Facts About Hair

The maximum hair length a person can have depends on the lifetime of their hair. Healthy hair tends to last between two and six years. Waist-length hair takes about six years to grow out from a short hair cut, periodic trims included, so if your hair has a life cycle of two years you will never achieve a nice waist-length mane.

Although not absolutely necessary, it does no harm for a barber to know such facts about hair. After all, his livelihood comes from cutting hair. Here are some more interesting hair facts:

Hair Facts Galore...

• Hair is as strong as iron wire. It will rip after applying a force equivalent to 60 kilograms.
• The average scalp has 100,000 strands of hair, or just less than 1,000 per square inch.
• People lose at least 40 to 100 strands of hair every day.
• Hair grows faster in the summer.
• A blonde head of hair tends to have more strands than red or dark head of hair.
• A single strand of hair has a thickness of between 0.02 millimetres and 0.04 millimetres, so between 25 and 50 hair strands next to each other are about one millimetre thick.
• By the age of 35, 40 per cent of men have noticeable hair loss. The number rises to 65 per cent by age 60 and 80 per cent by age 80.
• The trait for baldness can be passed down through maternal or paternal genes.
• If you do not cut hair it can grow to a length of 107 centimetres before falling out.
• Crash dieting and hormone imbalance can trigger temporary hair loss.
• Over-brushing hair, wearing a hat and shampooing too much are all common hair loss myths.
• Hair grows at a rate of around 12 millimetres per month.
• There was a 12 per cent rise in the number of surgical hair restoration procedures worldwide between 2006 and 2008, from 225,779 to 252,002.
• Hair grows faster during sleep.
• Hair consists mainly of keratin, which is also responsible for the elasticity of fingernails.
• Everyone is born with all their hair follicles, some of which are programmed to grow pigmented hair up to three feet in length.
• Hair loss affects around 50 per cent of women.
• A single strand of hair can live for up to seven years.
• There are 120,000 hairs on the average adult head, with blondes having the most (about 140,000) and redheads the least (about 90,000).
• Hair grows faster between the ages of 16 and 24.
• Peter the Great of Russia created a tax on beards in 1703 that almost caused a revolution.
• Healthy hair is very elastic and can stretch 20 or 30 per cent before snapping.
• The number of hair loss sufferers world-wide seeking professional treatment more than doubled between 2004 and 2008 from 361,077 to 811,363.
• A human hair is stronger than copper wire of the same thickness.
• Hair growth rate is very much related to the individual’s age and diet.
• Women tend to lose about 20 per cent of their hair between the ages of 40 and 50.
• Curling tongs were first made popular by ancient Romans.
• The combined strength of a head of human hair could support the weight of 99 people.

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