HAIR GROWTH CYCLE
As women, we are desirous of healthy hair and retained growth. We spend much time selecting the right hair moisturisers, conditioners, and suitable regimens to ensure our hair is cared for with the expectance of steady growth.
However, have you ever spent the time to understand the hair growth cycle? Gaining a basic understanding of the hair growth cycle will equip you with knowing when to expect hair growth and the steps you can take to aid the hair growth process.
Here we will discuss the stages of hair growth and maintaining healthy hair through all the stages.
Stages of Hair Growth
The growth and loss of hair may seem like a quick and easy cycle. But the hair growth cycle is characterized by four specific stages: Anagen, Catagen, Telogen, and Exogen.
During the first three phases (anagen, catagen, and telogen), hair follicles' maturity and growth activity that produce each strand is captured.
The fourth and final stage of hair growth is referred to as the exogen phase. This phase clearly defines the shedding of "old" hair to welcome the 'early anagen' phase, where the growth of new hair is in place to emerge from the hair follicle.
Each phase has a set timeline that is influenced by your health, nutrition, and age. This, therefore, shows that your actions can promote and aid your hair growth cycle to be a healthy one.
Picture depicting individual hair growth cycle
It is important to understand that the visible hair we see growing out of our scalp is dead - this means that it doesn’t matter what magical product we use on our hair strands it is impossible for it to cause hair to grow, so you can throw away any products that you may own that are making these false claims! The development of the shaft (hair growth) comes from the follicle. The follicle is the root of the hair, which is situated beneath the skin. There are between 100-150 thousand hair follicles located on the scalp. Whilst the number of follicles remains unchanged, some are ‘dormant’ and must be activated to cause new hair to growth.
To explain what happens beneath the scalp in simple terms, our blood vessels carry essential nutrients and vitamins through our body from the foods that we eat and supplements we take. These nutrients ‘feed’ the hair bulb through the papilla. The hair bulb contains all of the active cells that rapidly divide and grow to build the hair shaft.
Understanding the Hair Growth Phases In-Depth
Anagen (Growth Phase): every hair growth begins at this phase. This phase is considered to be the most prolonged phase. The growth cycle of each hair strand can last up to 3-5 years, with some hair types lasting for seven years or more.
The Anagen phase makes up for over 80% of the hairs on your head.
Catagen (Transition Phase): This phase starts when the Anagen phase stops. The Catagen phase generally lasts for ten days and is characterised by shrinking and slowing hair follicles. At this phase, parts of the hair follicle are broken down as it slowly detaches the bulb from the papilla. The hair follicle remains in place up until the final days of the hair growth cycle.
Approximately only 5% of hair makes up the catagen phase.
Telogen (Rest Phase): There is no hair growth or hair shedding in the Telogen phase, the dead hair rests and it tends to last for about three months. This stage is also the stage that welcomes a new burst of hair from the follicle.
10-15% of hairs on your head are in this phase at any given time.
Exogen (Shedding Phase): This phase is an extension of the Telogen phase. It captures the shedding of hair from the scalp, which is often encouraged by washing and brushing.
It is normal to lose up to 100 hair strands daily in the Exogen phase. This stage welcomes new hair while the old hair falls out. The Exogen phase can last up to five months.
How To Aid Healthy Hair Growth
The following ways listed below will provide significant benefits throughout the hair growth stages.
Regular scalp massages with oils. Nourishing your scalp with high quality, nutrient-rich oils can significantly aid the process of hair growth by guaranteeing stronger follicles and healthier scalps which create a nourishing environment for our hair to thrive. Our hair follicles depend on vitamins and nutrients to grow healthy, resilient hair. Amazônia Essentials Stimulating Scalp Elixir is an excellent choice for scalp health and hair growth. It is carefully formulated with medicinal plant-oils from the Amazon Rainforest and infused with Guarana powder which contains high amounts of caffeine to stimulate hair growth and reduce hair loss.
Making better diet choices. The food you eat directly impacts your body's total health, including your scalp and hair health. Increasing healthy protein choices like beans, legumes, and avoiding processed foods will boost the health and growth of your hair strands. It is also essential to pay attention to specific vitamins like C, D, E, B-12, zinc, iron, and folic acid, as research shows that these positively impact the hair growth cycle.
Minimise your stress levels. Studies have proven that high-stress levels are directly linked to premature hair loss. Telogen effluvium is unknown to many but is a prevalent hair loss that occurs under stress. This disrupts and speeds the regular timing of the anagen phase into the exogen phase leading to tripled hair loss.
It is important to minimise stress levels to encourage healthy stages of the hair growth process. Exercise, meditation, deep breathing, counselling, and journaling are some of the effective ways to manage your stress levels daily.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the different phases of the hair growth cycle is the first step to achieving healthy hair growth. Now that you know what to expect at each stage of the cycle you should be able to make conscious changes in your hair care practices, diet, and stress level management to ensure you get the best results.