While not everyone may find hair loss as interesting as we do here at the Limmer Hair Transplant Center, that doesn’t mean that you won’t find some of these hair facts fascinating. There are a number of amazing things we didn’t know about hair until we got into the hair loss field, so we thought we’d share some of these incredible facts with you today.

If you’re not following us on Facebook, we often post some of these unbelievable facts about hair on our page and it’s amazing how many people didn’t know these things about their own bodies. From the tip of the hair strand all the way down the bulb, these hair facts will certainly make you think twice about all the amazing things your body is doing at any given time in order to function properly.

And while there are many other mysterious and interesting things about hair that we’ve discovered in our years specializing in hair loss, these 30 things are some of our favorites.

Incredible Facts about Hair You Didn’t Know

1. Even if you are healthy, you shed around 40-150 strands of hair every day.
2. Hair grows slightly faster in warm weather because heat stimulates circulation and encourages hair growth.
3. A single hair has a lifespan of about 5 years.
4. Hair can grow just about anywhere on the body except for the palms of your hands, the soles of your feet, eyelids, lips, and mucous membranes.
5. A strand of hair is stronger than a copper wire with the same diameter.
6. Werewolves and vampire legends are believed to have originated from different forms of the disease called Porphyria which has hirsutism, sun sensitivity, and other unusual symptoms. Hirsutism causes excess facial hair or body hair to grow in places it is not supposed to.
7. Despite what you’ve heard, shaving the hair on your body will not cause it to grow back thicker or change the rate of growth.
8. Wearing a hat does not cause hair loss. Male pattern baldness is caused by genetics and is not related to the type of clothing you wear on your head.
9. The most common hair color in the world is black. The rarest hair color in the world is red.
10. Humans are born with all the hair follicles they will ever have. There is no way to increase the number of follicles you have.
11. Facial hair grows faster than any other type of body hair.
12. Men’s hair tends to grow faster than women’s hair.
13. In 1950, only 5% of women dyed their hair. Today, that number has increased to 75%.
14. After bone marrow, hair is the next fastest growing tissue in the body.
15. It takes about 7 years to grow hair down to your waist and 3 years to your shoulders.
16. If you pluck a hair a new one will start growing from the follicle.
17. Laser hair removal was one of the top 5 non-surgical procedures performed in the United States in 2022.
18. Balding only becomes visible once you’ve lost 30% of the hair on your head.
19. Each strand of your hair can support up to 100 grams in weight.
20. Wet hair can expand by up to 30% of its original length.
21. The Lord of the Rings the Two Towers holds the record for most wigs ever made for a single movie.
22. The average woman spends almost 2 hours washing, drying, and styling her hair every week.
23. On average, hair grows .3-.5mm per day, 1.25 centimeters or 0.5 inches per month, and 15 centimeters or 6 inches per year.
24. The average person has 100,000 – 150,000 strands of hair on their head.
25. Goosebumps from cold or fear are the result of tiny muscle contractions, causing the hair and surrounding skin to bunch up.
26. A lock of Elvis’ hair once sold at auction for $15,000.
27. If you were to add up how much each hair on your head grows in a year, you would get 10 miles worth of hair.
28. The average lifespan of an eyelash is 150 days.
29. 90% of right-handed people grow cowlicks in a clockwise pattern.
30. 50% of men have male pattern baldness by age 50. (This is probably why Dr. Krejci is so busy!)

Fascinating World of Hair

It’s amazing to think that such a small thing as a strand of hair can be so interesting. If we weren’t in the hair loss field and studied hair on a daily basis, we might not have believed some of these amazing facts about hair.

Do you have an interesting hair fact you want to share? Like our page on Facebook and the next time you see our Fun Fact Friday post, leave us a comment and let us know about your favorite hair fact!