Curly Hair Follicle Is Sculpted by a Contracted Arrector Pili Muscle: A Hypothesis with Treatment Implications
January 2024
in “
Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
”
TLDR Relaxing certain muscles might straighten curly hair.
The paper hypothesizes that the contraction of the Arrector Pili Muscle (APM) in hair follicles is responsible for creating curly or coily hair by curving the outer root sheath. As a multi-unit smooth muscle, the APM's independent fiber contractions contribute to the diversity of curly hair types. The authors suggest that using selective smooth muscle relaxants to relax the APM could potentially straighten curly hair. Further research, including AI studies, is needed to confirm the APM's role in hair shaping and to explore new treatments for hair texture modification.