Vellus hair is short, thin, light-colored, and barely noticeable

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

that develops on most of a human's body during

childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

. Exceptions include the

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

s, the back of the ear, the palm of the

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

, the sole of the foot, some external genital areas, the

navel The navel (clinically known as the umbilicus; : umbilici or umbilicuses; also known as the belly button or tummy button) is a protruding, flat, or hollowed area on the abdomen at the attachment site of the umbilical cord. Structure The u ...

, and

scar A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrosis, fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other Organ (anatomy), organs, and biological tissue, t ...

tissue. The density of hair – the number of

hair follicle The hair follicle is an organ found in mammalian skin. It resides in the dermal layer of the skin and is made up of 20 different cell types, each with distinct functions. The hair follicle regulates hair growth via a complex interaction betwee ...

s per

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of skin – varies from person to person. Each strand of vellus hair is usually less than 2 mm (1/13 inch) long and the follicle is not connected to a

sebaceous gland A sebaceous gland or oil gland is a microscopic exocrine gland in the skin that opens into a hair follicle to secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum, which lubricates the hair and skin of mammals. In humans, sebaceous glands occur in ...

. Vellus hair is most easily observed on children and adult women, who generally have less terminal hair to obscure it. Vellus hair is not

lanugo Lanugo is very thin, soft, usually unpigmented hair that is sometimes found on the body of a fetus or newborn. It is the first hair to be produced by the fetal hair follicles, and it usually appears around sixteen weeks of gestation and is abunda ...

hair. Lanugo hair is a much thicker type of 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 Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...

, usually to a greater extent on men than it does on women. The

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

uses the word ''vellus'' to designate "a fleece" or "wool." Vellus hair is sometimes colloquially referred to as peach fuzz, due to its resemblance to the downy epidermic growths on the

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

fruit.

Development

Vellus hair replaces lanugo hair on a human fetus at 36 to 40 weeks of

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

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

androgen An androgen (from Greek ''andr-'', the stem of the word meaning ) is any natural or synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors. This includes ...

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. In men, this change in vellus hair also occurs on the face (beard) and the body.

Function

Vellus hair provides both

thermal insulation Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with s ...

and cooling for the body. This insulation regulates body temperature: the vellus hair functions like a wick for sweat. While a skin pore is open, sweat wets a strand of vellus hair. The sweat on the external part of the strand evaporates. More sweat wets the external part of the vellus strand and then evaporates. This process is called

perspiration Perspiration, also known as sweat, is the fluid secreted by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and Apocrine sweat gland, apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distribu ...

Clinical significance

Overgrowth

The unusual growth of vellus hair can be a side effect of some types of disease. An abundance of vellus hair can develop from an increase in the production of the

cortisol Cortisol is a steroid hormone in the glucocorticoid class of hormones and a stress hormone. When used as medication, it is known as hydrocortisone. Cortisol is produced in many animals, mainly by the ''zona fasciculata'' of the adrenal corte ...

hormone in a person with Cushing's syndrome.

Anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

increases vellus hair. Vellus hair can also be found in men with

male pattern baldness Pattern hair loss (also known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA)) is a hair loss condition that primarily affects the top and front of the scalp. In male-pattern hair loss (MPHL), the hair loss typically presents itself as either a receding front ...

or with hirsutism. Hormonal fluctuations in pregnant women cause foetal vellus hair to change to terminal hair. The terminal hair is usually shed after the birth of the baby upon the return of the hormones to the normal levels. * Trichostasis spinulosa – Diagnosed by observing lesions due to multiple tufts of vellus hair located in a keratinous sheath. * Frontal fibrosing alopecia, a clinical variant of lichen planopilaris, is a female scarring alopecia characterized by progressive recession of the frontotemporal hairline. It is characterised by the absence of vellus hair in the hairline. * Eruptive vellus hair cyst (EVHC), a benign dermatologic condition in children and young adults.

Undergrowth

The following conditions may affect growth of the vellus hairs: * Perioral dermatitis – the hairs may be completely absent in affected facial areas.

References

{{Human hair Hair anatomy