A Detail on How Hair Grows and Its Growth Phases

What is Hair: Hair is a form of protein known as keratin that is produced in the follicles. Every healthy human being has around one lakh hair follicles, out of which hair grows throughout life. The growth of hair is based on production of kertain in the hair follicles. Hence, it is safe to say that hair growth is dependent on how hair follicles behave. The part of hair that remains inside the skin layer and in case of scalp is buried within the fat layer of scalp tissue is called the follicles.

Hair Growth: The growth of hair is normally controlled by amount of keratin that follicles produce. On an average, a hair strand can grow up to 6 inches per year. However, the growth is not uniform for all and depends upon the phase of the hair. Further, it also depends upon health condition of the person as it is widely known that in case of poor health the hair growth is hampered. In normal circumstances the growth of the hair as per its growth phase is discussed below.

Anagen – It is the primary growth phase. It is also the next phase to Exogen. In this phase the hair continue to grow and basis external factors the length of hair can keep growing for anywhere between two years to seven years. The loss of hair in this phase is basically the loss of strands and it is normal to lose about 50-100 strands of hair each day. However, not necessarily all of these should be hair in Anagen pahse.

Catagen – This is a short lived phase and almost 10% of human hairs are regularly going through this phase. In this phase the hair follicle detaches itself from the dermal papilla and shrinkage is observed. This phase lasts for around 10 days and it is also known as transition phase of hair life cycle.

Telogen – This is the prime resting phase of hair. And basis the percentage of hair in Catagen phase, around 10% hair on the scalp is in resting phase at any given point of time. Interestingly, it is also the phase where new hair starts its growth, but only at the follicular level. This phase can be of around 90-120 days.

Exogen – This is the phase where it can be determined if a hair follicle is really going to produce a hair strand. As a matter of fact it is a mid phase between Telogen and Anagen. There is no fixed time span for this phase as it is transitory in nature.

Basis the growth cycle of hair follicle and strand it is obvious that out of 1 lakh hair present on the human scalp only 90% of them are in active stage, rest are either in transition or in resting phase. And therefore, a normal hair fall of about 50-100 hairs is not a serious precursor to hair loss problem. However, if the follicles are impacted due to excess DHT level caused either due to Androgentic Alopecia or Genetic predisposition, the rate of hair fall is triggered as more number of hair follicles enters into resting phase and dies out permanently. And in such situation it is only advisable to consult the best hair loss treatment expert.