Are you noticing hair growth and loss at different times of the year? Seasonal hair loss affects many people and has different causes, one of which is shifting hormones
Hair follicles, or roots beneath your skin, are alive. The hair extending from your skin is actually protein cells that are dead. As part of the hair growth process, these will eventually shed and be replaced by new hair growth. How much hair growth you have is largely determined by your genes. Also hair growth slows down as you age and is influenced by your state of health and by the environment.
In summer, hormones can speed up hair growth but it is such a small amount it’s virtually unnoticeable. According to science, there is no connection to warmer weather and increased hair growth. When you’re in the sun and your hair is lightened by it, it may seem that your hair is faster growing.
Researchers tell us that an increase in shedding hair occurs in warmer months of spring and summer. Shedding about one hundred hairs a day is considered fairly normal. Health care experts suggest reducing sun exposure to help prevent seasonal hair shedding.
Sometimes it may seem as though you have rapid hair growth then suddenly it slows down or stops. There are normal cycles of growth and rest that your hair goes through. Each cycle may last a matter of weeks. Normally on a healthy scalp, there are hair follicles busily growing most of the time.
Active, growing follicles are in the Anagen phase; Catagen is an intermediate stage; and Telogen, a sleeping phase. A small percentage of your hair is in the Catagen stage at any one time. During the Anagen or growth phase, your hair is growing about one centimeter each month.
