Table of Contents
Three Stages of Normal Hair Growth
For both men and women, healthy human hair normally follows a cycle of three stages of growth:
1. Growth (Anagen stage)
2. Transition (Catagen stage)
3. Resting (Telogen stage)
Then new hair growth starts over again.
Growth (Anagen) Stage
Normal healthy hairs grow at the rate of about 1/2 inch per month, but vary by individual. A healthy hair follicle produces a strong, thick, colored hair. The hair follicles grow the hair for a period of 2 to 6 years in increase in diameter during this phase. In a normal scalp, about 90% of the hairs are in this stage at any given time. Some follicles produce thick colored hairs, called terminal hairs and other follicles produce short, thin, non-colored hairs, called vellus hairs.
Transition (Catagen) Stage
After the growing stage, the hair goes into a short transitional stage, which typically lasts about two to three weeks. Less than 1% of your hair is in this stage at any given time.
Resting (Telogen) Stage
Next the hair follicles enter a period of rest for approximately three months. After that time, the follicles lose their old hairs and resume the growing stage of producing new hairs. About 10% of your hairs are in the resting stage at any given time.
Normal to lose 40 to 100 hairs a day
Most individuals lose between 40 and 100 hairs per day. This is a very small amount of hairs, considering that the average head of hair has approximately 100,000 individual shafts of hair.
Normally, as the hair goes through these three stages, the follicles tend to return to the same length and width during the growing phase. As a result, they generally produce the same length and width hair shafts.
All hairs cycle through these three stages repeatedly. The length and thickness of each hair shaft is determined by how long the hair itself is allowed to grow in the follicle before entering into the resting / shedding stage. Consequently, pattern hair loss is actually a gradual conversion of thick terminal hairs to thin vellus-like hairs.
90 Days Resting Cycle
In unaffected individuals, scalp hair typically grows for a period of two to five years at a rate of approximately one half inch per month. After a ninety day resting cycle new hair replaces the old one which has been shed. In those suffering from pattern hair loss, a change in the cycle of hair growth is thought to occur. Growing cycles become shorter and resting cycles become more frequent. A negative change in the caliber of the hair may also be indicative that one is coming under the effects of pattern hair loss.
In both genders, typically, the onset of Male or Female Pattern Hairloss (AndroGenetic Alopecia – AGA) occurs in early adulthood, such as the 20s, 30s or 40s. In Men, advanced AGA may result in loss of hair such that the only remaining coverage is found exclusively in the temporal and occipital regions. Women are prone to exhibit a more general type of hair loss with pronounced thinning of individual hair shafts and hair loss throughout the scalp.
Blocking the Harmful Effects of DHT
The hormone DHT is formed inside the body (and also on top of the scalp), which then binds inside the scalp hair follicles in what are known are Androgen Receptor Sites (ARS), starting pattern hairloss in both Men and Women. Therefore it is imperative to use a hairloss treatment product, such as HairGenesis, which has been clinically proven in multiple research studies and published reports in medical journals, to effectively stop and block the harmful DHT from reaching the scalp hair follicles. Hairloss products which rely on Minoxidil simply do not block the DHT.
