How Fast Does Hair Grow
Hair, one of the beautifying element of the body, is actually a keratinized protein filament that has its roots deep within the dermis, which is the upper layer of the skin. As we know, hair is one of the distinguishing characteristic of the mammals except that the hair that is found in the nonhuman mammals is called wool or fur and not exactly hair. Keratins, of which the hair is entirely made of, are actually dead cells and hence, the only 'alive' part of the hair are the roots.
The rate of hair growth depends upon many factors and genetic history of every individual and his hair. Other factors that determine how quickly does hair grow are the diet and hormonal graph of the person. Normally though, the terminal hair have more faster growth amongst the overall body hair. Hair on the scalp grow about 0.3 mm to 0.4 mm per day on that account inch a month and 6 inch per year.
Hair Growth Cycle
Hair growth takes place in three stages that are namely, anagen, catagen and telogen. It is very important to get to know these stages of hair growth. Anagen is the growth phase while catagen is the transitional phase and telogen is the resting phase in the process of hair growth.
Anagen: In this phase the cell division is active and fast for the formation of the new hair. In anagen phase, the hair grows as fast as about 1cm per day for more than 28 days. This is an active stage for the scalp hair for about 6 years. Lack of ability to grow long hair can be due to the absence of this active phase, on scalp. The other body hair do not grow more than a certain limit is because they do not have longer anagen phase.
Catagen: Catagen is the transitional phase of the hair growth. Amongst all the hair, about 3% of the hair are in this stage at any given moment of time. During this phase, the hair growth stops and the outer case of the roots contracts and starts to get attach to the hair root. This formation is also called 'club hair'.
Telogen: This is the final and the resting phase of the hair growth. Telogen lasts for more than 100 days for the terminal hair and longer for the other body hair. Hair loss is loss of hair that are in this phase, that is experienced falling of around 30 to 100 hair per day. This can happen as a result of several medications, childbearing and weight loss. After telogen phase the hair growth cycle gets complete and starts again with the anagen phase of hair growth.
How Fast Does Hair Grow
A few factors like genetics, diet, health condition, hormonal balance, etc., decide how fast hair grows. Hair growth is largely affected by aging process in human and gets significantly slow. The growth speed varies from person to person and therefore any answer to this question can be a mere prediction and actually hypothetical. Average hair growth rate that is generally estimated is 0.44 mm per day and inch per month. In the book Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair(Springer, 2002) by Clarence R. Robbins, it is cited that, "Hair grows at about 16cm/year (6.2 inches/year) on the vertex or the crown area of the scalp. It grows at a slightly slower rate (14cm/year) in the temporal area and generally at even slower rates on other body regions (e.g. 10cm/year) in the beard area."
There are a few things though that can fasten the hair growth and provide a person with a healthy mane. They are are vitamins and essential oils, that can stimulate the hair growth cycle and make the hair to grow faster. A few other things like leading a healthy and active lifestyle, having a healthy and balanced diet and maintaining proper hair care can really speed up the process of hair growth.
There are a few medical conditions that can affect the speed of the hair growth and as a result, the hair growth rate varies per individual.
