Most of the time, we associate hair loss with baldness and its personal and social implications. However, your hair has its own life cycle, and even while the majority of your hair grows, you lose a small amount of hair every day. Under normal circumstances, this daily loss falls in a range between 25 to 100 hairs, notes the American Hair Loss Association.
The Basics
On average, our scalps contain roughly 100,000 hairs at any given time, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus. Each one of your hairs grows about 1/2 inch every month, and has a total life cycle of approximately 4.5 years.
Sometime during its fifth year, a given hair typically falls out on its own, and is replaced by a new hair within half a year, according to Medline Plus. In some cases, an individual hair may survive for as long as six years, the American Hair Loss Association notes.
Anagen
Normal hair growth and shedding occur in three separate phases, according to the American Hair Loss Association. During the initial phase, called anagen, your hair grows actively as its cells quickly divide and produce new material.
As your new hair forms in the pore-like openings called follicles, it pushes out hair that has reached the end of its life cycle, leading to common everyday hair loss. Roughly 90 percent of healthy hair is in the anagen phase at any given time.
Catagen
Normally, about 3 percent of your hair is in a transitional phase called catagen, the American Hair Loss Association reports. During this brief phase, which lasts for two to three weeks, your hairs stop growing and the sheaths that anchors your hair roots shrink. By the end of this phase, your hairs begin to form distinct bulges called clubs at their attachment points in your scalp.
Telogen
At any point in time, roughly 6 to 8 percent of your hair is in the final life cycle stage called telogen, the American Hair Loss Association explains. During this phase, which lasts for roughly 100 days, your hairs cease all growth or transitional activity and goes completely inactive. When the anagen phase begins for new hair, telogen hair--with its distinctive clubbed end--are displaced and fall from your scalp.
Considerations
You may experience greater than normal hair loss for a wide variety of reasons, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Examples include genetic predisposition, stress, physical or emotional shock, chemotherapy side effects, protein deficiency, thyroid disease and use of products that bleach, straighten or dye your hair.
You may also develop partial or complete hair loss as a result of a balding disorder called alopecia areata. Consult your doctor for more information on excessive hair loss.
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