Human hair grows through 'pulling' not pushing, study shows

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

This points to a potential answer to a long standing question I've had about why some hairs stop growing at certain lengths. If the force is being generated by cellular migration then control over when to stop growing can be mediated by a signal that tells the cells to stop migrating, and that could be based on time or vibration amplitude or something else that correlates with hair length. For hair that grows continually you just ... never turn off cell migration.

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.

Are most industrial polymers drawn or extruded?

Wow very interesting. This explains how goku turns level 3 as a super saiyan.

So, the centrifugal force of head-banging is why metalheads grow long hair?

And grass? What about grass?

I want to keep my favorite reply phrase: "Gras groeit niet harder als je eraan trekt." (Grass doesn't grow faster if you pull on it.)

How did this explain in-grown hairs?

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

That feels like a pretty big clue that mechanics and motility are way more central to tissue dynamics than we give them credit for

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 seem to remember there was a report about pulling on the hair of guinea pigs or some other small mammal encouraged hair growth.

Is this different from how hair grows on any other animal?

As someone with thinning hair, it's horrible how little study/research is being performed to understand how hair grows and treat hair loss. Most of the products on the market today were discovered by accident and have serious side effects. This condition impacts millions++ of people, yet everyone from physicians to pharmaceutical companies is fine with the status quo of "here, this may work for you" effectively woo medicine.

Damn so it is possible to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

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.