Healthy human hair normally follows a cycle of growth (anagen stage), transition (catagen stage) and then falling out (telogen or resting stage). Then new hair growth starts over again.

Growth (Anagen) Stage
Normal healthy hairs grow at the rate of about 1/2 inch per month, but vary by individual. A healthy hair follicle produces a strong, thick, colored hair. The hair follicles grow the hair for a period of 2 to 6 years in increase in diameter during this phase. In a normal scalp, about 90% of the hairs are in this stage at any given time. Some follicles produce thick colored hairs, called terminal hairs and other follicles produce short, thin, non-colored hairs, called vellus hairs.

Transition (Catagen) Stage
After the growing stage, the hair goes into a short transitional stage, which typically lasts about two to three weeks. Less than 1% of your hair is in this stage at any given time.

Resting (Telogen) Stage
Next the hair follicles enter a period of rest for approximately three months. After that time, the follicles lose their old hairs and resume the growing stage of producing new hairs. About 10% of your hairs are in the resting stage at any given time.

Most individuals lose between 40 and 100 hairs per day. This is a very small amount of hairs, considering that the average head of hair has approximately 100,000 individual shafts of hair.

Normally, as the hair goes through these three stages, the follicles tend to return to the same length and width during the growing phase. As a result, they generally produce the same length and width hair shafts.

All hairs cycle through these three stages repeatedly. The length and thickness of each hair shaft is determined by how long the hair itself is allowed to grow in the follicle before entering into the resting / shedding stage. Consequently, pattern hair loss is actually a gradual conversion of thick terminal hairs to thin vellus-like hairs.

It is common for people who do NOT have a hairloss problem to lose between 40 and 100 hairs a day. When you consider that the average person has about 100,000 individual shafts of hair on their head, this is a very small amount.

Generally, as healthy hair goes through its normal 3 cycles of growth, resting, fall out and re-growth stages, the follicles tend to return to the same length and width during the growing phase. Consequently, they typically produce the same length and width hair shafts each cycle.

All hairs cycle through these three stages repeatedly. As a result, the actual length and thickness of each individual hair strand is affected by how long the hair itself is allowed to grow in the follicle before entering into the resting / shedding stage. Thus, when one is losing his / her hair, in Male or Female Pattern Hair Loss, there is actually a gradual conversion of thick terminal hairs to thin vellus-like hairs.

When healthy scalp hair grows normally, the scalp hair generally grows for a period of about two to five years, at a rate of about a half inch per month. After a ninety day resting phase, new hair replaces the old which has been shed.  In those suffering from pattern hair loss, a change in the cycle of hair growth is shown to occur. Growing cycles become shorter and resting cycles become more longer.  A negative change in the quality of the hair may also be indicative that one is starting to experience pattern hair loss. These are hairs which are growing shorter in length, thinner in diameter, lighter in color and weaker in their roots.

In both genders, typically, the onset of Male or Female Pattern Hairloss  (AndroGenetic Alopecia - AGA) occurs in early adulthood, such as the 20s, 30s or 40s.  In Men, advanced AGA may result in loss of hair such that the only remaining coverage is found exclusively in the temporal and occipital regions. Women are prone to exhibit a more general type of hair loss with pronounced thinning of individual hair shafts and hair loss throughout the scalp.

The hormone DHT is formed inside the body (and also on top of the scalp), which then binds inside the scalp hair follicles in what are known are Androgen Receptor Sites (ARS), starting pattern hairloss in both Men and Women. Therefore it is imperative to use a hairloss treatment product, such as HairGenesis, which has been clinically proven in multiple research studies and two published reports in medical journals, to effectively stop and block the harmful DHT from reaching the scalp hair follicles. Minoxidil products simply won't block the DHT.