Question:

[capnjackfan]

Is trimming your hair a good thing? Does it keep it healthy and make it grow faster? How much should I get trimmed off of my hair and how often?

[gillybeanxo3921]

trimming hair can be good if you have damage, but if your ends are perfectly healthy, it's a waste. If your hair is crunchy, dry, tangly, and has split ends, go ahead!

[ouseljay]

The only thing trimming does besides tidy things up is cut off split ends so the split doesn't travel up the hair shaft and eventually break off higher up. If you have splits, trimming can make your hair gain length faster (since the splits aren't lengthening and breaking off), but your hair won't actually grow faster.

Some folks here search and destroy, just snipping off each split individually. If you're okay with fairy-tale ends it's a good way to keep length. Snip about 1/4 inch above where the damage ends on each hair.

[capnjackfan]

Thank you guys, I've always been curious. I've never done much to my hair, but I want to keep it healthy so it will grow.

[jacqueline101]

Only trim if your hair has splits and signs of damage.

[DinaAG]

i trim 1 cm every 7 months or so when i feel i need it i wont need if i got no splits but i s&d

[JamieLeigh]

As it's been said, trimming will NOT make your hair grow faster. Hair is a dead thing, and the scalp doesn't react in any way to what you do with your ends. :p (The only occasion I can think of where the scalp reacts to treatment of the hair would be traction alopecia, which is when there is hair loss in a spot due to the hair being pulled too tightly, too often.) You really only need to trim if you are getting rid of old damage or old colour (a lot of people trim monthly to get rid of henna or heat damage a little at a time), or if you are maintaining a certain hemline (i.e., if you like layers, u-shape or blunt ends). Fairy-tale ends give you a natural v-shape, most of the time, and they can be found on perfectly-healthy heads of hair. The look of them is just not for everyone, though.

Calculate your growth rate by measuring your hair at the beginning of each month. Most people tend to get around 1/2" per month of growth. If you want to gain length, don't trim off more than half of your growth per month. If you get 1/2" of growth per month, a safe trimming would be 1/4" per month, 1/2" every two or three months, or 2" twice per year.

[Luminaria]

Trims can be helpful when you have splits or single strand knots. They can also maintain a certain length/style. However, if your hair is healthy, they aren't necessary.

[torrilin]

Sixthing or seventhing what everyone else said.

Since my hair is fine, floaty, dry and split prone, and my tangle tolerance is low, I tend to trim oftener than is strictly necessary. The better I do on handling my hair gently, the less often I need to trim. As a kid, I'd get trims every 6 to 8 weeks. These days, I can go up to around 9 months without a trim. If I do search and destroy and no other trimming, I can go over a year without needing a trim.

Since I'm not interested in growing to terminal length and I'm more in maintenance mode, I trim every month.

[woolyleprechaun]

As a bit of an experiment, I once went some time with damaged ends to see if they got any worse. They didn't. Trimming is only realy necessary if you have damage (like everyone else said). It also depends on how you wear your hair. If you have it up most of the time, you are less likely to be bothered about fairytailing than someone who wears it down a lot.

[sarelis]

I trim my hair every 6 months, usually around a 1/2" at a time, because I'm trying to gradually trim off old damage from dye while also gaining some length. If and when I ever reach classic length then I will probably just maintain there for a while until what is left of the damage is gone. I never used to trim though, I would just leave it to grow for years on end without touching it then have a good chop back to around BSL from around hip! But back then I wasn't actively trying to grow it out :)

[itdontmatter48]

I have been able to go a year or 2, and then only get a micro-trim. It all depends on why you feel the need to cut. If to thicken the end, or remove damage I say go for it.

[capnjackfan]

Thank you everyone! You guys are very helpful :)!

[blaketob]

I'm going to go against everyone and say my hair loves trims. I don't believe in not trimming your hair for months at a time because I find it hard to believe that in a year your hair could have no damage, even if you take good care of it. Obviously I wouldn't suggest getting your hair trimmed each month or something, but I trim usually every 12 weeks. Usually after I trim my hair, my hair grows an inch in that month. And then goes back to growing only half and inch or less. I'm not sure why it does this but I would think it is because when you cut off damage it would speed up the growth rate because it's all healthy and fresh. I could be wrong, it's just my theory. And for all of you who say this is impossible, this has happened to me consistently the past 3 times I have gotten a hair cut. I measure my hair every month to check it's overall growth rate.

[spidermom]

Trimming helps the ends stay on the thicker side, although - of course - even with trimming, some tapering of the ends is normal. A very common complaint that people have around here is thin ends. You can avoid that with regular trimming.

If you're careful to have only a minimal amount trimmed, it's not going to make that much difference in length by the end of a year. I've gone a whole year without trimming and gained 7 inches in length. I've also had about 1/2 inch cut off every 3 months and gained 5-1/2 inches of length in a year. Funny thing - the math doesn't really add up; where did that extra 1/2 inch in length come from?

I should also mention that in the years I didn't trim, my ends got really trashed, and I ended up cutting back most if not all of the length I gained. With regular trims, that 5-1/2 inches of length I gained in a year were mine to keep.

All things considered, I like the results of regular trimming the best. But you do have to be careful that you don't trim more than you grow.

[lunalocks]

I S and D regularly and this along with the use of baby oil and wearing up a lot has caused me to have fewer splits and need to trim less often. However, my individual hairs grow at different rates, so I do trim 1/4 inch off every few months to even out the hemline. My hemline is so much fuller, even tho a small amt was trimmed.

[capnjackfan]

Thanks everyone, I'll take all of this advice and try to use it! I don't ever cut my hair, but once in a blue moon I'll look down at my ends and the "Jesus, these are definitely damaged." Then I just go about my day and forget about it again, lol.