Beneath our skin, the hair is rooted in an area called the follicle . Follicles are surrounded by many sensory nerves. These nerves send messages as our conditions change. The painful sensation we feel is the nerves' reaction to being moved. These next images represent the shape of our hair close to the follicle, underneath the skin.
New hair is produced at the follicle where tiny blood vessels provide nourishmnet to the hair cells.
As these cells grow and duplicate, they push outward until they exit the skin. This is a picture of Diane Witt , she once held the record for the world's longest hair . More fun hair facts can be found at the National Wildlife Federation's web page . As the hair is produced, it hardens and turns a specific color, in a process called pigmentation . Well, hair is made from a protein called keratin .