How many hairs do we have on our heads?

At IMD, we are a medical team specializing in hair health. However, we are aware that everything that has to do with hair arouses the interest of many people who do not have organized knowledge about it. For this reason, from time to time, we publish articles on our blog that answer these questions about what we could call general hair culture. And the one that heads today’s list is: how many hairs do we have on our heads?

How many hairs do we have on our heads?

We imagine that it has not occurred to you to count them or make a mathematical formula with a rule of three to figure out how many hairs we have on our heads. However, roughly speaking, how many would you say? Get a number before proceeding to see how accurate your intuition was.

As you may have imagined, no single number fits all. But experts in hair dermatology place the figure at about 150,000 hairs. How would you even start counting them?

However, this approximate figure, which will never be the same for everyone, does change in most people due to a series of factors. Your age, sex, and even the natural colour of your hair can make that figure change considerably. Have you been curious? Do you want to know how many hairs we have on our heads according to these three factors? We’ll tell you!

How many hairs do we have on our heads according to our age?

Indeed, you have probably deduced that the hair on our heads changes over time. But when and how much? Well, on average, at birth, there are about 1,135 hair follicles per square centimetre. This number progressively decreases as time goes by. However, the great decline occurs around age 80, when that figure falls to 435 follicles/cm².

Age can also influence hair growth and shedding. If you are noticing more hair on your brush or in the shower, read these practical tips to stop hair loss to learn about possible causes and ways to care for your hair.

Being a man or a woman changes the amount of hair you have

The relationship between sex and hair density is more complex than a simple comparison. Hair density varies from person to person and is influenced by genetics, hormones, age, and other factors. Therefore, the total number of hairs on the head can differ considerably between individuals, regardless of sex.

What if it turns out that browns have more hair than blondes?

If at some point as a child you wanted to be blonde, learning how the amount of hair on your head varies depending on colour might make you feel lucky with your natural shade. Blondes are in the middle of this table, with an average of 130,000 hairs on the head. However, some are worse off because redheads barely reach 90,000 on average. Brown or dark hair is often associated with a higher average number, with the 150,000 hairs discussed at the beginning referring to this hair tone. These figures are estimates, though, and individual hair counts vary.

Voucher. We already know how many hairs we have on our heads. But how many of those fall out typically? Well… let’s find out in the next section.

How many hairs fall out naturally during the day?

Talking about natural hair loss is not something that can be reduced to one exact number for everyone. It depends on several factors, some environmental and others personal. Even so, a commonly cited estimate for everyday shedding is between 50 and 100 hairs a day, although the amount can vary.

Seasonal changes may also affect how much hair people notice shedding. Following a consistent routine and learning about hair care in autumn may help you maintain healthy-looking hair throughout the year.

Now that you have discovered curiosities about your hair, such as how many hairs we have on our heads and how much hair loss could be considered normal daily, you may still have further questions. If you notice sudden, persistent, or patchy hair loss, consider consulting a qualified healthcare professional to help identify the cause.

Hair treatments and chemical services can also affect the condition of your hair. If you are considering a new colour or chemical treatment, learn whether you should do a strand test on a new client’s hair before proceeding. A strand test can help assess how the hair responds to a particular product.