Hair Facts: What You Don't Know
Hair
Trivia Unusual Facts About the Hair
- The diameter of a strand of hair ranges from 1/500 to 1/140 of an inch. In terms of texture, blond hair is the finest, while black hair is the most coarse.
- The scalp contains about 120,000 hairs, or 1000 hairs to the square inch. Blondes have the most hairs – averaging 140,000. Redheads have the least – about 90,000.
- Women generally have more hair per inch than men.
- Hairs live, on the average, two to six years. Hair will be replaced at least 12 times during a normal life span.
- Hairs on the scalp grow about 1/100 of an inch per day, or one inch every three months.
- Contrary to popular belief, hair does not grow faster when it is cut. The rate of growth, however, may be influenced by hair length. Growth may slow down once the total length exceeds 10 inches.
- Hair shine depends on the smooth scales of the cuticle that form an even surface on the hair shaft. When the hair is damaged, the scales pull away from the shaft and no longer reflect the light, hence the hair appears dull.
- Hair never seems to grow past your shoulders. Individual genes determine the length of the hair’s growing phase and the rate of growth during that phase. These factors control the length hair can reach, and this varies from person to person. So, if the growing phase is short and you get regular trims, you’ll probably never have really long hair.
- Hair will rarely grow more than 2 feet. After 2-6 years, the growth phase comes to an end and the resting phase takes over. The strands stop growing and eventually fall out.
- Washing your hair won’t make a cold worse. Water from a shower isn’t going to make you ill or aggravate a cold. Viruses are the bad guys.
- Hair never grows on the palms and soles. These are the only areas with no hair follicles.
- Shaving the head does not make the hair grow back any thicker or coarser. A short stubby hair always feels thicker and stronger than a longer hair, but it isn’t.
