While it may seem an inanimate structure, the hair that covers your scalp is actually a collection of living, growing strands that develop individually in four unique cycles; anagen, catagen, telogen and exogen. The first phase, anagen, is where the hair strand is actually growing and can last anywhere from three to seven years. For most, approximately 80 to 90% of hair follicles are in the anagen phase with the hair growing consistently at an average rate of half an inch per month. The second phase, catagen, is the part of the cycle where the individual hair strand stops growing, detaches from its blood supply and is pushed closer to the surface of the scalp. It is estimated that at any given time 2 to 3% of hair is in the catagen state, which lasts an average of two to four weeks before hair reaches telogen, the hair’s resting phase. The telogen leg of hair’s journey lasts approximately three months and involves about 10 to 15% of all the hair present.

Exogen is quite possibly the most noticeable part of the growth cycle because it involves hair strands being naturally shed from the head. Coming in on the tail end of the telogen phase, it is estimated that the scalp rids itself of 50 to 100 strands each day through the exogen phase. While this may seem like a lot, consider the fact that the average dark haired beauty is has 110,000 follicles taking part in of all phases of the growth cycle. For red heads that number decreased to 90,000 but for blondes it is dramatically increased to 130,000. Once the hair strand is shed, a new hair replaces it and the cycle begins again. It is believed that the average follicle grows about twenty new hairs in its lifetime.

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Healthy Hair Wishes,