Hair Growth

What pace for daily growth? Can it be accelerated?

CONTENTS:
• How does hair grow and at what pace?
• What is the maximum length it can reach?
• Can we make it grow faster?
•  My hair isn’t growing!
• Against false assumptions (and for your amusement)

How does hair grow and at what pace?

• Hair grows through the root, which is directly linked to the rest of the body via the bloodstream.

• In order for the hair to grow normally, the roots need a constant input of oxygen, proteins, mineral salts and vitamins, all of which are provided through the blood vessels.

• A healthy diet is thus the first condition for good hair growth (see our info file Your Diet and Hair Loss). ). But it is not the only one: other factors come into play.

• Daily hair growth goes from 0.23 mm to 0.60 mm per day, which amounts to 0.7 cm to 2 cm per month. That means that some people’s hair grows almost three times more than others’! It shows how unequal we are with regards to hair growth, which depends on our sex, our ethnic origin and our personal genetic capital. It is however possible to determine an average for each hair type:

Those of Asian origin are the luckiest. Their hair has deeply implanted (7 mm from the scalp) large and rounded stems, which makes the hair strong and quick to grow. Asia is actually the leading supplier of human hair wigs to the rest of the world.

For African type hair, the implantation is close to the surface (2.5 mm), the stem is oval, flattened and has a propeller-shaped torsion: the hair is tendrilled and its growth is slower.

In between, Caucasian type hair, more or less rounded and flattened, comes in many varieties: straight, wavy or curly, with thin or thick stems. Its growth rarely exceeds 1.5 cm/month, in the fastest cases.

What is the maximum length it can reach?

The maximum length varies strongly from one individual to another: it obviously depends on the hair’s growing pace, but also of its life length and, here again, nature has not treated us equally:

a man’s hair life cycle varies from 2 to 4 years,
and a woman’s, from 4 to 7 years!

Two extreme European examples:
• A man whose hair grows 0.9 cm per month and has two year long hair cycles will never be able to exceed a total length of 22 cm.

• A woman whose hair grows 1.5 cm per month and has seven year long hair cycles, can theoretically reach a total length of 1.26 m.

Can we make it grow faster?

The answer is yes: it is possible to help nature and increase the hair’s natural monthly growing pace by 40%. That requires making sure the scalp is constantly oxygenated, and that the roots go through a true ‘tonic diet’. In order to obtain maximal growth, Centre Clauderer has developed:

The ACTIV'CROISSANCE Method

My hair isn’t growing!

This is a recurring complaint, often heard at Centre Clauderer:

- “My hair isn’t growing well…”
- “It grows at the front but not at the back…“
- “My hair is stuck at the same length! “

It is true that some women’s hair grows faster at the back of the head than at the front. With the ACTIV'CROISSANCE method, the hair will naturally regain its balance, and grow harmoniously. 

If, nonetheless, the hair really does not grow back well or falls too much and especially if it is thinning out at the same time, it is symptomatic of a more complex issue, which will then need to be looked into.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
How to Identify Your Type of Hair Loss?
Thinner and Fewer Regrowing Hair (with sketches). What To Do
Iron Deficiency and Hair Loss
Thyroid Problems and Hair Loss
Daily Hair Loss: What Is the Norm? 

FOR TREATING
Hair Growth and Regrowing: Where Exactly to Act?
CLAUDERER Anti-Hair Loss Treatments
Clauderer in-Depth Hair Diagnosis

The absence of regrowing hair some women complain about is a misleading impression: the hair is growing. So what is it then? By forcing excessively aggressive treatments on their hair (perms, straightening, regular colouring...), some women do not leave much time for their hair to get longer. Actually, the amount of hair that breaks or has worn out tips is such that the hair always remains at the same length.

There is however one exception to what is explained in the previous paragraph: after menopause, we noticed on some women that 1) their hair grows more slowly than when they were 20 years old and 2)  their hair’s life cycle can also slightly diminish. It is a natural physiological process that can be extremely well made up for by following an Activ'Croissance treatment.  

Against false assumptions (and for your amusement)

Many false assumptions have gone around (and still do) about accelerated hair growth. Here are three of the most entertaining…

No end: the 100 brush strokes our grandmothers recommended to give length and vitality to hair that is trapped into a chignon all day. Frenetic brushing has no effect on the hair: it can only make it electrically charged or breaking with split-ends.

No comfort: recommending headstands for hair growth stimulation! In order to give more strength to regrowing hair, it is true that the roots need to be irrigated, and doing a headstand does bring a blood influx towards the head. But a scalp massage will have the same effect, without the discomfort.  

No excuse: still present today, the idea that cutting one’s hair at full moon or totally shaving it will make it grow faster. The timing or the extent of the cut have no impact on the hair’s strength or how fast it grows back. That is because hair grows through the roots and not through the stem (like plants or grass do). It all happens through the roots and the blood vessels that feed them.

Diagnosis In-depth Clauderer Diagnosis: Have a complete hair checkup