When we cut our hair, it grows back in a reasonable time, but after a certain time it grows more slowly and even stops. Despite this, our hair is the longest hair on our body. Our eyelashes and eyebrows, which are made of bristles just like our hair, can never grow as long as our hair. But what is the underlying reason why our hair and other hairs are so different?
Let’s take a look at the stages of hair growth in our body, the phase differences between hairs, and how long each hair grows.
The anagen phase decides how and how long our hairs will grow.
The growth of our hair is provided by up to 5 million structural elements called hair follicles. While all of the growth in our hair is provided by the follicles, the growth mostly takes place in the anagen phase. The more follicles in an area and the longer the anagen phase, the more long hair we have.
Each hair has a certain elongation limit because the anagen phase works differently in each hair.
- Asha Mandela, who entered the Guinness Book of Records with her hair of 16.7 meters and 19 kilograms
The longest hair on our body is usually our hair. The reason why our hair has the longest hair is that the anagen phase in our hair can last up to 7 years. Although gender, age, genetic factors and hormonal effects play an important role in determining this period, the length of the anagen phase generally varies between 2 years and 7 years. In addition, about 100 thousand of the 5 million hair follicles in the human body are found in the hair.
During the anagen phase, our hair grows about 1 cm per month. Where there are short hairs such as eyebrows and eyelashes, this phase lasts only 30 days. The anagen phase is also called the growth phase because of its function. We can clearly state that Anagen lives up to its name in this regard.
Like everything else, hair growth also has an end, and this pause period is provided in the catagen phase.
- Anthony Victor (18.1 cm) from India, who has the longest ear hair in the world
Imagine for a minute that our eyebrows or eyelashes can grow as long as our hair. In this case, our eyebrows and eyelashes would not be able to fulfill their duties, and these hairs would create serious problems for us in our daily lives, wouldn’t they?
- Zheng Shusen (19.1 cm), the Chinese with the longest eyebrow in the world
The hairs on our body, especially our eyebrows and eyelashes, stop growing after a certain period of time. This phase, also called the transitional phase, in which the growth of the hairs almost ends and the blood flow to the hairs stops, is called the catagen phase.
If it’s time to say goodbye with our hairs…
The phase that awaits us after the catagen phase is undoubtedly the telogen phase, the phase where we say goodbye to our hair. In this phase, our hair leaves our body. Although the most common example for the telogen phase is the strands of hair that we touch during the shower, we can actually talk about the same scenario for our eyebrows, eyelashes and all other hairs.
After the telogen phase, which is also known as the resting phase, the cycle goes back to the anagen phase and we have hair that grows again. If hair will not regrow (eg baldness) in the spilled area, the kenogen phase comes into play instead of the anagen phase.
That claim that everyone has heard, but which is completely unfounded: “As we use a razor or shave, our hair gets harder and thicker”!
Especially during adolescence, boys have heard this phrase many times. From the past to the present, no research on this subject has found a result that the hairs increase or become thicker by shaving. The success of this method, which is followed for more beard growth during adolescence, is also a purely hormonal situation because beards form during puberty anyway. In other words, cut your beards with scissors, not with a razor; If your hormones will allow your beard to harden, your beard will grow and harden over time.
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