Hair grow from the number of pores present on the body known as the hair follicles. The body contains a total of around five million hair follicles with 100,000 on the scalp. The phases of hair growth takes place in three parts.
- · Anagen phases which lasts for 2 to 8 years. This is the time when the follicle sprouts the hair and then the cell division occurs adding on to the length of the hair.
- · Collagen phase where the growth of hair has stopped and the blood supply now cuts off. This periods lasts between 4-6 weeks.
- · Telogen phase in which the hair finally falls off the scalp and then the space is taken by the anagen phase by emerging of new hair.
The entire body is covered with hair but the ones on scalp are longer because they stay in the anagen phase and it five to ten percent are in telogen phase. The process on the body is faster in which anagen lasts for around 4-5 months keeping the hair shorter. Hair loss has a variety of reasons all depend upon the genetics, hormones, age, immune disease or thyroid problems all contribute in hairless and regrowth of hair all depends upon the same factors. Let’s see what different conditions required how much time to regrow the hair.
A bad haircut
A bad haircut is a nightmare and if you have gotten one then nothing can be more disturbing than that. Everyone loves the length of their hair but they grow only half an inch per month and a total of six inches in a year. So the process is slow for women and faster for men. So if a girl has gotten really short hair it can take years to get back to full length.
Other types of hair loss have different reasons and regrowth depends upon that
Pattern hair loss
As the age progresses the follicles start losing the ability to produce hair. Androgenetic alopecia, pattern hair loss or hereditary hair loss is permanent and the follicle itself has whither up and is no more capable of producing the hair. The process can only be slowed down with a medicine Propecia (finasteride) or Rogaine (minoxidil) a topical treatment. This patterned hairloss in men can lead to baldness while in women this can cause them to have thin hair and rarely baldness.
Alopecia
This is an autoimmune disorder named Alopecicia areata in which the immune system in your body is by mistake attacking the hair follicles now. There are small patches on the scalp which leads to hair loss while other parts of body can also experience hair loss like the body, eyelashes, eyebrow. The probability of hair growing back is unpredictable because of the nature of disease. The hair can come back at anytime and also it can start falling off again.
Scalp psoriasis
This one is also an auto immune disorder in which the scalp development scaly red patches all over. The hair loss depends on the condition. It leads to itching as well so when the scalp is scratched it worsens the condition. In addition scales also make it look even worse.
Hormonal changes.
Hormonal changes can occur at certain times of the age. In women the time can be menopause or childbirth. In men also hormonal changes effect many aspects of health. Hairless particularly due to hormonal changes can be reverted once the chemicals balance out but this is also unpredictable that when these will lead to regrowth and when the process of falling out occurs again.
Thyroid problems.
Thyroids can undergo two conditions; underproduction or hypothyroidism and overproduction called hyperthyroidism. Both conditions can effect the hair to start falling out. In either case the chances of hair coming back depend upon the fact that how soon the condition is resolved.
Nutritional deficiency
The diet needs iron and zinc in rich amounts to get the hair back on track. Their deficiency will lead to hair loss which can taken many months for hair to grow back.
Waxing or shaving.
In shaving the hair are removed from the top later the root remains there and the cell division cases the hair to keep growing. It will take two or three days for the stubbles to start appearing. Waxing is different because the entire roots us scrapped off. In this way the hair comes back in time. The stubbles will appear not before two weeks or so while you wax you should wait till 6 or 8 weeks for another round
Chemotherapy
The common treatment of cancer is through chemotherapy which attacks the rapidly diving or cancerous cells in body. The cells that are dividing do get effected by chemotherapy but this also effects the hair follicles which start loosing hair. In this process the hair does not come back as long as the treatment is going. Hair may start coming back thinner in the first place two or three weeks after the treatment has stopped. In few cases where the treatment has been going for too long with strong chemo then hair loss can go permanent. However or those getting their back will have a different texture or colour.
Talogen effluvium
This is a condition when much of the hair on the scalp has entered the talogen phase and there will be a rapid hairloss. As a result of that the hair will not be coming back even after the resting stage of talogen. The condition occurs usually after a medical condition like child birth, use of contraceptive pills, high fever, medication or surgery. As soon as the medical condition is resolved the hair will grow back in six months depending upon the type of illness. Few people may experience the hairless for more comprising on years. However chances of going completely bald are thin.
Factors effecting hair loss
- · Medical conditions or diseases
- · Stress or anxiety
- · Medication
- · Nutritional deficiency
- · Changes in hormones
- · Genetics
Support for hair growth
- · Well balanced diet
- · Supplements providing zinc, fatty acids, Omega 6, Omega 3, biotin, folic acid and iron.
- · Avoiding heat and harsh chemicals
- · Use shampoos with keratin and vitamin E.
- · Get a medicated shampoo from a dermatologist for scalp psoriasis
- · Trim the split ends after every 6-8 weeks
- · Quit smoking
- · Avoid excessive exposure to sun
- · Visit a doctor for excessive hairloss.