The Hair-story of
Trichology
By Farhan Shah
Believe it or not, trichology
is a scientific and medical
practice that has more
than a century of history
and research. We delve
into the art and science of
trichology, dispel many
of the myths associated
with it, and check out one
of Singapore’s leading
trichological centres – TK
TrichoKare.
THE HISTORY OF TRICHOLOGY
The roots of trichology, derived for
the Greek word for hair, were first
planted around 1860 in a London
barbershop by an academic named
Professor Wheeler. It was not officially
known as trichology until much later
though in 1902, the same year that the
first official professional association
for trichologists – the Institute of
Trichologists – was formed.
About 60 years later, the first trichology
course was developed in 1974 at the
University of Southern California
under the guidance and mentorship of
David Salinger, former vice-president
of the Institute of Trichologists and
executive director of the then-newlyformed International Association of
Trichologists (IAT).
Before a trichologist is certified and can
practice, he has to ace the theoretical
aspects and is required to go through
one hundred hours of clinical training
under the supervision of an IATapproved trichologist. In Singapore,
TrichoKare requires its trichologists to
be certified by the IAT.
HAIR LOSS MISCONCEPTIONS
• Frequent shampooing causes hair to
fall out
A few well-meaning but illinformed people might warn you
that frequently shampooing
your hair will accelerate
hair loss. The reason
why not shampooing
one day and then,
shampooing on the next,
seemingly causes more
hair to fall out is because
when you don’t wash your
scalp, the hair that would normally
come out gathers at your head, only
falling when you shampoo your hair.
• Frequent wearing of hats or
helmets can cause hair loss
The oft-perpetuated misconception
is that the scalp isn’t able to breath
under the headwear and thus, hair
falls out. Fortunately, that is not
true. You can wear hats or helmets
every day and it will not affect your
hair. However, hats or helmets that
fit very tightly around the head might
possibly cause thinning on the sides
due to the blood circulation being
cut off and the headwear repeatedly
rubbing itself against the side of
your head.
• Plucking one grey hair means three
new strands of hair will grow back
Oh, if only this is true! Unfortunately,
plucking one grey hair means that
particular hair is gone forever. Each
strand of hair lasts for about two to
five years for men and four to six
years for women, so when you pluck
the grey hair, you’ve essentially
killed it before its time to drop out.
New hair will only grow in its place
later on.
THE TRICHOKARE EXPERIENCE
With four locations strategically
located around Singapore (Novena
Square, The Clementi Mall, nex and
orchardgateway) and one of the
most stellar customer service I’ve
experienced, TrichoKare is all ready to
capitalise on the burgeoning Singapore
market.
TrichoKare uses premium European
herbs, and is the first ISO 9001
certified trichological centre that
provides European herbal hair remedy
customised to suit respective scalp and
hair conditions.
I was invited by the folks at TrichoKare
to give their signature services a
try – a blend of premium European
botanical hair remedies and rigorously
researched treatments – and I
immediately agreed. My shower drain
was starting to breed giant hairballs
and as much as I tried to console
myself, the mirror always gave me a
stark reflection of the truth.
My friendly trichologist, Jane Ang,
patiently explained to me the process
of hair loss and scanned my hair. The
results were somewhat encouraging:
I had really thick hair and a generally
healthy scalp which, while not devoid
of sebum or dandruff, was normal in
Singapore’s hot weather. However, the
hair at my temples were beginning to
recede due to the undefeatable villain o