Learn about 9 things that could be putting a damper on your long hair goals and what to do about them.
If your hair seems to be taking longer to grow out these days, or you have noticed you have been able to take much more time between trims, your hair may actually be growing slower.
On average, hair tends to grow about ½ inch per month, or around 6 inches a year. If you are checking out your strands or roots and can definitely tell they are lagging behind that, you may be dealing with some slowed growth.
Some things that cause slow hair growth can’t be avoided, but some issues can be improved that may ramp up your growth.
Read on for 9 things that could be putting a damper on your long hair goals.
Learn More: Dr. Bauman: How Much Does Hair Grow in a Month?
As everyone gets older, the anagen or “growth phase” of hair shortens.
This means that if your individual strands used to grow for 6 years before falling out in your 20s, they may start falling out every 2 years once you are in your 50s.
This all varies from person to person, and staying in excellent health while you age may help with this a bit, it is common and normal for hair growth times to shorten as you mature. But, overall this means that the lengths of hair you can reach start shortening.
This is another factor that is not really something that can be changed. You have genes that factor into how long your hair stays in the growth phase before the hair falls out and a new one starts growing.
So, look at your family and parents to try and gauge how fast and long your hair grows. If your mom has enviable long silky hair into her 50s and beyond, you likely have some pretty spectacular hair genes.
Also Read: 6 Male Pattern Hair Loss Myths You Should Stop Believing
Too much mental or physical stress can cause your hair growth to put on the breaks.
Make sure you are practicing regular stress-relieving self-care activities, and keeping yourself in a lower stress state to help out how fast and healthy your hair can grow.
Damaged locks don’t look as good or feel as soft and silky, but all that damage can even hold up your hair growth.
The way that this happens is the lengths of hair get so damaged that they become brittle and may break off.
This means that even if you see an inch of new root growth, the length stays the same because the hair breaks and falls out before it can get any longer.
Avoid heat-styling, over processing with chemicals, and dying your hair to help it reach its maximum growth potential.
Also Read: Can Hair Dye Cause Hair Loss? Shedding After Coloring Your Hair
Just like anything else that grows, hair needs to get all the proper building blocks and nutrients in the form of lots of healthy foods.
Make sure your diet contains plenty of fruits, vegetables, healthy oils, and protein to ensure that your hair isn’t being halted by not getting everything it needs to grow.
If you aren’t sure that you are ticking all the nutrient boxes every day, pick up a hair, skin, and nails supplement for a vitamin backup.
If your scalp is super dried out and flaky, getting poor circulation, or constantly caked in a thick layer of hair products, it’s not going to be happy.
Your hair follicles are the ones that are in charge of how fast and when hair grows, and since they are embedded in your scalp, maintaining scalp health is pretty important for fast hair growth.
Massage your scalp with a nourishing oil like coconut oil regularly to moisturize and increase blood flow to the area.
Or, if you tend to have a super oily scalp that is constantly bombarded by layers of product, be sure to really get in there and clean everything away when you are shampooing to give your scalp a breather.
If you have a lot of split ends, but are avoiding a trim because of your long hair dreams, you may actually be making hair growth worse.
When your ends are split, they tend to continue to split even farther up the hair shaft until those bad boys get trimmed off.
This leads to even more breakage and shorter lengths than if you had just gotten a little split end trim in the first place. Schedule a regular trim with your stylist every 6-8 weeks, and avoid damaging styling to help prevent those split ends from ever forming.
That slicked back ponytail may look cute, but very tightly pulled hairstyles like a tight up-do, tight braids, or too rough brushing can lead to hairs breaking, falling out, or damaged follicles.
This can sometimes lead to a type of hair loss called traction alopecia.
Keep styles looser for better hair growth and to help maintain the length you already have.
Certain health issues may cause your normal hair growth rate to slow down or more hair to fall out.
Thyroid issues, whether hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, can throw your metabolism out of whack and slow down hair growth.
Hormonal changes or imbalances like PCOS, going through menopause, or post-pregnancy can also wreak havoc on your hair growth.
In addition, severe infections or worsening of current conditions may manifest as changes in your hair growth rates or appearance.
If you are concerned about drastic hair growth changes, be sure to speak with your health care providers about making sure nothing more serious is going on.
Some changes in how fast your hair grows are normal and may be expected, like just getting older.
But, some factors that contribute to slower hair growth may be under your control and can be adjusted to give you longer locks.
Eating healthily, exercising, avoiding excess hair damage, reducing stress, and keeping your scalp healthy may be good ways to ramp up that hair growth.
If your slow hair growth has also come along with hair losses, you may want to speak with a doctor about prescription hair loss treatment options like minoxidil or finasteride.
Here at StrutHealth.com you can have a free 10-15 minutes online consultation with a doctor to see if you are a good candidate for hair loss prescriptions, for men and women.
If you are a good fit for treatment, your prescription medication can be shipped to your front door with our free shipping.
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