How does our hair grow?

Dear Rheanne, Tyler, and Patii:

Hair grows out of deep pits in your skin called follicles (FOL-i-culs). At the bottom of each follicle is an area, called a bulb, where hair cells are manufactured. As these cells are pushed to your skin's surface, they become hardened and die. The hair that you see on your body is actually a collection of dead cells. (If hair was made of living cells, haircuts could be quite painful!) On average, a person's hair grows from one-quarter to one-half inch per month.

As hair cells are being made, they are injected with coloring substances called pigments. When we get older, the production of these pigments gradually stops. The result is that hair grows out white or gray.