If you have very fine or thin hair, you may need to wash more often, while those with thick or curly hair may need to wash less often,” says Dr Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, a double board certified dermatologist and hair health expert.
Although wet dandruff is commonly associated with seborrheic dermatitis, the symptoms can also occur if you have another type of skin disorder like psoriasis or an infection. It can also occur on its own without any underlying condition.
Traction alopecia is hair loss due to pulling hair into tight hairstyles, which causes it to break and come loose. Hairstyles associated with this condition include: tight buns or ponytails.
A black dot could result from a fungal infection on the scalp known as tinea capitis or traction alopecia, causing broken hairs from tight hairstyles that look like black specks. Black dots could also be a symptom of alopecia areata, an inflammatory disease, or even a sign of scalp melanoma.
A natural supplement designed to boost hair growth can help. For example, biotin and folic acid supplements are common hair-loss treatments. 8 Even multivitamins can strengthen hair growth, Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, told Health.