Two hairs in one follicle

What is follicular unit

The follicles in our scalps are grouped together in bunches of 1 to 5 hairs. These groups are called “follicular units.” Many people assume that there is no chance of more than one hair from a single follicular unit. It is a fact that less than 20 percent of the follicles only contain a single hair. Follicular units always contain 2 or 3 hairs; while a small proportion of follicular units contain around 4 to 5 hairs. The phenomenon of multiple hairs emerging from a single follicle is called tufting while these are called compound follicles.

Two hairs in one follicle common conditions

However, the most common reason of two or more hairs is mostly due to permanent scarring alopecia. Tufting occurs because the scarring process leads to permanent destruction of follicles as well as the surrounding tissue. This destruction causes many follicular units to merge together. The end result is that multiple follicular units end up sharing the same follicular opening. This means that the hairs are taking nutrition from one follicle and therefore these divisions of nutrients leads to thinning of hair and causing them to eventually fall. This is the course of a disorder that is commonly known as alopecia.

Cicatricial alopecia 

The term cicatricial alopecia refers to a diverse group of rare disorders that destroy the follicle and replace it with scar tissue. This causes permanent hair loss as the follicle loses viability and it becomes a skin patch. Alopecia comes with severe itching and burning on the skin. The inflammation destroys the follicle and is below the skin surface due to which, there is no scar apparent on the scalp. The affected areas of the scalp may show some signs of inflammation, or appear red, while there may be scaling and pigmentation.