One year, NO GROWTH!?

[goldcopperbrown]

I'm a little worried about my hair. One year ago I stopped dying it (I dyed it with a demi ONCE that year, but nothing permanent). previously it had been pretty damaged. Over the year of not dying it, I also had it cut professionally, twice (although one of the cuts was kind of cheap/notgreat).

Well, it's a year later after quitting permanent hair dye, and my hair has grown maybe 2-3 inches max. There's no reason for my hair to grow this slowly, and I'm wondering if it has to do with breakage as opposed to regrowth, because my hair doesn't look particularly thinning. I don't have any hormonal issues that I know of (I'm 23) and my hair looks fine other than the slow growing. I can't take Biotin because it breaks me out but I am going to start taking some herbal supplements. It looks a little thin at the ends, but that's probably because I haven't gotten a haircut in over 6 months (because my hair won't freakin grow!)

My hair is currently 26" long from hairline to tip so it's not short but I was really hoping to get to 30" by now.

So here are my questions:
1.) Could this have been caused by me using silicones in my products? I also wash my hair every day bc I work out- is this bad?
2.) Could this have been caused by not wearing my head in spin pins while I sleep? When I don't use spin pins, my hair can get tangled and break off in the morning, even with the right pillowcase.
3.) is this just because the bottom half of my hair is still damaged from the hair dye I kept using before 2012?
4.) Should I just cut my hair at home, instead of going to salons? (Maybe they cut off too much?)
5.) WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?!

[goldcopperbrown]

Oh- I should add that back when I was 13, my hair was able to grow to my waist so this isn't a genetic thing. I take after my mom in the hair department and her hair was waist long in college.

[excentricat]

When you say that it has only grown 2-3 inches, is that measuring the total length or from scalp to dye-line? Maybe that can help us determine which end of your hair the problem is occuring at.

[goldcopperbrown]

When you say that it has only grown 2-3 inches, is that measuring the total length or from scalp to dye-line? Maybe that can help us determine which end of your hair the problem is occuring at.

When I stopped dying my hair, I dyed it once my natural color, so it's really hard to tell where my natural hair ends and my previously dyed hair begins, unfortunately. Right now it all looks like it's the same color!

[kdaniels8811]

I had the same problem - breakage due to damage. Here is how I grew my hair to waist from shoulder (before chemo made it fall out)

Catnip tea soaks
Cutting back on washing frequency
Stopping all heat -dryer and curling iron
Coconut oil on length daily
Wearing it up so reducing damage from brushing

I made the decision that length was important

Good luck and, no, I would not cut. I am going on 3 years with no trimmimg

[jeanniet]

How much was it cut each time? You can figure that hair grows approximately 6" a year, so if each of those cuts was 2", your net growth wouldn't be more than 2". If your hair was damaged, then breakage could also be a part of the problem, especially if you're seeing thin ends now. Remember that if you have damaged hair, you have to grow it ALL out to get to virgin hair, and that can take quite some time.

You can self-trim, but you can also have your hair cut in a salon. Just know exactly how much you want off, and make sure the stylist understands what you mean.

[leilasahhar]

You could try hydrating your roots..this is something ive learned from a product I found called Redwood Roots. Its a mist with extracts and oils in a rosewater base. I really think the whole concept makes sense! Treat your hair like the leaves of a tree, and water the roots :)

[sparrowswing]

I second what Jeanniet said. In my experience, professional cuts are usually at least 2". I've had plenty of professional stylists swear to me that you can't get rid of the splits and "dead ends" without cutting off at least a few inches. So two cuts in a year, without insistence that they only take a certain amount, would likely cut off about as much as you would grow in that year. It's why so many people around here do S&D with just an occasional micro-trim.

If you do continue trims, be sure to measure before and after so you know exactly how much was cut off; then you can factor that in when you're looking back to see how much growth you've had. That way you'll know your approximate growth speed and have something else to consider when seeing if you are still getting breakage from damage.

[shakethatbelly]

im also a daily exerciser and i find it hard to retain length :(
do you shampoo everyday?

i definitely recommend getting a pair of shears and cutting your hair yourself

[heidi w.]

No growth whatsoever for a year?! That's highly unusual, unless there's an outstanding medical condition we don't know about or you don't know about. Stopped dying your hair. Stop washing the hair every. single. day. You can manage every other day. Start with that. Cutting it off doesn't address the problem at all. Visit a licensed Dermatologist and find out the FACTS, not an opinion. Hair grows relatively slowly. Approximately 1/2 inch per month, on average. Don't use a hairbrush. Sleep on a real satin or sateen pillowcase and wash it often. I don't believe no growth will happen if you do these things. And don't condition the scalp part of the head. None on the scalp; only condition the length.
Don't cut your hair whatever you do because it doesn't answer a single question of yours.
heidi w.

[Rufflebutt]

The most likely two options are that you're either trimming off your growth or your hair is damaged and it's breaking. You also might simply have slow growing hair coupled up with that. There most likely isn't anything wrong with you.

[kidari]

I completely agree that the problem is that the stylist is cutting off a huge bulk of your growth and your ends are possibly breaking away as well. If you are growing your hair out, you need dustings, not trims. Most stylists will not do that but some will. Also, all of the old damage on your hair doesn't show until months and years later. So if your hair was chemically treated/handled roughly/subjected to heat/not babied then once it gets to around mid-back the damage really shows. If it is old damage that is breaking off then unfortunately you might have to maintain there until eventually all of it is cut off. Some people just chop off all the damage and start new, some maintain until they are happy to move forward and grow, and others successfully grow their hair with all the damage and cut it all off later, gradually or all at once. The last route requires more care and time but not always more so. Growing out long hair really does require a TON of patience and the right knowledge/care.

[Viscountess]

I feel your pain. I too did not have any growth for a year. I found out I had aneamia pretty seriously and went on iron suppliments. I would suggest getting your bloodwork done to see if you're down on iron or other vits as being low on them can and will stall your growth.

good luck!

[shakethatbelly]

also look into your diet! it might boost your growth

[leslissocool]

If you are working out, and your hair is not growing look into increasing protein intake. Your protein intake has to increase in order to support muscle mass AND for it to go to your hair and nails.


I work out daily, my hair doesn't stall growth. When I wasn't getting enough protein and Iron my hair fell and it barely grew. Protein is really important.

[jacqueline101]

Monistat made mine grow try it.

[spirals]

The last 4 inches of my hair were subjected to demi-perm color at least 3 times. They are clearly damaged. I am a curlyhead who does brush, which causes mechanical damage. Up until a month ago I slept with it loose. These are a few of the "wrong" things I do/have done. And yet, in the last 10 months I have gained 6 inches. I pre-oil with coconut. I use detangler. I don't use shampoo, just castile soap and acid rinse. I S&D twice a month and have micro-trimmed once.

[gnome82]

I'm sorry to hear that you have not had as much growth as you wanted, I hope you work out what it was and enjoy more growth soon.

[kidari]

If you are working out, and your hair is not growing look into increasing protein intake. Your protein intake has to increase in order to support muscle mass AND for it to go to your hair and nails.


I work out daily, my hair doesn't stall growth. When I wasn't getting enough protein and Iron my hair fell and it barely grew. Protein is really important.

Wow, thank you for that... that's good to know! I also wanted to input that you could try other supplements rather than biotin (I had the same acne issues with it). For the past 6 months or more I've been using liquid silica drops that I put in my water or juice twice a day. It has made a difference. I've been microtrimming twice a month and it just keeps growing faster than normal.

[EtherealDoll]

I think you're simply cutting much of the regrowth off. I've seen some people on LHC say that their hair grows quite slowly, only 1 inch a month, so 6 inches a year. And you have only 2-3 inches of regrowth but had 2 trims. So I think it might be possible that you got about 4 inches trimmed off. Try measuring how much regrowth you're getting every month and if you don't get a lot of split ends then there's no need to trim it so often.

[raingirl]

How much was it cut each time? You can figure that hair grows approximately 6" a year, so if each of those cuts was 2", your net growth wouldn't be more than 2". If your hair was damaged, then breakage could also be a part of the problem, especially if you're seeing thin ends now. Remember that if you have damaged hair, you have to grow it ALL out to get to virgin hair, and that can take quite some time.

You can self-trim, but you can also have your hair cut in a salon. Just know exactly how much you want off, and make sure the stylist understands what you mean.

This is what I was thinking as well. Avg growth is only 6" and most hair cuts take about 2" off for trims.

[kitschy]

No growth whatsoever for a year?! That's highly unusual, unless there's an outstanding medical condition we don't know about or you don't know about. Stopped dying your hair. Stop washing the hair every. single. day. You can manage every other day. Start with that. Cutting it off doesn't address the problem at all. Visit a licensed Dermatologist and find out the FACTS, not an opinion. Hair grows relatively slowly. Approximately 1/2 inch per month, on average. Don't use a hairbrush. Sleep on a real satin or sateen pillowcase and wash it often. I don't believe no growth will happen if you do these things. And don't condition the scalp part of the head. None on the scalp; only condition the length.
Don't cut your hair whatever you do because it doesn't answer a single question of yours.
heidi w.

I agree with you heidi - there just might be too aggressive trimming, and hair breakage...... ..... But I wonder about your advice about conditioner on the scalp. There is a whole, huge thread here about co-washing, and many other sites dedicated to thousands of women and their experience with washing hair and scalp only with conditioner. It leads to better scalp and hair health. I've been Conditioner Washing for four years now and my hair growth has been phenomenal. Why is it that you advise to avoid conditioner on the scalp?

[lapushka]

[COLOR=#222222][FONT=Times]I'm a little worried about my hair. One year ago I stopped dying it (I dyed it with a demi ONCE that year, but nothing permanent). previously it had been pretty damaged. Over the year of not dying it, I also had it cut professionally, twice (although one of the cuts was kind of cheap/notgreat).

Well, it's a year later after quitting permanent hair dye, and my hair has grown maybe 2-3 inches max. There's no reason for my hair to grow this slowly, and I'm wondering if it has to do with breakage as opposed to regrowth, because my hair doesn't look particularly thinning. I don't have any hormonal issues that I know of (I'm 23) and my hair looks fine other than the slow growing. I can't take Biotin because it breaks me out but I am going to start taking some herbal supplements. It looks a little thin at the ends, but that's probably because I haven't gotten a haircut in over 6 months (because my hair won't freakin grow!)

I think, considering you've had two professional cuts, 2 to 3 inches is pretty nice growth! Hairdressers take a lot off if you don't specifically ask for a slight dusting (if they even understand that)!

[lapushka]

I agree with you heidi - there just might be too aggressive trimming, and hair breakage...... ..... But I wonder about your advice about conditioner on the scalp. There is a whole, huge thread here about co-washing, and many other sites dedicated to thousands of women and their experience with washing hair and scalp only with conditioner. It leads to better scalp and hair health. I've been Conditioner Washing for four years now and my hair growth has been phenomenal. Why is it that you advise to avoid conditioner on the scalp?

I think this may be the case for us oily haired girls. Conditioner on the scalp is a big no-no in that case.

[Helenae]

I need help with this too guys, so going to keep an eye on this thread.

Really sorry for your stalled hair growth, I've had the same problem for 2 years. My hair will never budge past waist length & I dream of achieving tailbone. I've have 1" trims twice a year, so I don't understand why my growth is stalled, considering I used to have hip length hair years ago. I look after my hair, do coconut oilings, S&Ds, catnip soaks, gentle combing with my wooden wide tooth comb. I tried BBBrushing, but I only do that occasionally if I'm having a bad scalp buildup.

I wish I understood why my hair won't grow. I'm pretty sure its got something to do with living in the horribly cold & damp UK. When I went abroad for 2 weeks, my hair grew 1.5" in 2 weeks! It's so sad having painfully slow growth.

Also, does anyone know any good clarifying methods for scalp buildup? I don't want to have to use a strong sulphate shampoo every single time. ACV rinses don't really work for me either.

[kitschy]

I think this may be the case for us oily haired girls. Conditioner on the scalp is a big no-no in that case.


Perhaps, - yet many oily-scalped people have been helped tremendously with Conditioner Only washing. There is some evidence that excess oil production is a result of using sulphates to strip the scalp, and it is the harshness of sulphates on the scalp that sends oil production skyrocketing. I've never heard of conditioner stopping hair growth, but with evidence I can be convinced.

[Lunadriael]

Perhaps, - yet many oily-scalped people have been helped tremendously with Conditioner Only washing. There is some evidence that excess oil production is a result of using sulphates to strip the scalp, and it is the harshness of sulphates on the scalp that sends oil production skyrocketing. I've never heard of conditioner stopping hair growth, but with evidence I can be convinced.

For some people using conditioner on the scalp increases shedding. This might by why Heidi advised against it, but it is by no means always the case for everyone. Whenever I use conditioner on my scalp I start shedding like crazy. So it's a personal issue and I would proceed with caution. The OP would need to try it and see whether it helps her hair by being a more gentle washing method, or whether it causes shedding and/or makes her hair all lank and nasty all the time, as it did for me.

OP: Another way to wash which might help is to put conditioner on your ends first to protect them a bit, then shampoo the top, then condition your ends again. Or to dilute your shampoo. You could also swap to SLS free, those kind of things can help to reduce damage or allow you to stretch washes. I wouldn't recommend (and I assume you're not) shampooing your ends unless you have obvious build up and you're clarifying or using a chelating shampoo.

Tbh, I agree that the issue is probably that you're getting too much chopped off and the old damage might be causing some breakage. Either invest in some sharp hair-only scissors and start trimming it yourself using Feye's method for example, or get a trusted hair stylist to only take off 1/2 an inch when extremely necessary, not 2 inches every so many months. Making your long hair goals crystal clear will definitely help and you want whoever is cutting your hair to support them.

It could take a few years for you to get rid of all the old dye. Depending on how fragile your hair is that could also be causing the lack of growth. I doubt the way you are sleeping or use of silicones is a huge factor unless your ends are already quite unhealthy. Silicones aren't necessarily bad, it just depends on how your hair responds to them. Cutting them out may help you to stretch washes though, so just try with and without and see what your hair likes best. You could also try and work out whether your hair is lacking protein or moisture and if it is try some deep treatments based on what is needed, as this may help to prevent breakage & improve overall condition.

If it is old damage, which I suspect it might be, all I can really recommend in this case is patience.:flower:

[jeanniet]

Perhaps, - yet many oily-scalped people have been helped tremendously with Conditioner Only washing. There is some evidence that excess oil production is a result of using sulphates to strip the scalp, and it is the harshness of sulphates on the scalp that sends oil production skyrocketing. I've never heard of conditioner stopping hair growth, but with evidence I can be convinced.

I've always used conditioner on my scalp whether COing or not, and my growth rate has always been a little above average (sometimes a lot above). My shed rate is probably at the high end of average, but then I have a lot of hair. I don't think using conditioner on your scalp is a universal no-no.

[lapushka]

Perhaps, - yet many oily-scalped people have been helped tremendously with Conditioner Only washing. There is some evidence that excess oil production is a result of using sulphates to strip the scalp, and it is the harshness of sulphates on the scalp that sends oil production skyrocketing. I've never heard of conditioner stopping hair growth, but with evidence I can be convinced.

In my case, CO gets my hair oilier, it's a big nasty mess. I need a harsh cleanser to get my hair clean and to keep the SD at bay. Conditioner on the scalp is personal choice, IMO.


For some people using conditioner on the scalp increases shedding. This might by why Heidi advised against it, but it is by no means always the case for everyone. Whenever I use conditioner on my scalp I start shedding like crazy. So it's a personal issue and I would proceed with caution. The OP would need to try it and see whether it helps her hair by being a more gentle washing method, or whether it causes shedding and/or makes her hair all lank and nasty all the time, as it did for me.

Same here. I can't use conditioner on the scalp.

[jojo]

2-3" growth with two hair trims at a salon would probably amount to 6" a year you grew, which is the normal rate! Id recommend self trimming so you are more in control of how much you take off. The average rate of growth is 1/2" a month, some get an inch and some claim to get 2" a month but i tend to think its more wishful thinking ;) you can get growth spurts of a couple of inches but they are few and far between. I can only think of one member squiggy who got 2" a month and proved this with photos. So chill your hair is growing at a normal rate :flowers: