The 3-Month Cycle: Why Hair Growth Takes Time (and Why It's Worth It)

Many people check the mirror every day after they start taking supplements for hair growth to see if their hair has grown longer. The anticipation is completely understandable. But hair growth is a slow process. Hair growth and the timeline to seeing results is a 3-month process. Understanding this process will help avoid a rash disappointment. It will also help you stay committed to your hair health journey.

Understanding the Hair Growth Cycle

Did you know that the hair on your head does not grow continuously? Unlike your nails, which grow straight through, every follicle on your head grows hair on a separate cycle. Each follicle has four phases: anagen (growing), catagen (transition), telogen (rest), and exogen (shedding). Meaningful hair improvements take time and consistency, and that is because of this intricate biological process.

The anagen phase is growing hair, and this is the phase every follicle should spend the most time in. New hair grows quickly, just under half an inch every month, and 85-90% of all hair is in this phase. This active, growing phase lasts 3-5 years, but follicles can spend less time in it because of stress, poor nutrition, hormonal deficiencies, and more.

The Catagen stage is very short term. It lasts only about two weeks. Hair growth stops and slows down all the while. The follicle shrinks and disconnects from where it's getting blood in the matrix. Only one to three percent of scalp hair is in this stage at any point.

The next stage is called the Telogen stage. It's a rest period, and it lasts about three to four months. The hair stays anchored to the follicle, but after a while, it starts to grow. About ten to fifteen per cent of the hairs on a person's scalp are in this phase. Then, in the Exogen phase, the old hairs that are still in a person's scalp are shed. This is a process called shedding, and it happens daily. It is normally fifty to one hundred hairs that are coming out. It is shedding and making space for the body's growth of new hair.

Why three months is the magic number.

When a person starts taking hair supplements, they are not working on the hair that is already visible on the scalp. They are working on a person's hair follicles that are under the surface while nourishing their hair follicles. This is focused on helping hair grow and helping old hair follicles become active again.

Stress, poor diet, and hormonal shifts can cause some hair follicles to prematurely switch from the active phase to the telogen (resting) phase. The condition known as telogen effluvium occurs when a significant number of hair follicles enter the telogen phase simultaneously. This results in noticeable hair thinning after a few weeks. In order for follicles to improve their nutrition and respond to a reset in their cycle to create healthier hair, the same time, 3 months, is needed to reverse the cycle.

Three months is the minimum time frame needed because that's about the time it takes for a full telogen cycle to be completed (3 months). The hair that is in the telogen phase (resting phase) will shed, and new hair that is entering the growth phase will be visible. Follicles will also be able to move into the robust, actively growing anagen phase. This is why dermatologists and hair therapists are consistent in their statements that, after consistent therapy, noticeable changes to hair density, hair growth, and overall hair health can be expected after 8 to 12 weeks.

The Science Behind Nutrient Absorption and the Health of Your Hair 

Reaching Hair Health information in Biological Factors Important to Your Scalp: The body’s most metabolically active structures are hair follicles. They need a constant supply of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. Nutrients are not instantaneously delivered.

Absorption of these nutrients through the bloodstream to follicle cells is vital for keratin production and cell division. Nutrient replenishment is a slow process as nutritional deficiencies build.

Follicle deficit is a state of a lack of nutrients, biotin, iron, zinc, vitamin D, or amino acids. Nutritional support is needed and sustained to rebuild internal structures and resume the optimal function of follicles. Cellular recovery is slow.   

Also, the biologically complex growth factors, the cellular signaling hormones, and thus the cycle of hair growth are on a biological timeline function measured in months to weeks, not days. Nutrients support the natural process but cannot accelerate the artificial rhythm of follicle functioning.

The First Three Months of Your Hair Health Journey 

Having a good understanding of the timeline helps space expectations properly. The first month is about supporting and improving your follicles' basic health. Although there may not be dramatic visible changes, biological improvements are definitely happening underneath your scalp.

During weeks six to eight, there may be a greater degree of shedding. Although worrying, this is usually a good sign at this stage, it's the telogen-phase hairs giving way to new follicles in a resetting cycle. This period of additional shedding is sometimes called the adjustment period.

Around the three-month mark is when the majority of people report noticeably decreased daily shedding, additional new hairs sprouting at the hairline, and a significant improvement in the hair's shine and overall health.

Nourrir Everyday Hair Health Tablets: Designed to support Natural Hair Cycle

Our Nourrir Everyday Hair Health Tablets are also designed to accommodate this natural timeline as best as possible with a complex of 76 synergistic vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants that support hair follicles at all stages of the hair cycle.

This cyclical therapy approach employed by Nourrir is rooted in the biological principle that hair growth is a product of consistent nutritional support. Each tablet addresses the six main causes of hair thinning: hormonal imbalance/stressed lifestyle, metabolic deficiencies, aging, and insufficient nutritional support.

The wonders of this approach come from its support of your body's natural growth cycle. Nourrir does not promise overnight miracles. Instead, its focus is on sustaining and building follicular growth through nurturing the scalp with proper nutrition. Nourrir is dermatologist-formulated and is hands down the safest option for nurturing hair health without adverse effects. 

Why does patience pay off 

The undeniable truth of hair's growth cycle reiterates that there are no shortcuts. If they are not overpromising, most products that promise visible growth in a matter of days are only temporarily improving the surface. This is a tactic many brands use when their products are not focused on healthy follicular growth. 

The visible results of fully committing to a 3-month cycle, and preferably running it longer, are sustainable growth. Thicker and stronger is the hair that grows from a robust follicular bed, full of nutrients. Improvements observed from consistent supplementation have a compounding nature to them, meaning the results grow when the routine is kept in place. Many users found their best results after 6 months. 

The most valuable lesson to be learned here is the calm and outer magical process of sustainable wellness, of course, with a little patience for the results to kick in. If nutrition is kept at healthy standards and a 3-month cycle is kept consistent, hair health will be manifesting and will hopefully spark interest in the need to keep consistent, especially when hair health is the main focus!

Staying Committed Through the Journey

To get the best results from your supplement regimen for the first three months, never skip a day, always supplement extra hair care, hydrate, and manage your stress levels, then track your progress each month to capture the changes to your hair and your confidence in a set of pictures from the same lighting.  

Don't forget that three months is also the growth cycle time for your hair, so just keep doing what you're doing, and trust the process so that your hair follicles have time to respond.  

It will be currently worthwhile to know and wait for new growth, and the hair that you see to be thicker and shed less is the hair that is growing healthy so that you can see and a cycle that you will be able to appreciate so that you know you have results, and with help from Nourrir Everyday Hair Health Tablets, your three months will be a great investment, and you'll be waiting for only long-term hair health!