11 Facts About Vellus hair

Vellus hair is short, thin, light-colored, and barely noticeable hair that develops on most of a human's body during childhood.

Each strand of vellus hair is usually less than 2 mm long and the follicle is not connected to a sebaceous gland.

Vellus hair is most easily observed on children and adult women, who generally have less terminal hair to obscure it.

Lanugo Vellus hair is a much thicker type of Vellus hair that normally grows only on fetuses.

Vellus hair is differentiated from the more visible terminal or androgenic hair, which develops only during and after puberty, usually to a greater extent on men than it does on women.

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The growth cycle of vellus hair is different from the growth cycle of terminal hair.

At puberty, androgen hormones cause much of the vellus hair to turn into terminal hair and stimulate the growth of new hair in the armpit and the pubic area.

Vellus hair provides both thermal insulation and cooling for the body.

An abundance of vellus hair can develop from an increase in the production of the cortisol hormone in a person with Cushing's syndrome.

Vellus hair can be found in men with male pattern baldness or with hirsutism.

The terminal Vellus hair is usually shed after the birth of the baby upon the return of the hormones to the normal levels.