From Rapunzel’s long locks to Samson’s strength being sapped by a haircut, there are many myths about hair. But it’s more important to first understand the facts. Understanding your hair, its type, and the way it grows is beneficial to the continuing health and longevity of your hair.
How Much Hair Does a Person Have?
According to Harvard’s BioNumbers Database, the color of your hair determines the number of hairs on your head. Blondes have the most with roughly 150,000 strands, brown hair has 110,000 strands, black hair has 100,000 strands, and redheads have 90,000.
What Are the Cycles of Hair Growth?
Anagen – This is the first stage where your hair follicles begin pushing out hair. Also called the growth phase, these hairs will continue to grow until they’re cut or until they reach the end of their lifespan. This can last anywhere between 2 and 8 years, though at about anytime roughly 90% of your hair is in this phase. During this phase full-length hair growth averages to be about 18 to 30 inches.
Catagen – During this phase, your follicles begin to shrink, hair growth slows, and the hair separates from the bottom of the follicle – but remains attached during its final growing days. The phase only lasts about two weeks, and only about 5% of your hair is in this phase at any given time.
Telogen – Think of this as a resting phase for your hair follicles. Hair is neither falling out nor actively growing. This phase can last about three months.
Exogen – Often included as part of the telogen cycle, the exogen phase is considered the shedding phase. This phase can last anywhere between two and five months. It is perfectly normal to lose 50-100 hairs a day during this time through normal activities of washing and brushing.
Does Hair Grow Back Thicker?
Shaving and waxing your hair has no effect on how quickly hair regrows… or how thick it will be when it does start to grow. However, your hair will take more time to grow after waxing as it removes the follicle from below the skin’s surface. Whereas shaving only removes the top part.
How Do You Know If Your Hair Is in the Growth Phase?
Each of your hairs grows at a different rate. This is a good thing because otherwise it would all fallout at once, leaving us with periods of total baldness. If your hair has pushed through the skin, then it is probably in the anagen phase.
How Long Does It Take Hair to Grow?
It actually depends on a myriad of factors including genetics, diet, or even medications you’re on. According to a 2016 study, one’s ethnicity even plays a part. Black people’s hair grows a little less than 4 inches per year, about 5.3 inches for Caucasian and Latino hair, and Asian people’s hair grows about 6 inches.
Can You Push Your Hair into the Anagen Phase?
There are lots of things that can shorten your anagen phase – like stress, poor diet, hormone imbalances, medical treatments, and even various hair treatments. Maintaining a healthy diet and doing what you can to keep your stress levels manageable is not only good for you, but it’s also good for your hair.
Have Questions? Call HairMD Today
With more than 30 years of hair transplant experience, we can answer all of your questions about hair restoration, the ARTAS® Robotic FUE Hair Transplant System, and how we use to create a natural-looking hairline. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
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