Hair growth how many inches

We are born with the total amount of hair follicles we will ever have over our lifetime. There may be about 5 million on our body, but our head has about , follicles. As we age, some follicles stop producing hair, which is how baldness or hair thinning occurs. Science has discovered a little bit about how hair growth is controlled at the cellular level in the body, but not enough to know how we can directly speed up hair growth.

Read on to learn about the science behind hair growth and how to use that knowledge for healthier hair. Hair grows in three stages, and each strand of hair follows its own timeline. These three stages are:. The average scalp has percent of the hair follicles in anagen phase. This means about percent are in the telogen phase, which accounts for the hairs that fall out every day.

How long the anagen phase lasts depends on how long your hair is and if the cells in your follicle base are continuing to multiply and become hair cells. Hair grows because matrix cells shed some of their structure as they reach the upper follicle.

But there are steps you can take to promote healthy hair during the anagen phase. Hair is made up of keratin and dead skin cells. Talk to your doctor before trying supplements such as biotin, keratin, or other nutritional supplements.

They may interact with medications and cause unintended side effects. But the body does require a lot of energy to make your hair grow. Missing out on balanced meals and nutrients can affect hair growth.

Read more: Vitamins for hair growth ». Put a few drops of into your shampoo or dilute it with jojoba oil. One study showed that pumpkin seed increases hair count for men with hair loss by 40 percent.

Avoid applying essential oils directly to your skin. You can dilute the oil with a few drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier oil. Two other oils that may help include rosemary and peppermint oil. While the trials have been animal studies, results suggest that these oils may benefit hair growth. You can also mix these essential oils with other carrier oils that prevent hair damage, such as:. Read more: Does coconut oil work for hair growth? Topical ointments are generally for people experiencing hair loss.

They may help your hair grow. A single strand of hair contains two elements namely a follicle and the shaft. What you see above the scalp is referred to as the shaft, which is made up of a protein called keratin.

And the part underneath the scalp is a follicle. The hair follicle is attached to the epidermis and goes all the way down to the dermis layer of the scalp. So, the follicle is where your hair originates from. The blood vessels surrounding it feed it and help it grow. As the hair grows, it pushes out through the root and the sebaceous glands present on the scalp coat it with oil making it lustrous and soft.

Did you know, you are born with all the hair follicles you will ever have in your entire lifetime? Over time some of these follicles either slow down or die eventually.

Owing it to faulty genetics or a bad lifestyle, sometimes your hair just stops growing. It might not be getting enough nutrients to grow or too much heat might have damaged your hair. Another myth about hair growth is that cutting your hair frequently contributes towards longer hair.

This is not entirely true. When your hair shaft is damaged and the hair is growing out from the root, it leads to a split end. Comparatively, African female participants' hair grew 4 inches 10 cm per year, while Caucasian female participants' hair grew a little more than 5 inches 13 cm per year. The hair growth rate of the male participants didn't significantly differ from that found for women.

Researchers also think that hair grows quicker in the summer due to dietary changes eating more fruits and vegetables , as well as shifts in hormones and increased exposure to ultraviolet UV radiation. But any seasonal increase in hair growth would be so marginal as to be unnoticeable, Elizabeth Cunnane-Phillips, a trichologist hair and scalp dermatologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic in New York, told the Huffington Post.