How does hair grow?

The creation of hair cells happens beneath the surface, in the hair bulb. The cells in the hair bulb divide rapidly. As new hair cells are created, the older hair cells are pushed up to the surface. As they reach the surface, their supply of nourishment becomes cut off. Eventually they die and form a hard protein called keratin.

By the time the hair has reached about one third of it's way to the surface of the skin, the keratinization process would be completed. And the hair comes out as a tough strand of dead cells.

Although each day you lose about 50 strands of your hair out of about 100000-120000, new strands of hair are growing all the time.

Cycles in Hair Growth

There are cycles in which the growth of hair occurs. In every cycle, the hair follicle undergoes an anagen, a growth phase and a resting phase called a telogen. In the telogen, the hair stops growing for a period of time and is known as a club hair. This club hair stays in the hair follicle until the next growth phase or anagen.