Do you ever get impatient?

[Happytresses]

I started taking better care of my hair in September. I find myself obsessing over it now. I also feel like my hair is growing slowly. So sloooooooow. Yesterday I felt like just chopping it off but I know if I do that I will just regret it. What do you guys do to minimize that obsessive side? You know the little gremlin that says " grow, grow now!". Also do you find that there a certain times that your growth seems slower during the year. I am a newbie. I need some advice from the experienced crew.

Thanks

[kaydana]

Put it up and forget about it. One day you'll take it down and suddenly exclaim "OH! Where did all this hair come from?!".

[ravenreed]

My growth rate fluctuates. I usually get more growth in the warmer months and a stall in the colder ones. I think a lot people experience this. I have liked my hair at every stage of the growing process. I would rather enjoy my hair now even if it means getting to the length I want a little more slowly. So I trim a lot to keep my ends looking nice, I color my hair, I wear it down sometimes... It has helped me not be so impatient to get to longer lengths. That won't work for everyone, but it is what helped me.

[Winnie!]

I get extremely impatient. I just keep myself busy with other aspects of my life like school. Not that that keeps it away or anything :rolleyes:

[Long_hair_bear]

I'm in your boat. I get very impatient with my hair as I sometimes have no growth months. I've tried everything from wearing my hair up more often to not measuring it every month, but nothing seems to help my impatience. It's growing, albeit very slowly, or at least my hairdresser says it is. Sadly, I cannot tell but I trust her enough to touch my hair, so I takeher word for it.

[shutterpillar]

I used to. I joined here in April and by August I was a maniac - looking at the length every day in the mirror. Measuring and taking pictures every month. Now, I havnt taken a length picture since August (the one in my signature) and I probably wont until I reach 1 year of posting at LHC. I will say... the site being down for a while probably hindered my mania. lol. Nowhere to post pictures or update, so why bother, you know?

Sometimes I do wish it were longer so I could do different styles with it, but then I just remind myself it will get there eventually and to enjoy the styles I can do right now.

As for growth rate... I find it tends to grow about the same pace throughout the year. I do get a bit of a shed right as spring is changing into summer, and that sometimes gives the illusion that it is not growing as fast as it usually does.

[Madora]

Excellent advice, Kaydana!

To the original poster, I would also suggest daily scalp massage to make sure your follicles are getting enough stimulation. Do it in the bent at the waist position - or with your head hanging over the edge of your bed. Be sure your hair is detangled before you begin, and afterwards. Use your fingerPADS, not nails, when you massage.

On average, hair grows 6 inches a year, and usually faster in warmer weather. Be sure and keep away from harmful practices: straightening, blow frying, hot curlers and the like. S and Ding every so often helps keep fragile ends in good shape. Be SURE your shears are SHARP. Dull shears can leave you with a head full of white dots, which leads to breakage. Good luck!

[Gumball]

I definitely agree with kaydana. Benign neglect goes a long way. I made it a point not to measure my hair. Eventually it crept past landmarks. I don't know when, but it did and that's really what mattered. Of course I grew it to put it up so it had somewhere to sit and grow without me watching it all the time. I'm sure it's slightly different for those that grow to keep it loose. I would think it's then harder to keep with the benign neglect idea.

[northernsky]

I don't get impatient, because I have been focusing on the overall condition of my hair more than the length. The results of better conditioning and care are more quickly noticeable. In fact, I just cut 4 inches off a couple months ago because the ends were damaged and uneven from chemical coloring and growing out untrimmed from an asymmetrical chin length hair cut. Length is worthless if it's all snarled up and full of breakage and split ends.

[biogirl87]

I used to get impatient about my hair a few months before joining LHC. I first really started growing my hair out during the summer and in July started trying different methods to see how wavy my hair was with each method. So during that period I was taking hair pics every two to four weeks, plus at that time my hair seemed to be growing slower. Once I got to just about APL, I stopped being so impatient as I saw that my hair really was growing and that it would be better if stopped worrying about it.

[kdaniels8811]

I am REALLY impatient so I sympathize with you. Scalp massages help, as does good eating habits, exercise, plenty of water, generally being healthy. I take vitamins, especially biotin but nothing works better than "tincture of time". Benign neglect and focusing on something else - like reading ALL the information on LHC helps, tool There are plenty of us that moan about our hair not being to our butts - yet. It will happen.