Women can spend up to two and a half years of their life washing and styling their hair. That’s a lot of time spent doing our hair, but how much do we really know about it? Here are 20 strange hair growth facts that you may not have known about your hair.
20 Strange Hair Growth Facts
1. An average person has about 100,000 hairs on their head, with blonde types having the most strands of hair and red heads having the least amount.
2. It is normal to lose up to 100-125 hairs per day. Most of this occurs in the shower or while brushing hair.
3. Individual hairs go through 3 phases: anagen (growing), catagen (transitional), and telogen (shedding).
4. Each strand of hair is on its own schedule, or hair growth cycle. This means that while some hair naturally falls out as part of the telogen phase during your morning shower, others are in the active anagen growing process.
5. Hair is one of the fastest growing tissues in the human body.
6. On average, hair grows about 1/2 an inch per month.
7. Hair grows from the hair follicle in the scalp, not at the ends.
8. The hair follicle consists of living cells underneath your scalp; hair that has visibly emerged from the scalp is actually dead cells.
9. Hair fibers are made of a protein called keratin.
10. Keratin is made up of amino acids, primarily Cysteine.
10. Hair growth slows significantly when there is a nutrient deficiency.
11. Hair grows faster when there is an abundance of nutrients available in the body.
12. Everything you eat, drink, and consume is revealed in your hair strands, which is why hair drug tests are performed. It is also why those who eat healthier diets have fast healthy hair growth.
13. Severe stress and poor diet can lead to hair loss.
14. Hair grows on every part of the body except for the palms of hands, soles of feet, lips, and mucous membranes.
15. Each follicle on your body has a growing phase that lasts for varying amounts of time, which is why the hair on your arms or legs will never grow as long as the hair on your head.
16. The lifespan of an individual hair can range from 2 – 7 years.
17. A person’s ethnicity can determine their hair type and growth rate. Asian hair types typically grow at the fastest rate while African hair types grow at a slower rate.
18. Though some may be less visible than others, every person has a cowlick that formed while still in the womb before birth.
19. 90% of people who are right-handed have cowlicks that swirl in a clockwise direction; most lefties have cowlicks that swirl in a counterclockwise direction.
20. There are some weird hair growth myths but contrary to popular belief, hair does NOT keep growing after death