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Hair Growth Cycle

There are so many theories when it comes to hair growth and by how much your hair grows daily. Many believe that trimming your hair makes your hair grow faster, while others believe in allowing it to grow at its own pace without involving any scissors. Before we come to a conclusion and find the best method to grow our hair, we should at least make an attempt to understand the hair growth cycle. In this article, we will discuss each stage separately.

There are four stages of the hair growth cycle: Anagen, Catagen, Telogen, and Exogen. 

ANAGEN

Anagen is the active period of hair growth. The cells in the hair root are quickly dividing. A new hair grows and forces the club hair (a hair that has stopped growing or is no longer in the anagen phase) up and out of the follicle. Hair grows at a rate of 1cm every 28 days, during this phase for two to six years.

Some people have a shorter duration of the active phase; therefore, they face difficulty growing their hair after the hair has grown up to a certain length. The best way to understand the shorter active growth phase is to look at our eyebrows, eyelashes, hair on arms and legs; with a growth phase of about 30-45 days, these hair types have a very short active hair phase.

CATAGEN

The catagen phase is a transitory stage in which around 3% of all hairs are at any given moment. This stage lasts around two to three weeks. It is a short transitional stage, indicating the end of the active stage, cutting individual hairs in this stage off from the blood and the cell producing new hair.

TELOGEN

Telogen is the resting phase and contributes to around 6% to 8% of all hairs. The phase lasts around 100 days or three months. During this phase, the strands remain in their follicle, which is at rest. Club hairs are formed during this phase. If a hair is pulled out during this phase, the hair will reveal a white solid, dry, and rigid material at the root. We usually shed around 25 to 100 telogen hairs each day.

EXOGEN 

The Exogen stage is the last stage of the hair growth cycle; in this stage, the hair strands are released from follicles and fall out. This stage lasts for two to five months. It is interesting to note that, this stage also marks the beginning of the new process, as the entire process begins again.

Each hair strand goes through these four stages independently at different times because if all the hair strands go through these stages together, all the hair will fall out at once! Imagine! Hair growth and hair thinning may occur if the growth cycle is disturbed or disrupted via illness, diet, or improper nutrition. 

A good hair product that focuses on your needs will be instrumental to your hair, irrespective of the stage your hair strands are in. 

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Thank you for reading. Stay Safe. Stay Happy.