Average hair grows 1/4 to 1/2 inch per month. It may grow more or less during this time period; it really depends on:
- The time of year
- Your hair care practices
- The ingredients in the products you use
- Your diet
- Your age
- Genetics
There are 3 (sometimes 4) hair lifetime phases that every single one of the hairs that has ever been on anyone's head (or other body parts) go through. They are:
- anagen
- catagen
- telogen
- and some hair even go through exogen
The Active Growing Phase- Anagen
Anagen is the phase in which hair grows- sprouting through our follicles and above the surface of our scalps. At any period of time, 88% of the strands of hair on our heads are going through this phase. Did you get that? Right now, 88% of the strands on your head are in a growing phase. This is why it is so important to care for your scalp- the environment in which your hair is produced.
This stage lasts, on average, between 4 and 7 years. A person's growing phase can be anywhere between 1 and 10 years. Understanding the growing phase is important because it helps clear up a few misconceptions. The most important thing is that the longest length your hair can reach (your terminal length) is dependent on the length of your growing, or anagen, phase and your monthly growth rate. Look at it like this, if your hair grows 1/2 inch a month and your anagen phase is 7 years, then your hair has the potential to reach 42 inches in length in that 7 years.
Now, you might be thinking, "My anagen phase must be like 2 years because my hair has never reached past my shoulders!" Well, fortunately, you are most likely wrong! True, our hair grows at a rate that is pre-determined. However, this is not why many black women find it difficult to grow their hair longer. Rather, it is how we care for our hair once it has sprouted from our follicles that is the issue.
The reason hair doesn't reach a certain length is usually because it has broken or been damaged prior to the end of the growing phase. This is why sooo many women do not have a clue about their growth potential (or terminal length). Put it like this, if your hair grows half an inch each month (and yes it certainly does grow every month...remember 88% of the hairs on your head are in a growing phase right now!), but it looks to you that it has not grown at all since last month, then what is happening is that your hair care practices are damaging your hair at the same rate it is growing. This is why you aren't seeing the growth! Now if your hair is shorter this month than it was last month, then your hair care practices are damaging your hair faster than your average monthly growth. If this is the case for you, please change your practices soon.
So here is the myth that I would like to clear up: Hair does not stop growing after a certain length, it stops after a certain period of time. Therefore, THERE IS NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO TO MAKE YOUR HAIR GROW FASTER. What you CAN do is to preserve the hair that you already have (via protective styling, low-manipulation styling, and maintaining a good protein-moisture balance). By protecting the hair you have now from dryness and breakage, you will be able to retain the length you have so when your monthly 1/2 inch grows in your overall hair length will be 1/2 inch longer than last month.
Try it yourself! Measure the length of your hair right now. Then commit to keeping your hair moisturized and protected for the next month. Then in exactly 1 month, measure your hair again. You will see the growth! AND you will also be able to determine your average monthly growth rate.
But remember, your growth rate depends on the time of year. Oh, and it also depends on your age. Sorry, I forget to tell you- our anagen phase shortens as we get older =-(
The Transition Phase- Catagen
Hair in this phase are taking a growth break and are preparing to shed by moving upward towards the skin pore and seperating from the follicle. This stage lasts between 2 weeks and 4 months. Only 1% of the hair on our head at any period of time are in this phase. I know I haven't yet completed the hair breakage vs. shedding page, but it is because of this phase that we are able to tell the different between a broken hair and a shed hair. We can tell the difference because shed hair have white bulbs at the ends (nearest the roots) and hair that has fallen due to breakage does not. This is important to know because it is useful to examine the stray hair you find around your bathroom sink, on the floor and on your shoulders to determine what your hair needs. If you you determine that many of the stray hairs are broken then you probably need to do either a protein or moisture deep treatment. However, if they are shed hairs you don't have much to worry about because due to the categen phase we know that it is natural to shed about 1% of our total hair mass each day (this works out to about 100-150 hairs per day). However, if your hair is shedding more than this it might be due to medicines you are taking, stress, the period after pregnancy or some other medical concern.
Anyway, as I was saying, the reason we have those white bulbs on the ends of our shed hairs is because hair in the catagen phase stops producing melanin (the substance that gives our hair its color)....cool factoid, huh?
The Resting and Shedding Phase- Telogen
Hair in this phase fully seperates from the follicle, and as the new hair begins to form undernth (hair entering the anagen- growing phase), the hair in the telogen phase is pushed out- or is shed.
Shedding hair is a natural and necessary part of the hair growth cycle. 11% of the hair on your head is in a shedding phase right now. This phase lasts up to 4 months. You may notice the most shedding in late summer/ early fall months. When a hair is removed from its follicle, a new hair will not emerge from that follicle for approximately 130 days regardless of whether the hair was shed or pulled or removed from the follicle by some other means... so don't just pull out the hairs that you don't like and expect to grow new ones. Hair follicles are the boss. They produce the next hair when they are good and ready!
The Optional Dormant Phase- Exogen
I consider this phase optional because not all hairs go through it. Only 80% of our hair goes through this phase. In this phase, follicles lies dormant between 5 and 7 months after shedding before new hair emerges. The length of this phase increases as we get older. I guess you can think of this phase as an extended telogen phase.
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