The hair on my arms is white

Under normal circumstances, human body hair is black. This is because there are a large number of melanocytes in the human skin, and the melanin produced by them will spread to other parts of the human body. However, some people find white hair on their arms, which is obviously not a normal phenomenon and requires going to the hospital for a specific diagnosis. So, what should you do if the hair on your arms is white?

If only one or two hairs change color, it is generally not a serious problem and is related to local depigmentation. If white appears in a large area, you need to pay special attention to prevent abnormalities in the body's melanin and need to check it out in time.

Melanocytes are special cells in the skin that produce melanin and transfer it to the surrounding keratinocytes. Melanin stays in the nuclei of these keratinocytes and protects the chromosomes from being damaged by light radiation. In the normal human epidermis, one melanocyte can take care of about 40 keratinocytes, which are called melanin-forming units of the epidermis.

The color of the skin comes from melanin stored in keratinocytes. Generally speaking, people who store more melanin have darker skin and are more protected from sunlight radiation. However, studies have shown that there is no significant difference in the number of melanocytes among people of different races. The normal and healthy skin color of the human body is the result of balanced melanin synthesis and metabolism.

The melanin production process is essentially an imbalance in "metabolic" behavior, with the degradation rate being lower than the synthesis rate, resulting in long-term deposition. The longer the formation time, the more melanin there is between the epidermis and dermis, the denser the accumulation, the more difficult it is to disperse and metabolize. Traditional Chinese medicine explains this as "resulting in poor blood circulation, malnutrition of the skin and the formation of pigmentation."