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**viagradiscounttt** · 03-06-2012, 03:19 AM

I'd like to add some more information to this. Kelrivas answer is very good. I am a Cosmetologist, and I can add another piece of the puzzle to the "why" it happens.

Every strand of hair on your head has it's own life cycle, which consists of 3 separate stages, Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen.
Anagen stage is the growth phase. While in this phase, the hair strand grows at a rate of about 1/2 inch per month (scalp hair) for a period of from 2 to 8 years. How long your hair stays in Anagen phase is determined by genetics, but now you can understand why some people can grow their hair to their rear (their hairs live many years before shedding), while others can't seem to grow it past their shoulders even if they never cut it (their hairs live far fewer years before shedding) - it's dependent on how long of an Anagen stage you were blessed with.

Eventually, the growth of an individual hair slows and stops. Now it has entered the Catagen stage. The Catagen stage lasts about 2 weeks. During this stage, the hair loosens in the follicle and falls out, resulting in normal shedding. The now-empty follicle will remain empty and dormant for a period of 1 - 4 months. That is the Telogen stage. Eventually, a new hair will begin to grow, and the follicle is back to the Anagen stage.

The hairs on your head are each doing their own thing, in a myriad pattern all over your head. They are not all on the same stage. One hair will be in Anagen, while the hair right next to it will be in Catagen or Telogen. At any time, about 85% of your scalp hairs are in Anagen, 10-15% are in Telogen. NORMAL SHEDDING is 80 to 100 hairs a day.

So, with that understanding, here's what pregnancy hormones do: Hair stays in Anagen stage. The 80 to 100 hairs a day that would normally enter the catagen stage and shed, do not. Once the pregnancy is over, however, all those hair follicles that had remained in the Anagen stage, get thrown into Catagen stage all at once, resulting in what seems to be abnormally heavy shedding. This is not the same as balding. The hair loss is not permanent - these follicles will complete their Catagen and Telogen stages and begin to grow new hairs, and eventually, over time, everything gets back to normal, of a random, myriad pattern of the 3 stages occurring all over the scalp.

Now the next part is speculative on my part, but if hCG fools the body into thinking it's pregnant, it would be my guess that this is also the cause of excessive shedding once a long course of hCG is ended. Hairs that would normally have entered the catagen stage at the rate of 80 to 100 a day, remained in the anagen stage during the "pregnancy", and now have all been thrown into the catagen stage at once.

Hope this knowledge will relieve some of the worry about hair losses on hCG. It happens, but is not permanent.

03-06-2012, 03:19 AM	#9
viagradiscounttt Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 521 Senior Member	I'd like to add some more information to this. Kelrivas answer is very good. I am a Cosmetologist, and I can add another piece of the puzzle to the "why" it happens. Every strand of hair on your head has it's own life cycle, which consists of 3 separate stages, Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen. Anagen stage is the growth phase. While in this phase, the hair strand grows at a rate of about 1/2 inch per month (scalp hair) for a period of from 2 to 8 years. How long your hair stays in Anagen phase is determined by genetics, but now you can understand why some people can grow their hair to their rear (their hairs live many years before shedding), while others can't seem to grow it past their shoulders even if they never cut it (their hairs live far fewer years before shedding) - it's dependent on how long of an Anagen stage you were blessed with. Eventually, the growth of an individual hair slows and stops. Now it has entered the Catagen stage. The Catagen stage lasts about 2 weeks. During this stage, the hair loosens in the follicle and falls out, resulting in normal shedding. The now-empty follicle will remain empty and dormant for a period of 1 - 4 months. That is the Telogen stage. Eventually, a new hair will begin to grow, and the follicle is back to the Anagen stage. The hairs on your head are each doing their own thing, in a myriad pattern all over your head. They are not all on the same stage. One hair will be in Anagen, while the hair right next to it will be in Catagen or Telogen. At any time, about 85% of your scalp hairs are in Anagen, 10-15% are in Telogen. NORMAL SHEDDING is 80 to 100 hairs a day. So, with that understanding, here's what pregnancy hormones do: Hair stays in Anagen stage. The 80 to 100 hairs a day that would normally enter the catagen stage and shed, do not. Once the pregnancy is over, however, all those hair follicles that had remained in the Anagen stage, get thrown into Catagen stage all at once, resulting in what seems to be abnormally heavy shedding. This is not the same as balding. The hair loss is not permanent - these follicles will complete their Catagen and Telogen stages and begin to grow new hairs, and eventually, over time, everything gets back to normal, of a random, myriad pattern of the 3 stages occurring all over the scalp. Now the next part is speculative on my part, but if hCG fools the body into thinking it's pregnant, it would be my guess that this is also the cause of excessive shedding once a long course of hCG is ended. Hairs that would normally have entered the catagen stage at the rate of 80 to 100 a day, remained in the anagen stage during the "pregnancy", and now have all been thrown into the catagen stage at once. Hope this knowledge will relieve some of the worry about hair losses on hCG. It happens, but is not permanent.
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