title: Assembling a Hand-Held Trichotillometer and Determination of Epilation Force in Normal Individuals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assemble a simple, inexpensive hand-held trichotillometer and to determine the epilation force (EF) required to pluck the anagen hair and telogen hair from four regions of the scalp in healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A simple hand-held trichotillometer was assembled by modifying a laboratory spring balance, and the instrument was calibrated after attachments. EF was measured in 30 healthy individuals on four regions of the scalp.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 30 volunteers were included in the study, among them 15 were males and 15 were females. A total of 1200 hairs were examined. The mean EF in our study was 70.15 grams (g). The mean EF required to pluck the anagen hair was 86.61 g and telogen hair was 53.69 g.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The assembled- hand held trichotillometer is a simple and reliable device. Tricotillometer is a useful device to measure the EF in various physiological and pathological conditions and may have diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic value in various hair diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, PSGIMSR, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Kumaresan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muthuvel
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, PSGIMSR, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Srinivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakravati
authors.affiliation: Department of Applies Sciences, PSG Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Sasidaharan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nair
keywords: Anagen hair; epilation force; trichotillometer