How hair grows

Human hair exists everywhere on the body, apart from on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands. It is mostly so fine that it cannot be seen. The reason we have hair on our bodies is that when it is cold, the muscles around the hair follicles contract and the hair stands up on end, to trap more warmth on to the skin, hence the appearance of ‘goose bumps’.

Your hair begins its journey of growth from a root in the bottom of the hair follicle. This root consists of cells and keratin, a protein which is essential for healthy hair growth. Blood from the blood vessels in the scalp nourish the root, which creates more cells and encourages the hair to grow. As the hair is pushed up through the skin as it grows, it passes an oil gland, along the way.

As new, healthy hair cells are produced by the follicles, the old cells are forced out through the surface of the skin. Therefore, the hair that you can see growing on your head, for example, is made of a string of dead keratin cells.

Hair growth. anagen is the growth phase; catagen is the regressing phase; and telogen, the resting or quiescent phase.

Your hair grows at a rate of around 1.3cm per month and grows faster in summer than in winter. Every hair follicle has its own lifecycle, which consists of two phases, within its lifecycle. The anagen phase (the growth phase, which can last from 2 to 6 years) and the telogen phase (this is the resting phase which lasts a few months). At the end of the resting phase, the hair is shed and the process begins again. Your hair can reach a length of between 30 to 80cm. On an average adult head, there can be up to 150,000 hairs and up to 100 hairs can be shed every day, as new hair is growing all the time.

Maintaining a healthy head of hair can include eating a diet rich in vitamin H (Biotin) and foods such as almonds, salmon and broccoli can help to nourish your hair, ensuring that you wash your hair in luke-warm or cold water, never hot, as this can strip the hair of its oils and weaken it, making it more susceptible to breakage, trying to lead as stress free life as possible, as this can affect the hair growth and regularly massaging the scalp with coconut oil or castor oil can help keep the skin and hair follicles healthy.