Explain the terminal Length concept to me

**torrilin** · September 15th, 2011, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Juicematic

Very interesting! I've seen terminal length on some members stats and wondered about it. Thanks to everyone for the excellent explanations.

If you're thinking of someone like Trolleypup...

He's got fairly coarse hair. He also takes care of it about as gently as I take care of my fine hair, so no heat, no dye, and no rough handling. That means he is not breaking hairs often, and he doesn't have a lot of split ends. When he does have split ends, he's mentioned that he takes care of them via search and destroy. Despite all that, his hair has been constant at thigh length for at least 5-6 years, probably a good bit more than that.

The key there is the constant length and lack of trims. If he'd been at thigh for a year with no growth? Maybe it's terminal, maybe not. Two years? Terminal is a lot more likely. At 6 years with no growth, it's pretty certain he's at terminal.

That is why the first question I ask if someone is freaking out about being at terminal is how often they trim. Chances are they trim way more often than I do.

**ilovelonghair** · September 15th, 2011, 03:06 PM

You're right about coarse hair, less breakage, longer teminal length, makes sense

**Littlewing13** · June 10th, 2012, 03:45 AM

Bumping this, as I've noticed a few people asking, & pixiedust's explanation is fantastic.

**jacqueline101** · June 10th, 2012, 05:22 AM

Its when your hair stops growing. It has a lot of taper to it. Most people reach that phase around classic length.

**Merlin** · June 10th, 2012, 05:24 AM

When your hair gets really long Skynet sends a robot back from the future to trim your ends while you're asleep so it never seems to get any longer...

**MonaMayfair** · June 11th, 2012, 07:21 AM

Originally Posted by Merlin

When your hair gets really long Skynet sends a robot back from the future to trim your ends while you're asleep so it never seems to get any longer...

I KNEW there must be a logical explanation, lol!

**WaitingSoLong** · June 11th, 2012, 08:17 AM

I missed this original thread and glad someone resurrected it. It was an interesting read but I have some comments...

Originally Posted by Mesmerise

I am also thinking that I could be low in estrogen! Especially as the front of my hair seems noticeably thinner and patchier. I wonder if there's something one could take that would help the body produce a normal amount???

Chastetree Berry (sold under name brand Vitex) is an herb that is supposed to regulate female hormones, regardless of whether you are high or low in whatever, it is said to balance them out. I took this for an extended period when I was going through infertility and never noticed any changes in my cycle or anything (PMS) but hormones were not my real issue. We just didn't know that then. I know this is a bit late to offer this info.

Originally Posted by ilovelonghair

! The people I know who have short cycles are seniors now and have a lot of hair, so I think we shouldn't worry too much

When I went off it nothing happened, but I loose hair from stress. Hair would of course grow back. I think that with going off the pill it might be a bit similar as a post natal shed? And it will grow back. But I know enough people who never had any hair loss after stoping the pill, so there's hope

And what about our older members here with lovely hair who are in their menopause? I think there must be so many more factors regarding hair loss/no hair loss than just hormones.

Regarding the first sentence, I have seen some elderly women with some extremely thin hair. This accounts for the "old lady" hairdo that is so often seen. Short with a perm seems to be the best way to cover up thinning hair in older women. I have always been afraid this would happen to me.

Regarding hormones and hair shedding, every pregnancy book I ever read says a lot of the same thing "scientists are not sure why _________" fill in the blank. One example would be "why some women get linea negra". I did during one of my pregnancies, and never did again. They *think* it has something to do with hormones, because hormones change so drastically during pregnancy, but they are not sure. Really, they just don't know. There is no bar standard for all pregnancies, and every woman reacts differently to BCP's. Some can't take them at all. Our bodies are a rightly woven hormonal system. Disrupt one, you tilt the balance and something else is likely to fall off, metaphorically speaking. Ask anyone who has ever had their thyroid removed how much THAT hormone affects everything else. The more current research I am reading is largely related to insulin. Scientists are learning that insulin plays a much larger role in hormonal regulation than just controlling sugar. I could really get off topic here and talk about why people can't lose weight with dieting and exercise all because of insulin. See Gary Taubes for that.

But every decade some "new" research comes out that blows away the old. Like eggs used to be good for you, then they were bad for you, then they were good for you. It is hard to really place your chips on any one set of research data. Talk about faith, science is the new religion. sigh.

Originally Posted by spidermom

Or she could have very slow growing hair. Maybe it takes her hair 6 years to get to BSL, and 20 x 6 would mean she wouldn't run out of hair until she's 120. I think most of us won't have hair after 120 years.

Run out...but how much thinning takes place? No doubt hair thing with age, regardless of gender. My daughter is 13. She has run with the same friends since 1st grade and all the little girls I see (referring to an earlier reference to little girls with baby fine hair) have super thick hair. My daughter has MY hair basically only twice as thick. I know my hair was thicker when I was younger. Just observations. I have no clue what it all means. LOL

Originally Posted by torrilin

If you're thinking of someone like Trolleypup...

That is why the first question I ask if someone is freaking out about being at terminal is how often they trim. Chances are they trim way more often than I do.

Speaking of Trolleypup...how much estrogen to men have?

Trimming. Why do people think their hair stopped growing when they trim every 6 weeks?

Originally Posted by jacqueline101

Its when your hair stops growing. It has a lot of taper to it. Most people reach that phase around classic length.

I was always under the impression that Classic was the traditional terminal length.

**dollyfish** · June 11th, 2012, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Merlin

When your hair gets really long Skynet sends a robot back from the future to trim your ends while you're asleep so it never seems to get any longer...

Goes well with the phrase "Terminal"

**bte** · June 11th, 2012, 09:01 AM

This has been a very interesting thread, and thanks to pixiedust for such a good and detailed explanation.

I have been at terminal length for about 14 or 15 years, not having trimmed or cut since 1994, and having experienced no extra growth since some time in 1997 or 1998 when I reached around apl. Sounds a little vague, but it's not easy to pinpoint the day when I last noticed any extra growth exactly. I don't think damage is a significant factor, as I try to be careful.

So yes, terminal length varies a lot, and it is possible to have new growth even after years of stalling (in theory even for me, but I doubt it will happen). Terminal length is yet another way in which we are all different.

**Littlewing13** · June 11th, 2012, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by Merlin

When your hair gets really long Skynet sends a robot back from the future to trim your ends while you're asleep so it never seems to get any longer...

Brilliant! lol