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Hair Growth Cycle and Stages for Armpits, Face and Body

What are the stages of hair growth? Learn the stages of hair growth for armpits, face and body. The hair growth cycle for different body parts are explained in this article.

Hair growth is an interesting subject because most women would want to have long and beautiful hair on their heads, but not on other parts of their bodies such as under the armpits or on the bikini line. On the other hand, men deem having facial hair as being masculine, therefore, some would go to any length to make it grow.

Three-Stages-of-Hair-Growth
What stages does armpit, head, grow and facial hair go through to grow?

While the women are busy growing their heads of hair, the men are keeping busy with facial hair growth, which the women would rather remove permanently. The stages of hair growth should therefore, be understood by both sexes, in order to take advantage of the best time to either grow or remove hair.

When hair grows, it goes through three distinct stages and since both men and women have different shaving needs, knowing how long each stage lasts would help them in getting the best results. Let us explore the stages of hair growth for armpit, facial, body hair and eyebrows. Additionally, this article will discuss if the stages are different in men and women. What is the hair growth cycle like?

3 Stages of Hair Growth

As I have mentioned earlier, the cycle comprises of three stages. These stages last a different period from the other. As a result, no matter the hair growth products you use if you are in a stage where the hair follicle has collapsed, you will think the products are a sham.

Stage 1 of Hair Growth- Anagen

This is the growing stage and it lasts anything from 2-6 years. Most of the hair, which is about 85%, is in the anagen stage of hair growth. The hair follicle remains intact in the dermal layer in order to supply the strands with nourishment from the skin. Hence, the hair grows with ease. If the hair lasts longer in this stage, it will grow longer depending on your genetics.

Stage 2 of Hair Growth – Catagen

After the anagen stage the hair enters the categen stage. The hair follicle shrinks and no longer supplies nourishment to the strands. As a result, the strands detach themselves from the follicles and are pushed upwards. This stage lasts about one to two weeks.

Stage 3 of Hair Growth – Telogen

This is also known as the resting stage in the hair growth cycle. The hair does not seem to grow or develop in any way. Furthermore, it sheds off because it has already detached itself from the hair follicle. Above the skin, there may be no hair visible. The telogen stage lasts 5-6 weeks, after which hair begins to grow anew in the Anagen stage.See the on-page images showing the 3 stages of hair growth.

Stages of Hair Growth Men

Men unlike women go through a series of stages of hair loss due to the DHT hormone. Although they experience the 3 stages of hair growth mentioned above, they may take longer in some of three stages of the cycle of hair growth which lead to hair loss.

stages-of-hair-growth-in-men
Stages leading to growth and hair loss.
  • They start with first stage where the hair is growing normally and on full head.
  • They get a receding hair line that is noticeable
  • They start loosing hair on the crown of their heads
  • The receding line and crown balding continue to grow
  • Receding line and crown balding merge
  • Balding continues to extend
  • No hair is left on the head except behind the ears.

Here is a perfect example of the stages of hair growth in men; the hair gets less in each stage.

Armpit Hair Growth Cycle

The hair underarms also known as armpit hair unlike head hair starts to grow at puberty at an interesting growth rate. This is when one is 13 or 14 years of age. The armpit hair growth cycle ends at prime teenage years. The armpit hair growth stages are also three. They include:

  • The hair follicle stage: hair follicle forms under the dermis and connect to the sebaceous gland that creates sebum. The sebum attracts bacteria, which are responsible for the odor from the armpit hair.
  • Hair shaft stage: At this point, the hair begins to sprout from the hair follicle. It is normally thin as it draws closer to the epidermis. The hair can be seen on top of the skin under the arms.
  • Growth at Epidermis stage: hair becomes long and grows until it can no longer grow due to the arrector pili muscle that determines its formation. A full-grown armpit hair forms a pilisebaceous unit because it consists of the sebaceous gland, hair, hair shaft and the erector pili muscle.

Facial Hair Growth Cycle

Facial hair grows on the chin, upper lip and sides of the face. In men, it is normally referred to as a beard, which can be cut in various styles such as a goatee and moustache among others. In women, facial hair is embarrassing and is often removed.  The stages of facial hair growth are similar to any type of hair. Facial hair growth cycle has these stages:

  • Anagen, the growing stage
  • Catagen, transitional stage
  • Telogen, the shedding off stage

When facial hair is shaved, it takes about 2-4 weeks to be visible on skin. However, for those who wish to make facial hair grow faster, the use of essential oils for growing long hair is also advisable.

Body Hair Growth Cycle

The body has different types of hair, which grow all over except on the lips, eyelids, feet soles and hand palms. The two types of hair that grow in the body are vellus and androgenic hair. These hairs have different cellular construction, which enable them to give warmth and protection to the body. Hair on body grows at a speed of 6 inches per year. The body hair growth stages are

  • Anagen, which comprises 85% of body hair
  • Catagen, which is the resting stage
  • Telogen, which comprises of 10-15% of body hair

Eyebrow Hair Growth Cycle

While it may take a whole year to notice any significant growth in head hair, eyebrow hair grows faster. The eyebrow hair growth cycle follows the three stages of anagen, catagen and telogen, however, it takes about 64 days to grow back when tweezed or threaded. Therefore, the eyebrow growth cycle is shorter and slower because the hair never grows as long as the head hair. It is also possible to make them grow much faster with homemade serums for eyebrows. These serums can give full eyebrows when the hair is still in the anagen stage.

Anagen Stage of Hair Growth

The anagen stage of hair growth is the most active of all the three stages of hair growth. During this stage, the hair grows at a speed of 1cm per month. Although, this stage lasts for 2- 6 years, genetics play a major role in determining this duration. Hair growth stage of anagen can be maintained with various hair growth solutions since most of the hairs, about 85% are usually at this stage.

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