Hair Development / Growth

The life of a hair has three stages. The first, the growth stage (anagen) lasts 2-6 years. A hair will grow approximately 4 inches during that time, but will rarely grow more than 3 feet. 85% of your hairs are in a growth stage right now.

The second stage is a transitional stage (catagen), during this time (which lasts only 1-2 weeks) a hair’s follicle shrinks and the hair growth slows.

The final stage is a resting stage (telegen) and it lasts 5-6 weeks. Hair stops growing at this stage, and at the end of its rest the follicle reconnects and a new hair begins growing – causing the old hair to shed away.

In hereditary hair loss it is theorized that the follicle shrinks smaller and the hairs get thinner during the final resting stage. This prevents new hair from growing back in where one was shed. Male pattern baldness also sometimes exhibits itself with ones hair growing back as very fine hair after the telegen phase.

Both men and women have male hormones (testosterone and dihydrotestoterone) circulating in their bodies at various levels. Testosterone is responsible for beard, underarm and pubic hair growth, but plays no part in the growth of hair on the scalp. If you have high levels of dihydrotestoterone you may experience hair loss in susceptible areas; in women this loss tends to be distributed throughout the hair, and in men at the top and front of the head is most impacted. The back and sides of the head are not affected, which is why this area is chosen as the donor site for hair transplantation

Contact Dr. Fechner for hair transplantBook your hair restoration appointment today.