For all the time you spend looking at, caring for, or worrying about your hair, how much do you really know about what’s going on up there? Do you know what your hair is made of, how it grows, or why you may be losing yours?
At the Miami Hair Institute, we believe in empowering our patients with knowledge about their hair, hair loss, and hair restoration options. To that end, here are five follicular facts you need to know.
- Each human hair has three separate parts:
- The shaft. The shaft is the part of the hair you can see above the surface of your scalp. Each shaft has three layers. The innermost layer, the medulla, doesn’t serve any particular purpose. However, the second layer, called the cortex, provides hair with strength, durability, and the ability to uptake water. The outer layer is the cuticle, which protects the shaft and helps it repel water.
- The follicle. Sitting just below the surface of the skin, this tube-like pouch anchors the shaft and attaches it to the skin.
- The hair root. The hair root attaches hair to the base of the follicle. The root is where hair grows and is nourished by blood capillaries.
- The hair growth cycle has three distinct phases:
- Anagen phase. The first phase is the growing stage. Hair grows at about one cm each month, and the anagen phase can last between two and five years.
- Catagen phase. As this phase begins, the bulb detaches from the blood supply and pushes the hair shaft up. The catagen phase can last several weeks.
- Telogen phase. During this resting stage, which lasts about five months, there is no hair growth. At the end of the telogen phase, the hair sheds, and the follicle starts to grow a new one. At any moment, about 90% of the hair follicles of the scalp are growing hairs in the anagen phase, while only about 10% are in the resting phase.
- Everyone loses hair every day. Seeing hair in your drain or on your brush is not a cause for panic: most folks who don’t suffer from visible hair loss still shed between 50-100 hairs each day.
- Hair loss is a problem for tens of millions of Americans. While we all lose hair daily, those who suffer from hair loss lose substantially more than that, leading to thinning hair, receding hairlines, and baldness. The numbers tell the story:
- 35 million American men suffer from hair loss
- 21 million American women experience hair loss
- By the age of 35, two-thirds of American men have some degree of appreciable hair loss, and by age 50, around 85% of men have significantly thinning hair.
- Androgenetic alopecia, commonly known as male pattern baldness, is responsible for over 95% of hair loss in men.
- Approximately 25% of men who have male pattern baldness start losing their hair before they turn 21 years old.
- Hair loss is not all your mom’s fault. Perhaps the biggest misconception about hair loss is that you inherit it from your mom’s side of the family. While your hair’s strength and vitality are, in fact, mostly a matter of genetics, the genes which play a role in hair loss come from many places, including your dad’s side of the family. This “polygenic” basis for hair loss means that you should examine all the branches of your family tree if you want to see into your hair loss future.
Schedule a Hair Loss Evaluation Today at The Miami Hair Institute
At the Miami Hair Institute, know the facts about hair loss and how to treat it. We evaluate each hair loss patient with a comprehensive and proven methodology so that we can determine the underlying cause of your hair loss and propose the optimal course of treatment. To schedule your personalized hair loss evaluation and begin your hair restoration journey, contact us online or call our office directly at 305-925-0222.