Different Stages of Hair Loss or Thinning of Hair

Hair Replacement Systems

Hair shedding is a part of your body’s natural hair growth cycle. Trichologists (hair experts) believe that shedding up to 100 hairs every day is very much normal as they make way for new hair growth. But if you are losing more than the normal amount of hair, you may be suffering from Telogen Effluvium, a hair loss condition where more than normal hair falls out. Over time you will notice diffused hair thinning over the entire scalp. But the good news is that unlike other types of hair loss, it is a temporary condition and the hair growth usually recovers once you address the underlying cause.

To help you understand the hair shedding process in a better way, here we will discuss different stages of hair loss or thinning of hair.

Hair Growth cycle:

Active hairs on your scalp are always growing. Studies have shown that the hair grows at a rate of 0.3 to 0.4 mm per day or about half an inch. This means on average a hair in your head grows about six inches in a year. This can, however, vary from person to person, depending on his genes, general health, hair care regimen, and lifestyle. But all the hairs on your head are never in the growing phase. At any given time a random number of your hairs will be in one of the following growth and shedding stages:

  • Anagen
  • Catagen
  • Telogen

Anagen phase:

Anagen is the active phase of the growth cycle in which the cells in the roots of your hairs divide rapidly, resulting in the formation of new hairs. When a new hair is formed, it pushes the club hair out of the scalp skin and thus finally starts its growth. A hair in the anagen phase grows at a rate of about one centimeter in 28 days. This phase lasts for anywhere between two to six years.

Some people wear really long hair while others face difficulty in growing their hair beyond a certain length. This is simply because the former has a long active growth phase while the latter has a short anagen phase. Similarly, hairs on your body, chest, arms, legs, eyebrows, etc. all have a short anagen phase (30 to 45 days maximum) and thus do not grow beyond a certain length.

Catagen phase:

It is the transitional stage in which the hairs from the active growth phase prepare for undergoing the dormant phase.  In this phase growth of the hair stops and the outer covering of the hair follicles starts shrinking and ultimately attaches itself to the root. This results in the formation of club hair – a hair that has stopped growing. At any time up to 3% of the total hair on your head is in the catagen phase. This phase generally lasts for two to three weeks and after that, the hair enters into the final stage, the Telogen phase.

Telogen phase:

It is the last stage of hair growth in which the hair follicles undergo a resting phase. At any stage about to 6 to 8 percent of all hairs are in the resting phase. During this phase the formation of club hair is complete and the hair follicles remain completely at rest. If you pull out a hair in the Telogen phase, you will be able to see a hard, dried material attached to its root. This phase lasts for up to 100 days for the hairs on your scalp and longer for the body hairs. Normally 25 to 100 hairs in the resting phase shed every day and this is considered normal hair shedding.

This is a normal hair growth process. But when you start shedding more than normal hairs per day, this happens because more and more hairs start undergoing Catagen and Telogen phases.

Free consultation:

If you are also suffering from hair loss and are unable to stop it with natural remedies, contact Hair Transplant Dubai Clinic now and let our trichologists examine your hair condition. You can also book a free online consultation by filling the form below.

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Written By: Dr. Cagatay Sezgin

Dr. Cagatay Sezgin is a celebrity hair transplant surgeon with over 20 years of experience in hair transplantation and restoration. He is the First Turkish Board Surgeon to become a member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) and the Asian Association of Hair Transplant Surgeons (AAHRS). Moreover, he has the honor of becoming the first hair transplant surgeon in the world to perform hair, eyebrow, and beard transplantation all in one case and that too in a single session.

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