Stumbled on a stat about hair growth cycles while reading a cosmetology textbook

I was at the library last Tuesday killing time before an appointment and grabbed this old Milady textbook from 2018. Found out that hair grows about 0.44 millimeters per day on average, which means my clients that come in every 3 weeks are only getting about 9mm of new growth. Has anyone else seen different numbers in newer research or is that still the standard?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_shane17d ago

Honestly that sounds about right from what I've seen. I remember digging into trichology stuff back when I was learning and the numbers matched up with what you found. What really stuck with me though was how much lifestyle and stress messes with that rate. I had a client who was super into healthy eating and her growth was noticeably faster than someone who worked nights and barely slept. The textbook numbers are a good baseline but real life always throws curveballs. Ngl I've seen the 0.44mm figure go up to 0.5mm on good days with proper care.

holly_flores7917d ago

Takes me back to noticing how my neighbor's plants grow faster when she talks to them and plays music versus the ones down the street that just get watered on a timer. It's wild how much those tiny daily choices pile up across everything. Like with hair, sleep seems to be the big one nobody wants to admit matters until they crash. Same logic applies to recovery after workouts or even how fast a bruise heals when you're stressed versus relaxed. The numbers give you a starting point but the real story is always in the messy details of how people actually live.