How to Grow Hair Faster: 6 Tips for Growth

How fast does hair really grow?

We are born with the total amount of hair follicles we will ever have over our lifetime. There may be about 5 million on our body, but our head has about 100,000 follicles. As we age, some follicles stop producing hair, which is how baldness or hair thinning occurs.

The American Academy of Dermatology says that hair grows about 1/2 inch per month on average. That’s a grand total of about 6 inches per year for the hair on your head.

How fast your hair grows will depend on your:

age
specific hair type
overall health
other health conditions

Science has discovered a little bit about how hair growth is controlled at the cellular level in the body, but not enough to know how we can directly speed up hair growth. Read on to learn about the science behind hair growth and how to use that knowledge for healthier hair.

The stages of hair growth

Hair grows in three stages, and each strand of hair follows its own timeline. These three stages are:

anagen: active growth phase of hair that lasts 2-8 years
catagen: transition phase where hair stops growing, lasts 4-6 weeks
telogen: resting phase where hair falls out, lasts 2-3 months

The average scalp has 90-95 percentTrusted Source of the hair follicles in anagen phase. This means about 5-10 percent are in the telogen phase, which accounts for the 100-150 hairs that fall out every day.

Can you increase the anagen phase for hair growth?

How long the anagen phase lasts depends on how long your hair is and if the cells in your follicle base are continuing to multiply and become hair cells. Hair grows because matrix cells shed some of their structure as they reach the upper follicle. The shed structure combines with keratins to form hair strands that exit your skin’s surface.

Researchers are still looking into what triggers our bodies to “turn on” the anagen phases. But there are steps you can take to promote healthy hair during the anagen phase.

How to make your hair grow stronger

Hair is made up of keratin and dead skin cells. While there’s no direct method to make your hair grow faster overnight, there are steps you can take to keep your hair healthy and long. Talk to your doctor before trying supplements such as biotin, keratin, or other nutritional supplements. They may interact with medications and cause unintended side effects.

1. Keep up with vitamins and nutrients

While many companies promote vitamins or supplements for hair growth, they don’t always directly affect hair length. But the body does require a lot of energy to make your hair grow. Missing out on balanced meals and nutrients can affect hair growth.

It’s best to get your vitamins and nutrients from your diet, but supplements you may be interested in include:

Vitamin or nutrient	Does it work?	Studies
omega-3 and 6	may work	In a of 120 healthy females, the group who took omega-3 and -6 supplements had less hair loss and improved hair density.
zinc	may only affect those with a zinc deficiency	plays a role in hair loss.
B-5 and biotin	no evidence that it works for people who are not biotin deficient	A study that looked at oral supplements containing biotin and zinc found that they helped decreased hair shedding and improved hair quality and strength.
vitamin C	anecdotal evidence	The antioxidant effects of vitamin C may help prevent oxidative stress that causes hair to gray and thin out.
iron	may only work if you have an iron deficiency	Insufficient evidence for the relationship between iron deficiency and hair loss.
vitamin D	may only work if you have alopecia, or hair loss	One study found that people with alopecia had vitamin D deficiencies.

2. Apply essential oils

Put a few drops of into your shampoo or dilute it with jojoba oil. One study showed that increases hair count for men with hair loss by 40 percent.

Avoid applying essential oils directly to your skin. You can dilute the oil with a few drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier oil. Two other oils that may help include and oil. While the trials have been animal studies, results suggest that these oils may benefit hair growth.

You can also mix these essential oils with other carrier oils that hair damage, such as:

3. Try topical ointments

Topical ointments are generally for people experiencing hair loss. They may help your hair grow. Studies show that these products are effective in treating alopecia, or hair loss, and promoting hair growth:

topical melatonin hair loss and increases hair density
topical minoxidil 5 percent hair loss
Propecia
ketoconazole shampoo

4. Take keratin supplements

There aren’t many studies on the effects of protein, keratin, and vitamins on hair health. One study looked at a product that had 500 milligrams of keratin and other vitamins and minerals. The group that took the supplement showed:

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