How to Stimulate Hair Growth
Everyone’s after that extra bit of length when it comes to their hair, but do you really understand everything there is to know about hair growth? From how hair grows, to how fast it grows, to how you can stimulate hair growth, there’s a lot to learn. But we’ve got you covered!
How does hair grow?
Hair grows from the hair follicles that are all over your scalp, on average a human has around 100,000 follicles on their head alone! We are born with every follicle we will ever have. The root of the hair is located in this follicle and is fed by blood vessels in your scalp, this feeding helps to create more cells and grow each hair.
Hair growth has four phases: anagen, catagen, telogen, and catagen.
Anagen phase:
This is when a new hair is being created, at this time there is rapid cell division where a new hair is formed, this new hair will eventually push the old one out of the follicle (it’s normal to lose between 50-100 hairs every single day). Hair stays in this growing phase between 2-6 years. Due to genetics, health and other factors, different people have different lengths of growing phases, which will then dictate how long your hair will grow. This is also why body hair such as arm or leg hair is so much shorter than head hair as it only grows for around a month.
80-90% of your hair will be in anagen phase right now.
Catagen Phase
This is a phase of about 2-3 weeks where hair has stopped growing. Roughly 3% of our hair will be in this phase at one singular time. During this time the hair is no longer being fed by blood vessels, it is then called a ‘club hair.’
Telogen Phase
This is a phase where the hair rests, it will sit in the follicle for around 3 months while the new hair begins to grow behind it.
Exogen Phase
This is the phase where the hairs will shed (remember the 50-100 we spoke about earlier?). The new one should already be behind it in the same follicle, entering the Anagen phase, so it all happens again!
How fast does hair grow?
On average, hair grows at a rate of half an inch per month, but this can vary person to person. In fact, men’s hair actually grows at a faster rate than womens! Hair is one of the fastest growers in our body, with the fastest being bone marrow.
There are many reasons why the normal healthy hair growth cycle is disrupted causing temporary or even permanent hair loss. Things like a poor diet, stress, aging, over use of styling or chemical treatments, post pregnancy, menopause, medication or even just simple genetics.
How to support hair growth
Whilst there are no proven ways to increase hair growth, there are things we can do to help support our hair as it grows. From diet, hair growth products, to scalp treatment products - such as our scalp stimulating booster, there are many things you can do to help strengthen your hair and possibly assist in its growth.
What to eat to stimulate hair growth
Like everything else that grows in our body it is important that the hair follicle is properly nourished to be as strong as possible. This helps it on it’s hair growth journey.
We all know that we’re supposed to eat our fruit and vegetables to get our vitamins and this is just as important for hair as it is for the rest of your body. Making sure you’re getting enough vitamins such as vitamin c, and eating the right amount of protein can help to grow strong hair that lasts. Whether it’s eggs, nuts, or meat there’s plenty of ways to get your protein in. It’s also good to eat a wide variety of fruit and veg to make sure you’re getting a range of nutrients and vitamins, whether your preference is berries, or oranges, make sure you’re getting your five a day!
Omega 3 also aids in growing healthy hair as well as helping to improve hair density. This can be found in oily fish, leafy greens, nuts and many other foods.
Interestingly, making sure you get vitamins other than through food is also important. A study found that those with alopecia had vitamin D deficiencies, so you should be making sure you get some sun (this is also important for many other bodily processes), and if you can’t get out in the sun it’s worth considering taking vitamin D tablets if you do have a deficiency. Our Ultimate Lengths 30 day therapy provides nutritional support to help maintain normal healthy hair.
Can products help improve hair growth?
Whilst no products can promise you Rapunzel locks, there are many products that can help to stimulate hair growth by supporting the hair.
From serums, to shampoos and conditioners, there are many things you can work into your hair care routine that can help you create strong hair that is resistant to breakage.
Given how long your actual hair has been around (up to 6 years!), It’s important to keep hair well conditioned and moisturized, because dry hair is more likely to break. Use a shampoo and conditioner that’s right for your hair type, whether it’s wavy, coily, or curly. Co-washing with a product like our Curl Quenching Conditioning Wash is the perfect option for this as it’s gentle on your hair and provides much needed moisture.
When it comes to hair growth we should also think about things we should be avoiding e.g. over brushing, hot styling tools and hair dryers on high heat or speed, as these can cause damage to our hair that again causes breakage and slows down the rate that our hair appears to be growing.
There are also products designed to stimulate the hair follicles so that they can work at peak performance. One example of these stimulating products are our topical formulas, our Scalp Stimulating Booster, and our Full Lengths Density Elixir. These two products are serums that will help to stimulate any follicle they are applied to. They help in creating fuller, denser, and longer looking hair by incorporating ingredients such as Baicapil™ and Anagain™ that are naturally derived and clinically proven to stimulate hair growth and prevent hair loss.
About Curlsmith
Curlsmith is a gourmet curly hair care brand, created in collaboration with curly hair stylists, trichologists, and bloggers. We wanted to create products, from leave-in conditioners to nourishing hair treatments, made from clean ingredients, from kitchen staples to curl-loving natural ingredients. We’re proud to say that all of our products are also vegan and cruelty free - we test on friends and family, not bunnies! So you can know that no animals suffered in creating our amazing products!
