What to Know About the 4 Phases of Hair Growth

hair growth cycle

The length of each of these phases depends on a number of factors, including adequate nutrition and hormone levels (Houschyar et al., 2020). Certain medical conditions and medications can also affect the hair growth cycle. The catagen stage occurs at the end of the anagen phase and is the transition between active growth and resting. Hair follicles detach from the blood supply that nourished them during the anagen stage, shrinking and slowing in growth. This stage lasts for around two to three weeks, and according to Healthline, only 5% of hairs are in the catagen phase at any given time.

hair growth cycle

Bulb

But as frustrating as it is to see your hair falling out, studies have shown that you’re not alone. In fact, some experts have found that even the average person loses up to 100 hairs per day. Read on to learn about the four stages of hair growth, how to care for your hair, and what you can do to treat or prevent hair loss. Incorporating this scientifically-backed product into your hair care routine will give your hair the essential support it needs throughout its entire growth cycle.

Best Hair Oil: Ranavat Might Majesty Fortifying Hair Serum

The lips, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are the only parts of the body on which hair does not grow. The main purpose of hair is to protect the body and keep it warm. Hair follicles are made up of many different components, but these are the four key structures. The cross-sectional shape of hair also determines the amount of shine that the hair has. Straighter hair is shinier because sebum from the sebaceous gland can easily travel down the hair. With curly hair, the sebum has trouble traveling down the hair, making it look more dry and dull.

Hair loss

There are a lot of options out there, but we’ve narrowed them down to the top 11 with help from experts and sorting through hundreds of customer evaluations. Behold, the 13 best hair masks for growth to get shiny, bouncy, flowing hair. It can mean many different things to many different people, and it progresses over time from minimal to severe. The hair loss process is a cycle, starting with one catalyst and growing to encompass (in some cases) your entire head. In this article, let’s look at the hair growth cycle, and its relation to hair loss’s symptoms and causes, and some of the more notable forms of hair loss. During this stage, hair follicles shrink, and hair growth slows down.

Best for Brittle Strands

And because of that, understanding each stage of hair growth makes it easier to evaluate your own hair loss and better understand how hair loss treatments can help. The telogen phase, also called the resting phase, is when hair doesn’t grow nor does it fall out. However, new hairs do start to form in follicles that have released hairs while in the catagen phase. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of scalp hairs are in this phase at any given time. Human hair follicles are very sensitive to the effects of radiation therapy administered to the head, most commonly used to treat cancerous growths within the brain.

It is not contagious, although some health conditions may lead to hair loss. Various hair care products can help support hair strength, but some conditions cannot be treated. During the telogen resting phase, the hair undergoes a period of inactivity which lasts up to four months. The full strand of hair develops from this group of hardened hair cells. Because new hardened cells keep on attaching to the hair from below, it is gradually pushed up out of the skin. In this way, a single hair on your head grows at a rate of about 1 cm per month.

Here’s Exactly How Long It Takes To Grow Out Your Hair - Well+Good

Here’s Exactly How Long It Takes To Grow Out Your Hair.

Posted: Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The Hair Follicle Structure

According to The Trichological Society, there is little evidence to suggest that using special shampoos or taking supplements can make hair grow any quicker. Telogen effluvium will usually clear up on its own once a person has sought treatment for the cause. According to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology, the amount of shedding tends to decrease over a period of around 6–8 months. Everyone’s hair is different, and lots of factors can influence how quickly it grows. People with oval shaped follicles have very curly hair, while those with round follicles have straight hair. Some people have curly corkscrew hair, while others have thick, straight, shiny hair.

We’re not here to scare you into thinking that you’re doomed to male pattern baldness forever once your hair growth process changes. Researchers at Harvard Medical School described a condition called telogen effluvium. That’s a very fancy term to describe the phenomenon where a body change or an unexpected stressor accelerates the telogen phase. Someone with telogen effluvium might lose upwards of 300 hairs per day, compared to the typical 100 per day we mentioned earlier. An extension of the telogen phase, the exogen phase can last between 2 and 5 months during which hair is shed from the scalp.

Catagen (transition phase)

The telogen phase of the hair cycle is just one part of a much larger process. You may not realize that the hair on your head, arms, face, and everywhere else on your body is constantly passing through one of four phases in a complex cycle. Treating your hair gently is also important to promoting healthy growth. Avoid very hot water when you shampoo and towel-dry your hair gently when you’re done.

The follicle is lined by an inner and outer sheath that protects and molds the growing hair. The inner sheath follows the hair and ends just before the opening of the oil gland, or sebaceous gland. The bulb is the rounded structure deep in the skin at the root of the hair that surrounds the papilla and germinal matrix. It has several types of stem cells, which develop into specialized cells and can renew themselves over a long period of time. During the telogen phase, the hair follicle is completely at rest, and the club hair is completely formed. Pulling out a hair during the telogen phase of the cycle will reveal a solid, hard, dry, white material at the root.

This phase and its length determine how long the hair becomes. The catagen phase, also known as the regression phase, comes next and only lasts about one to two weeks. During this time, the hair follicle shrinks and detaches from the dermal papilla.

Tight hairstyles can cause more shedding because they put tension on the hair shaft, damaging the hair follicle and causing it to enter the exogen phase prematurely. Although shedding 100 hairs daily is expected, you could be shedding double, resulting in thin-looking, broken hair. Hair grows out of follicles, which are small pockets inside the skin. Each follicle contains a hair root, which is made of protein cells. As the blood vessels feed the roots with oxygen and nutrients, they multiply and grow into hair. Many factors — including genetics, sex, and age — can influence the speed of hair growth.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to Create the Perfect Coaster Design for Your Event 10 Tips

77 Amazing Hair Highlights Ideas

The Stages of the Hair Growth Cycle Explained DiStefano Hair Restoration Center