Hair Follicle Test
The hair follicle test is not used as often as the urine test but is more accurate and is better for certain situations. The hair follicle test can trace drug use which took place up to three months ago. In some cases, the hair follicle test can find traces of drug use for even more than three months prior. This is absolutely amazing compared to the urine test which mostly dates back to about a week on average.
There is a reason for the drug metabolites staying in your hair longer than your urine. When you do drugs, the metabolites go through your body and end up in your blood, urine, hair, saliva, nails, and pretty much everywhere. With the metabolites in your urine, you usually urinate a lot so they get removed quickly. However, with your hair, the releasing process takes a lot longer. The metabolites can sweat out of your hair or leave your scalp as your hair grows. The metabolites become part of your hair so even attempting to remove it is difficult. It takes a long time for the drug metabolites (even from a single usage of the drug) to leave your hair.
With that said hair follicle tests work well for many reasons. The main down fall with the hair follicle test is that it can’t screen any drug usage for the week prior to being tested roughly but for historical screening the hair follicle test is perfect. The kits are a bit expensive compared to the urine test as they sit at about $50-70 per kit but they are worth it if they are needed. Getting the results back also takes a little longer because the sample has to be sent to a lab and screened. However, the accuracy is almost perfect and is stronger than the urine test kits.
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