Life cycle, growth rate and depth of hair in various parts of the human body. All about the beauty and health of your hair

a person's age ranges from 1 to 6 years. During this time, the hair in the middle grows 75-90 cm. Then another one grows in its place. new hair.

A person loses 0.1% of hair every day

If, theoretically, a person had never cut his hair, then by the end of his life he could have climbed down his own windows from the second floor of a multi-story building. According to medical scientists, hair could grow to almost 8 meters. However, they don’t grow...

There are approximately 100 thousand on our heads hair follicles. Each of these follicles is capable of producing only one hair. The period of follicle activity is between one year and 6 years. Follicles work in cycles. First, the period of activity is 1-6 years, then the follicle rests for 3-4 months.

After rest, new hair grows if the follicle is not in the bald area. Thus, 85% of the hair on our heads is in the process of growing. The resting phase accounts for 1% of hair, and 14% is ready to fall out.

If you find a lot of hair on your comb, do not rush to get upset, because this is a natural process. As a result of the end hair lifespan, a person loses from 30 to 100 hairs per day.

Fortunately, modern European hair products have been created that actively restore the hair follicle, care for it and help prolong the life of the hair. Such Matrix products can be purchased in an online cosmetics store from Europe. A wide range and excellent quality of products will not leave you indifferent.

Why do some people have wonderful, full hairstyles while others don't? Do they have more hair, or are they structured differently somehow? And how many hairs does a person have on his head? Let's start from the very beginning. The first hairs begin to appear on the embryo at 4-5 months in the mother’s belly. At first there are very few of them. Gradually their number reaches the normal, statistical average.

What is it, normal? Experts give the figure 100 thousand. But she's very average. The actual number varies greatly. You can say, for example, how many hairs there are on the heads of blondes - 150 thousand (it turns out that blondes are the hairiest). And the weakest “hat” is the red-haired European, who has about 70 thousand hairs.

It's no secret that our “hairstyle” is constantly updated. The residue on the comb should not scare anyone, unless, of course, it goes off scale. A natural question arises: how much hair should fall out, say, per day? You can do some simple calculations. About 15% of hair is in the process of hair loss, which lasts up to 100 days. Let's take the average hair growth figure, which is typical for most brunettes (100 thousand). This means that 15 thousand of their hairs are going to fall out. If this number is divided by 100 days, it turns out that approximately 150 pieces should fall out every day.

Of course, no one will count how much hair a person has left on his head, because instead of the ones that fall out, new ones appear, and this process is continuous. That's why general form our hair does not change, unless, of course, we visit the hairdresser.

However, most women are not so much concerned with the question of how much hair there is on their head, how long the hair lives, how long it grows and how to make the hair thick and beautiful. It turns out that one hair lives in women almost 2.5 times longer than in men (five years versus two). And, by the way, this hair contains almost full information about our life during its existence. When the life cycle of a hair ends, it falls out, and the hair follicle “takes a vacation” for three months. Then, with renewed vigor, she takes on the task of “bearing” a new hair. One bulb can grow up to 30 new hairs. By the way, there is one more difference between men and women: women’s hair sits 2 mm deeper under the skin than men’s. So, the problem of baldness worries more the stronger half of humanity.

The speed of hair growth varies from person to person. The maximum figure is 0.5 mm per day, per month it will be 1.5 cm. On average, 1 cm per month is considered normal. This speed also depends on the length of the hair. The smaller it is, the faster the hair grows.

But, perhaps, it is not so interesting how much hair is on a person’s head as what affects hair growth. And, of course, I want to know why some people's hair grows faster and others slower. To do this, let's talk a little about Actually, the rod itself consists of 95% keratin. This is a proteinaceous horny substance rich in sulfur and nitrogen. Growth depends on how much of this keratin our body produces in the follicle. This is a pouch in which the hair follicle is located, from which it receives all the nutrients and building substances, as well as pigment. With age, less pigment, as well as substances useful for hair growth, is released, which is why older people don’t have as much hair on their heads as they did in their youth, and gray hair appears.

We can summarize: how much hair a particular person has on his head depends on age, gender, the speed of hair growth and, of course, on how we care for it. Do not neglect special cosmetics that help hair become stronger, stay in the follicle better and grow faster.

And finally, a few interesting facts about our hair:

• The average female braid can withstand 20 tons of load;
• a Vietnamese man who had not cut his hair for more than 30 years;
• human hair can be stretched by 20%, after which it will return to its previous length.

He will try to help you understand this issue so that you can take action in time or, conversely, can calm down and make sure that everything is fine with you.

It will probably not be a revelation to you that hair loses everything, except, of course, for those who have nothing left to lose. This is absolutely a process indicating that the update processes in yours are proceeding as expected. The human body is designed in such a way that the skin is constantly renewed, old ones die off, and new ones appear in their place. The same applies to, which are part of the protective covers.

This is all clear, but this raises the question: how much hair should fall out normally?, does not become less relevant. A definite answer will probably not satisfy you, because according to experts, the loss of 45 to 170 hairs per day can be considered normal.

This information is likely to confuse you even more, so let's figure out what this figure depends on.

First of all, it is logical to know how many hairs are on your head generally there should be. The question is simple, however, the answer is again ambiguous. The average number, called by experts, is 100,000 hairs. Average doesn't mean right for you. The fact is that number of hairs varies depending on many factors. If you take the average European, then, with red hair, he most likely has about 70–80 thousand hairs. If he is dark-haired, then this number rises to 100 thousand. Brown shade add another 10 thousand to the owner and, finally, blondes take the lead, for whom the average normal amount 150 thousand hairs are considered.

It's also worth knowing that not all hair follicles function at the same time. Most of them (about 90%) continue to work honestly and produce hairs, while the rest are “on vacation” - sleeping or preparing to wake up. It is also estimated that approximately 15% of hair is in this stage at any one time, which is where you should start when answering the question of how much hair you personally should lose.

Let's assume that you are a brunette and take the normal number of hairs for you as 100,000 pieces. Let's calculate that 15% of this figure is equal to 15,000. This is exactly how much is in the process of falling out. On average, the duration of this stage lasts a little more than 3 months or 100 days. If we divide all hair loss by the number of days, we get 150. This will be your hair loss rate per day.

You should also not panic at the sight of a hair follicle that has fallen out along with dead hair. Rest assured, the hair follicle - a cozy nest with a full supply of “food” for a new hair, remains in place. It's probably worth it pay attention to hair, fallen out without a bulb. If, upon careful examination, you see that it is thinning at the ends, then you are most likely dealing not with hair loss, but with hair fragility, and this is a slightly different problem.

The next burning question for most women is whether how long does hair live and grow?. This one is a little easier. Latest Research showed that on average the life of a hair lasts for six months. The growth rate depends on the time of year and even the day. It has been proven that hair grows faster in the warm season, and the same happens at night. If we take the average figure, then hair grows by 0.3–0.5 mm per day, which gives us a maximum of one and a half centimeters per month.

Sometimes it may give the false impression that you have too much hair falling out. In this case, the number of hairs on the comb will be within the normal range, but one look in the mirror will allow you to see that the hair has thinned considerably. This happens if the hair has become thinner. This may also indicate that some hair follicles are “staying late on vacation.” This is quite possible and does not happen very rarely for a number of reasons.

If you notice something like this or the amount of hair falling out does not fit into the given framework, you should seek advice from a specialist and start on time.

Alexandra Panyutina
Women's magazine JustLady

Hair growth occurs throughout our lives. This process is natural and is integral part functioning healthy body. Many people mistakenly believe that the strands grow continuously and only some of them fall out for some reason. However, this opinion is erroneous, since each hair, during its not very long life cycle, goes through several stages or phases of development.

Each follicle is subject to a completely individual hair cycle, which occurs with a time shift compared to the cycle of each neighboring follicle. One hair is growing, the other is dormant, while the third hair is preparing to fall out. This asynchronous growth ensures that a person always has enough hair on his head, excluding, of course, cases when a person is susceptible to increased hair loss hair (alopecia).

CYCLIC HAIR CLOCK

The life cycle of hair occurs in 3 phases, which are constantly repeated.

HEIGHT(anagen phase): The hair root nourishes the hair and it grows. The cells divide quite quickly, almost five times faster than normal skin cells. Cell nutrition has a very great importance so that the hair substance (keratin) is constantly renewed.

Approximately 85 to 90 percent of hair is in this active state, which lasts three to seven years. How many years hair growth continues is determined by heredity. For eyebrows, for example, this period is only four months.

How productive the cells really are is shown by the following calculation: With a growth of 0.4 mm per day and an average of 100,000 hairs on the head, the productivity of hair growth daily is about 40 meters. This means that about 1,200 meters of new hair grows on your head in a month.

But hair can never grow indefinitely long, as can be seen in the following example: If each hair grows by a centimeter per month and the duration of growth (due to heredity) is from three to seven years, the hair can grow in length from 36 to 84 centimeters. Of course, they can grow longer, but not indefinitely.

TRANSITION(catagen phase): Transformation processes occur in the hair follicle and the hair is no longer supplied with nutrients. About one to three percent of all hair is in this stage, which lasts three to four weeks. The hair root becomes more and more keratinized.

PEACE AND REJECTION(telogen phase): Hair attachment becomes increasingly weaker. Now even light mechanical stress, such as combing with a comb or brush, washing hair, or simply the growth of new hair, is sufficient for the old hair to fall out. This phase lasts from two to three months, after which the hair is separated from the root. About 12 to 15 percent of all hairs are in this rejection phase. Thus, by the structure of the hair roots, it is possible to determine in which phase of the life cycle the hair is located. this moment every hair.

HOW DOES STRANDS GROW?

The formation of our hair begins in the mother's womb. At this stage, only vellus hair on the body and head. They are soft and short in length; in addition, they lack pigment. Shortly before the baby is born, some of these hairs are replaced with pigmented ones.

In the first years of a baby's life, vellus hairs are replaced by so-called intermediate hairs. Later, namely during puberty, they are transformed into more rigid strands, which are called terminal strands. They are much denser and may differ slightly in shade from the previous ones. At this stage, hairs also appear on the body. In the area of ​​the eyebrows, eyelids and nostrils there is special type– bristly hair. Each person simultaneously has all the named species on the surface of his head.

In general, the growth of strands is carried out due to the division of cells that lie in the deep layers of the dermis and are not visible to our eyes. In order to understand this process, it is necessary to learn more about the structure of hairs.

HAIR STRUCTURE AND GROWTH

Each hair consists of several parts:

1. The core is the part that is visible and lies above the surface of the epidermis, it is composed of non-living cellular structures that are filled with keratin;
2. The root is this compound element lies at a depth of approximately 2.5 mm in the thickness of the skin, and it is composed of living cells that are capable of developing, continuously dividing and growing.

It is the bulbs that largely determine the condition and appearance hair, and also determine the process of hair growth. However, the division of cellular structures cannot occur without the participation of tissues located near the roots. Together, these structures make up a part of the hair called the follicle or pouch. They approach him blood vessels and nerve endings.

Interestingly, the shape of the follicle determines the appearance of the hair:

• Curly curls emerge from the oval;
• from the hair follicle round shape straight, smooth strands grow;
• kidney-shaped gives curly hair.

The hair follicle is of great importance for the growth and health of curls. If it is damaged, the root will die, and its restoration in the future seems impossible. Also next to the hair follicle are sebaceous glands, they also significantly affect the condition and beauty of the hair. With underdeveloped ducts, the skin of the scalp is dry and peeling is observed. If the sebaceous glands are enlarged and actively working, then the dermis will be oily and shiny. The produced secretion has antibacterial and protective function for skin.

Healthy people staying in good condition bulbs are able to provide complete and fast growth hair, and also increase their lifespan.

MAIN PHASES OF HAIR GROWTH

The process of strand growth is cyclical. During their life, hairs go through several successive stages, each of which has its own characteristics.

ANAGEN – GROWTH STAGE

The entire process of strand growth begins with the growth phase - anagen. At this moment, the hair cells located in the bulb begin to become active for division. The “signal” for this process to occur comes from hormones contained in the blood. With the formation of new cellular structures, the follicle grows in width, the rod forms and gradually thickens, and the formation of a coloring pigment - melanin. The pigment quickly penetrates the structure of the hair and determines its color. However, the rod does not yet cross the boundaries of the epidermis, but only approaches its upper layer.

This phase of hair growth is the longest, it can last from 2 to 5 years. True, as a person grows and ages, the stage gradually becomes shorter. Usually about 80-90% of all curls are at this stage.

During the anagen period, the hair gradually begins to extend beyond upper limit epidermis and rises above the surface of the skin. By this time, the bulb had already completely formed and acquired its outline: for some people it is round, for others it is slightly flattened or has the outline of an ellipse. During the anagen phase, the hair shaft lengthens by an average of 0.5 mm daily.

CATAGEN – INTERMEDIATE STAGE

This is the shortest stage in the life cycle of the strands; catagen takes only 2-4 weeks. By this point in time, the hair shaft completely comes to the surface and lengthens significantly. The bulb in the sac rises slightly, moving closer to the boundaries of the epidermis, its cells begin to regress. During the catagen phase, blood stops supplying the hair follicle, and it gradually shrinks, decreasing in size to 1/6 of its previous state. At the same moment, the production of coloring pigment stops.

The cellular structures of hairs and roots, having lost nutrition, stop dividing further, and the growth of curls completely stops. About 2-3% of all strands are at the catagen stage.

The phases of hair growth, along with the peculiarities of their structure, determine the appearance of the entire head of hair. For example, it is much easier to grow long and beautiful curls in at a young age, this is explained by the fact that with each new cycle the hair grows to a shorter length. In addition, after 30 years, the rate of hair growth gradually becomes lower. In total, each human hair goes through about 25 cycles.

TELOGEN – REST STAGE

This final stage in the life cycle of curls. During the telogen phase, the hair follicle is at rest. During this period, the hair is held only by the skin, so removing it is not difficult, or it will fall out on its own. This usually happens at the moment when new, emerging and developing hair begins to push out the old one. At this time, the hair follicle again enters the anagen stage, and the process of generating a new hair begins in it.

The duration of the telogen phase is 3 months. About 10% of all curls are at this stage at one time, so we can lose 50-100 hairs every day. Next, a new cycle of strand growth begins. Thus, on average, from 20 to 40 hairs are born in a follicle over the course of a person’s entire life.

Our strands grow daily and continuously; during the day this process goes faster than at night. During the off-season (autumn and spring) the speed also increases. In children, curls grow by about 13 mm per month, in adults a little faster - by 15 mm, this process is most active in the period 16-25 years old, with age it slows down, and the hair growth rate no longer exceeds 11 mm.

LOSS AND GROWTH CYCLE OF STRANDS

Hair loss is a completely normal and natural process, as old hairs are gradually replaced by new ones. At the same time, growth and rest phases are observed in neighboring follicles at different moments, otherwise areas of baldness would periodically appear on the scalp.

For those people who are not familiar with the problem of severe hair loss, each newly growing hair is no different from the previous one, it has the same thickness and can grow to the same length. The rate of hair loss is up to 100 pcs. daily, this is approximately 1/10 of the hair. If this number is significantly larger, then there is cause for concern; perhaps in this case we are already talking about pathological process- loss of curls.

On early stages baldness, weakening, thinning and deterioration of the condition of the strands is observed. If you resort to treatment at this moment, then there is every chance of returning the roots to their former health. Otherwise, the curls will become worse and thinner, and the rate of their regrowth will slow down, hair will fall out more often, and bald areas will become noticeable on the head.

CAUSES OF EARLY BALDING

1. Incorrect and too frequent dyeing causes destruction of hair follicles, as chemical substances capable of penetrating deep into the dermis. This situation leads to premature transition of hairs to the catagen phase.
2. If there is a deficiency of vitamins and nutrients the hair follicles gradually begin to die, and the strands of the strands lose their shine and elasticity.
3. Diseases internal organs and the use of some medicines lead to deterioration of the condition of the bulbs and strands.
4. Stressful situations and excessive physical exercise lead to the fact that the hair begins to thin out not immediately, but after 2-3 months.
5. Improper care of hair, exposure to direct rays of the sun, overheating and hypothermia have a detrimental effect on the condition of the hair and its follicles.

WAYS TO COMBAT BALD LOSS

The problem of thinning hair is observed in cases where the telogen stage in the life cycle of strands begins to drag on and take longer, or the resting phase affects more than 10% of the scalp. In this case, it becomes noticeable how the density of the curls decreases, and the strands are lost more and more often.

1. The basis of most developments to combat baldness is the idea of ​​reducing the duration of telogen and stimulating “dormant” hair follicles.
2. Another group of methods is aimed at restoring the functions and activity of hair follicles.
3. Also proven effective cosmetics, containing vitamins and other nutritional elements for the restoration of hair follicles.

Our curls grow constantly throughout our lives, but the speed is different. This indicator depends on age, season, conditions environment And individual characteristics each person.

The life cycle of hair is often compared to the process of plant growth throughout the year: roots appear and develop in the spring, and hair begins to grow in the summer. active growth, by autumn it slows down, a period of regression begins, and death occurs. In this regard, we should not be afraid of the fact that strands leave our heads every day, but if there is severe hair loss, we need to think about it and take appropriate measures.

INTERESTING FACTS

• The hair on the scalp is genetically programmed to repeat its growth up to 25 times throughout a person's life.
• Every month the length of hair can increase by 12 mm.
• If you never cut your hair, its length can reach 107 cm.
• Hair growth occurs faster during sleep and in the summer.
• Hair grows faster at the age of 16-24 years.
• Women aged 40-50 years lose up to 20% of their hair.
• As you grow older hairline becomes drier.

Controlling the hair growth cycle

Each human hair follicle functions according to its individual biological rhythm. Therefore, even if the growth of individual hairs begins simultaneously, synchrony is gradually lost. As a result, a mosaic pattern of follicles is formed on any part of the head relative to the stages in which the hair life cycle is located.

Evidence of the presence of its own cycle in each follicle can be provided by the peculiarities of their development during transplantation. Hair follicles transplanted to balding areas continue to be in the anagen phase. That is, the signals for the vital activity of each follicle are individual. But it is possible that exogenous factors influence hair growth, such as hormone levels, metabolic processes, the content of micro- and macroelements, and others.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

• Hair growth does not increase with frequent haircuts. Visually, the effect is ensured by the fact that the hair looks healthier and thicker, as split ends are cut off and the hair “breathes”.
• The number of hairs falling out will not increase as the length increases.
• Anti-frizz shampoo is not a hair loss treatment. However, it can preserve the hair, since the hairline will be less susceptible to injury when combing. Read more:
• Conditioner after washing your hair is not at all an “extra” product. Most of these products are rich in collagen, which helps restore hair and renew the hair structure.

The hair life cycle has certain benefits that none of the other appendages of the skin have. So, if hair growth continued indefinitely, and periodic hair loss did not occur, then this would harm a person’s functional abilities. If life cycle If all follicles occurred synchronously, then all hair would grow and fall out at the same time. That is, a person at one period of his life would be completely bald, and at another he would have very thick hair.

If the hair is healthy, then approximately 10-15% of it is in the telogen phase. If this ratio exceeds 20%, then it is advisable to conduct an analysis for the presence of pathologies.

Video: consultation with a trichologist

It is believed that from the head healthy person About a hundred hairs fall out every day. A lot at first glance? But if compared with their total number on the head, the figure will not look so scary.

How many hairs are there in our hair? Many people think that their number is impossible to determine. In fact, experts have long made approximate calculations depending on a person’s gender, age and even skin color.

How many hairs are there on your head?

It has been established that up to 150 thousand hairs grow on the head of an average person. In order to count more accurately, it is necessary to find out their color. So, blondes can boast of the most luxuriant hair. On average, there are 140–150 thousand hairs on their heads. For brown-haired and brunettes this number is slightly lower - from 100 to 110 thousand, and smallest number nature has allocated redheads - a total of about 80-90 thousand.

This diversity is explained by the thickness of the hairs, determined in accordance with the thickness of human skin. The rougher the skin, the thicker the hair and the fewer their number on the head. Redheads have the densest skin, and accordingly, their hair is the coarsest - with a cross-section of about 0.07 mm. Brown and blond people have thin skin, which is why their hair is very thin - no more than 0.04 mm in thickness.

What determines the number of hairs on the head?

There are many factors that influence the number of hairs. The main one is age. The child's hair begins to grow while still in the mother's womb. At birth, the number of hair follicles in a baby is about 600 per 1 square centimeter skin, and as they grow older, their number gradually decreases.


In the first year of life, a child has about 400 bulbs, by the age of 12 - only 320. Along with it, the thickness of the hair grows, making the hair look fuller.

Children aged 12–14 years have the thickest hair. Over time, the hairs become thinner, do not grow as well and, most importantly, fall out more. Older people lose up to 120 hairs a day on average, and no more hair grows back in their place. It has been proven that women at the age of 50 lose about 20% of their original hair volume.

The second factor that affects the fullness of hair is gender. Women have thinner skin, which is why they have about 10% more hair than men. In addition, the body of men produces male hormones, causing them to lose about 120 hairs per day, compared to about 80 for women.

Another reason that affects the thickness of hair is the lifespan of hair and its growth rate. On average, each hair lives from 4 to 10 years. During the day it grows by about 0.4 mm, and in daytime hair grows much more actively than at night.


They behave differently depending on the time of year. Best growth observed in summer and spring, and most severe loss celebrated in the autumn season.

Why does hair fall out?

If 80 to 120 hairs fall out per day, this is considered normal occurrence. If their number is much higher, you should think about it and perhaps consult a doctor. There are many reasons for hair loss. The most harmless ones are wearing tight hats or walking without a hat in frosty weather.

Sometimes a decrease in hair volume is caused by stressful situations, poor nutrition, internal diseases, use of certain medications. The cause of loss can also be heredity. Some young people begin to go bald even at the age of 18–20, which is associated with the same disease in one of their relatives.

How to count your hair?

Counting the number of hairs on your head is quite simple. For every square centimeter skin in adults there are approximately 270 follicles, and the surface of the head has an area of ​​about 580 square centimeters. Thus, on average there are 156.6 thousand hairs on the head.


To more accurately calculate the volume of your own hair, you need to contact a specialist. Some salons offer a computer phototrichogram, which allows you to determine the number of hair follicles per centimeter of skin.