It’s a hair condition that has frustrated parents for decades, now scientists believe they have found the genes responsible for “uncombable hair syndrome”. Yes, it really is a thing.
Uncombable hair syndrome is more than just difficult hair. As its name suggests, it’s hair that sticks out at all angles, making it almost impossible to tame let alone comb.
It usually starts in children between the ages of three months and 12 years and is characterised by straw blond or silvery blond frizzy hair. It’s usually wavy, dry and brittle and, thanks to its appearance, it’s sometimes called spun glass hair, pili trianguli et canaliculi or cheveux incoiffables.
There hasn’t been much research on this rare condition, which first appeared in published articles in the 1970s. Since then, fewer than 70 publications have appeared, most being case reports.
One of the more recent studies involving 11 children with uncombable hair was performed by geneticists at the University of Bonn, Germany. They found that the condition seemed to be explained by mutations in three genes that code for well-known proteins in the hair follicle.
