Dr. Dinesh Kumar Hawelia, Founder Director of Dr. Hawelia's Skin Clinic, Formerly Editorial Board Member of IJD, Organizing Secretary CUTICON-WB 2009, Hony. Secy. of IADVL-WB 2010-12
Hair is considered an essential part of one's identity, as it represents feminity and attractiveness in women and youth and vigour in men. Hair loss can cause psychological distress and anxiety due to its effect on appearance of the individual. The entire scalp contains around 100,00 pigmented terminal hair follicles and every hair follicle undergoes an individual recurring cycle with growing and resting periods. The growing period is called anagen phase and it persists for 2-8 years, and the hair grows approximately 1 cm per month during this time. The resting period is called Telogen phase and it lasts around 3 months. During Telogen phase, the hair does not grow any longer. In a healthy scalp, 80-90% of hair follicles are in anagen phase. Most people normally shed 50 to 100 hairs a day. This usually doesn't cause noticeable thinning of scalp hair because new hair is growing in at the same time. Hair loss occurs when this cycle of hair growth and shedding is disrupted or when the hair follicle is destroyed and replaced with scar tissue.