A whole industry aimed at satisfying your desire for long, beautiful hair offers myriad so-called hair growth products. Manufacturers make claims that their creams, shampoos, or vitamins will give you incredibly fast hair growth. However, these "miracle" products rarely live up to their claims. Your hair and its growth follow basic rules of science. Most people average about six inches of hair growth per year, reports Baylor College of Medicine, and there's not much you can do to get more than that.
Function
You may want longer hair because you think it would make you look more attractive, but hair serves many functions besides aiding in your appearance. In times past, hair provided hunters and gatherers camouflage, and though modern people have no need for camouflage, it still serves as insulation. It also provides an avenue for sex recognition.
Misconceptions
Living cells produce the dead material comprising hair. Dr. Thomas Caceci of Virginia Tech makes the point that hair grows from, not through, the skin. The keratin that produces the hair shaft uses a similar process as the keratinization of the skin's surface. Furthermore, the color of your hair comes from the same melanocytes that provide your skin's pigmentation. Hair is not separate from the skin; it's part of the skin structure.
Growth Cycle
Hair grows in a cycle comprising three stages: anagen, catagen, and telogen, according to Bryn Mawr College. Anagen, or the "growing phase," lasts between two and seven years. During this time the body generates new hair cells, increasing the length of the hair. Research suggests that at any time up to 85 percent of your hair is in the anagen phase. Your hair passes from the growing phase into the catagen phase, in which it rests for about two to four weeks. During this time your body stops producing new cells for the hair and it slowly moves toward the surface of the scalp. When it reaches the surface of the skin and begins to fall out, it has reached the final phase of telogen. Over the next three to four months, the follicles in this transitional stage will shed hair and prepare to enter into the anagen phase again.
Influences
Age, nutrition, sex, health and season all affect hair growth, says Dr. Caceci. Hormonal flux also contributes to hair growth or lack of growth. Alopecia, or hair loss, illustrates the different hormonal effects on hair. Male pattern baldness results from testosterone suppressing the hair follicles on the scalp. Women experience less hair loss due to the extremely low amounts of testosterone in their systems. Many drugs and medical treatments affect hair growth, and alopecia commonly results for both men and women who undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatment.
Considerations
Debate exists among the medical community regarding the effect of stress on hair. Some researchers believe excessive stress may cause hair loss, while other scientists contend it simply inhibits hair growth, according to Bryn Mawr College. Either way, stress has a negative impact on hair.
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