Allure Magazine sat down with Dr. Wesley to discuss the age-old question, “Does all of your hair change every 7 years?“.  Breaking down a fairly complex biological process into an easy-to-understand format is certainly a daunting task.  However, by first explaining the fundamental elements of the human scalp’s hair cycle, this article helps readers of Allure Magazine have a better grasp of the topic.

An excerpt from the article reads: “We are born with 100,000 hair follicles on our head that are all pre-programmed to go through a certain growth cycle,” explains Wesley. “The typical cycle is about four to seven years.” But this is only true for the first couple of cycles. As your hair naturally sheds, the anagen phase becomes shorter and the hairs that grow back are a little different. “They are thinner, in smaller bundles, and their growth phase is shorter,” says Wesley. Bundles, you ask? Each follicle actually contains small bundles of hair strands. These bundles include anywhere from one to four individual strands of hair. “When we are born all of our hair is in bundles of one, but as you grow up they become two-, three-, and four-strand bundles,” says Welsey. “Your hair bundles peak at around 12 years old.” Then, sadly, as you age, bundles of four become bundles of three, bundles of three become bundles of two, and it’s all downhill from there. End result: hair appears thinner and less full.”

Read more from Allure Magazine’s feature on the hair loss cycle…