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Hair Growth

Most scalp hair grows steadily. After a growth phase that lasts between 2 and 6 years, scalp hair enters a resting phase that lasts 2 to 3 months. Hair is shed at the end of the resting phase.

A person normally sheds from 50 to 100 hairs a day. After a hair is shed, it is replaced by a new hair from the same follicle, and the growing cycle starts again. Scalp hair grows about 0.5 in. (1.3 cm) per month. As people age, their rate of hair growth slows.

By Healthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Last Revised April 26, 2011

Last Revised: April 26, 2011

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine & H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine

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