The scalp of an average human head is home to 102,000 hair follicles at birth; after birth, we do not form any more follicles, so it's essential to nurture the ones we have. Each hair follicle moves through the 5-stage hair cycle in the sequence of:
They do so independently of their neighboring follicles in a natural (inborn) rhythm, continuously cycling through the 5 stages.
Activance bioidentical hair nutrients with Rhodanide positively impact the entire 5-stage hair cycle, slowing hair ageing, hair fall, and hair loss while promoting, maintaining, and maximising growth, regrowth, and scalp health.
Phase 1 - ANAGEN STAGE - Growth Phase
Typically, the anagen phase lasts around 2-6 years, but it can be shorter depending on the risks your hair faces. The unavoidable but significant risk factors in hair growth are your age and genetics. As your body ages, so too do your scalp hair follicles resulting in a shortening of the growth phase duration. When you're in your early twenties, the growth phase will last between 5-6 years, but its duration will gradually shorten after each passing cycle. By the time you reach your sixties, the growth phase significantly reduces to 2-3 years.
Coupled with this, as your growth phase shortens, the total number of hairs or its' percentage (%) in the growth phase reduces with each passing hair cycle as you age. At any given time, a 20-year-old without hereditary hair loss should expect that 88% of their total hair follicles will be in the Anagen (growth phase), 10% will be in the Telogen Stage (resting/maintenance phase), and 2% will be in the Catagen Stage (regression/transition) phase.
These percentages alter as you age; by the time they reach 60, the % of hair in the growth phase reduces to about 78% or lower with a corresponding increased % in the resting phase to 20% or higher while the regression phase remains fairly constant at approximately 2%.
To summarise, the extent of shortening of the growth phase and the reduced (lower) percentage of hair in the growth phase will determine the extent of hair thinning, loss experienced, and vice versa.
Activance leave-in treatment sprays help
- increase hair numbers and prolong the anagen (growing phase),
- delay the premature onset of the next growth destructive phase - the catagen stage,
- promote hair to grow denser, thicker, and stronger.
Phase 2 - CATAGEN STAGE - Regression/Transition/Degeneration Phase
The regression phase affects only 2% of total scalp hairs at any given time and lasts for 2-3 weeks. Once the catagen phase begins, there is no turning back. Growth starts to slow down and degeneration begins, followed by the inevitable progression to the rest of the hair cycle of resting, shedding, and hibernation.
Regular use of an Activance leave-in treatment helps to prevent the premature onset of the catagen stage, the growth regression and destructive phase that follows the growth phase via delaying its' initiation so that the growth phase could be prolonged or extended to grow denser, thicker, and stronger hair.
Phase 3 - TELOGEN STAGE - Resting/Maintenance Phase
A 20-21-year-old scalp without hereditary hair-loss will have 10-12% of its hairs in the resting telogen stage. This stage lasts 3-4 months and starts when all growth has ground to a halt. Follicles are resting but actively paving the way for the hair shedding that follows. As you age, both the duration of telogen and the number or % of hairs in this phase increase as well, leading to hair thinning.
Regular use of Activance helps to minimise and reduce both the increased duration and the increased total number (%) of hair in this resting phase (which could be up to 70% in telogen effluvium*), thus reducing the hair fall and loss, giving you denser and thicker hair.
*Telogen effluvium, the name given to temporary hair loss caused by excessive shedding of resting or telogen hair, which can sometimes be caused by illness, mental or nutritional trauma (shock), or stress.
Phase 4 - EXOGEN STAGE - Hair Shedding or Falling Phase
After the telogen stage, hair begins to shed during the exogen stage. Shedding hair is an active biological process lasting 2-4 months. It's completely normal to lose 50-60 hairs a day during the exogen stage. When hair is exposed to risk factors such as stress, illness, or damaging chemicals, hair follicles can synchronise to shed simultaneously, resulting in excessive hair fall.
Regular use of Activance bioidentical hair nutirents helps slow down this process and prevents synchronisation of shedding, leading to reduced daily hair fall, stopping unwanted or excessive hair falls.
Phase 5 - KENOGEN STAGE - Empty Hair Follicle Phase
A relatively new addition to the hair growth cycle, the kenogen stage describes the period after the hair has fallen out, leaving an empty follicle with little follicle residual (stem cells) remaining. This stage's expected duration is usually very short, 1-3 days at the most, if any. It's at this stage that follicle stem cells can sometimes become stuck in this inactive/dormant (hibernation) for extended periods, sometimes months or years in extreme cases, halting the hair growth cycle and inducing hair thinning and the subsequent loss.
Rhodanide in Activance is a multi-functional growth nutrient molecule that acts as a signal or messenger molecule to revive, reawaken, reactivate and stimulate these dormant stem cells to regrow. Shortening or ending their dormancy and propelling them into the next new anagen growth cycle leads to a continued and uninterrupted hair growth with thicker, stronger, and vibrant hair with a healthy scalp.
For more information about Activance and its principal active ingredient Rhodanide (also known as thiocyanate), please refer to the following research papers.
Shop now for bioidentical hair growth nutrients with rhodanide and start treating hair loss at every stage of the hair growth cycle today!
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