why is my hair not getting longer?

[Sheylenna]

For the last few years I have been growing out my hair. The last time I trimmed it was last summer or earlier and my hair while growing has not gotten longer. I know it is growing because I got it colored too. It also seems that the cut has not changed.


You know how you get a nice trim and your hair has this nice sharp edge on the end then it starts growing and after a while it starts getting ragged well my hair seems to still have that sharp edge though I may be wrong. The color shows that it has grown at least two inches but the length seems to be stuck just shorter then waist.


I oil, I try to wash it only twice a week, though it wants to be washed every other day, I try to use the gentle shampoo. It just does not want to get to waist. Though I did run out of tea tree oil but other than that...

I even try to braid it or keep it above my head at night, though braid waves just look horrible in my hair it makes my hair look un brushed . Any suggestions?

[pixldust]

It may be that the growth rate has slowed or that you've hit a bit of a stall. Is this the first time you've coloured or do you colour regularly? Unfortunately, sometimes if your ends have damage due to chemical processes they can break off, meaning your hair is still growing but you're not actually gaining length.

[excentricat]

I'm reasonably sure hair doesn't grow between bsl and waist. You just hang out at BSL for months and months, then one morning you wake up and have waist length hair. At least, that's what happened to me. Give it a little more time. Baby the ends a bunch if you need to feel like you're doing something.

[Radiant]

I had similar thoughts to pixldust regarding the hair color perhaps being the cause. I've heard some people's hair just won't tolerate chemicals (or the color was used improperly or too harsh) and results in the breaking off of hair from the ends. Do your ends seem to be in bad shape? If so perhaps while your hair is continuing to grow (as evidenced by the new growth where the color needs touched up) it's breaking off from the ends at the same rate, resulting in the length staying stagnant.

[memeow]

I'm with excentricat, it can be very hard to tell if your hair is actually getting longer when it's around BSL. Have you been measuring it?

Do you wear it down during the day? BSL is a common length for chair-induced stalls. If you're sitting in a chair, your ends get squished by the back of the chair, and over time this can lead to damage that causes them to break off.

What do the ends of your hair look like? Any splitting or white dots? It could be damaged (from dye, heat, rough handling, etc.) and breaking off for that reason.

[Panth]

1) Breakage due to dye/bleach? How are you colouring? Demi-permanent and permanent dye use developers (bleach) and can be very damaging, especially if repeat applications are done on the whole head rather than simply touching up the roots. Even semi-permanent dyes can be damaging over time.

2) Mechanical damage? BSL-ish is a prime length for it to rub between your back and your chairs. Other culprits may be bag straps, car seat belts, etc. You can also get considerable mechanical damage by detangling roughly and/or with incorrect tools (e.g. brushes with ball-headed bristles), from getting tangles from wearing it loose (particularly in wind/rain), etc. You can deal with all of this with updos. You can also deal with tangles by using slip-promoting products such as 'cones.

3) Have you actually measured/photographed? As others say, depending on where your body markers are it can be quite hard to notice growth when you're in the BSL region.

Also, as an aside, if your hair wants to be washed more often, I think you should go for it. Washing daily is not a universal impediment to long hair and stretching washes is really over-hyped. Yes, it works wonderfully for some people (and is great then, even if simply for the savings in time and also money (from using less products)). However, there's really no point in forcing it if your hair/scalp doesn't like it. Overdoing stretching washes is also a great way to trigger yeast infections (if you are susceptible to such things) and those can be a real pain - painful, unsightly, shed-inducing, growth-slowing and often recurrent.

Stretching washes also usually works much better with regular, rather than sulphate-free/gentle shampoos, btw. It's often a one-or-the-other thing. Gentle shampoos, too, are perhaps only necessary for scalp health rather than hair growing. Many people's hair can tolerate sulphate shampoos and still grow long without any appreciable damage. It's just that some people's scalp/skin cannot tolerate sulphates and that there is a concern that sulphates can cause skin-thinning (http://www.eczema.org/aqeous). However, the big hype about sulphates being so awful for hair is ... just that: hype. Same for 'cones.

[Majorane]

I'm reasonably sure hair doesn't grow between bsl and waist. You just hang out at BSL for months and months, then one morning you wake up and have waist length hair.
I don't have anything to add except that this is what happens between APL and BSL too. Scientifically proven, it has to do with a glitch in the timespace continuum and it happens to almost all longhairs.

Do you wear your hair up a lot, or down a lot?

[Sheylenna]

I usually color twice a year just....t to cover grays... which I guess kinda defeats the purpose since I spend more time with grays then with out...

[Sheylenna]

@Radiant
Well Considering there have been times that I have bleached the h--l out of it, to get rid of red color, then colored it then bleached it then colored it.... and it still grew. In fact it has recently grown that out and the last trim got rid of the last of that hair. I condition and oil the ends like there is no tomorrow. And they ends seem fine...they are a bit thinner then the roots but not so much that is is noticeable except when I put two ponytail holders in on at the top and one at the bottom. And it takes a lot for my hair to tangle... like not brushing it for several days. sure I get a snag here and there but they slip right out and are barely noticeable.

[Sheylenna]

@memeow
It is either in a side ponytail or a braid of some kind over my shoulder. Lots of splitting but I have always had splitting even when my hair was growing. I only use heat in the winter and I don't style using heat just dry it by hanging it over my shoulder and letting the hot air blow through it. If I have time I don't even do that though I do use a hairdryer and brush on my bangs. Most of the time my hair is up in a high pony with it pulled halfway through the last loop. I find buns uncomfortable and they just don't look right in my hair...

[Seeshami]

The way down your back has body markers inches, as in more then two, from each other while chin, shoulder, Apl, shoulder blade and bra strap are all fairly close.

Bra strap to waist on me is an entire year of growing (Theoretically as I didnt time it)

From waist to hip the same. Then holy crap how is it tbl? How is it classic? And are you freaking kidding me finger tip? All happened in the same year.

[Sheylenna]

1) Breakage due to dye/bleach? How are you colouring? Demi-permanent and permanent dye use developers (bleach) and can be very damaging, especially if repeat applications are done on the whole head rather than simply touching up the roots. Even semi-permanent dyes can be damaging over time.

2) Mechanical damage? BSL-ish is a prime length for it to rub between your back and your chairs. Other culprits may be bag straps, car seat belts, etc. You can also get considerable mechanical damage by detangling roughly and/or with incorrect tools (e.g. brushes with ball-headed bristles), from getting tangles from wearing it loose (particularly in wind/rain), etc. You can deal with all of this with updos. You can also deal with tangles by using slip-promoting products such as 'cones.

3) Have you actually measured/photographed? As others say, depending on where your body markers are it can be quite hard to notice growth when you're in the BSL region.
<snip>



Like I said approximately every 6 or so months I color to brighten and get rid of grays. i get it done to maybe a shade lighter then my natural color and the pic I use for my Avatar is about 4 years old and done just after my hair had been bleached about three times in one day. Actually maybe I should have learned my lesson then for some reason my hair does better when I'm rougher on it.

My hair is either in a high pony/low braid or a side pony/braid usually sometimes I wear it down. My hair does not really tangle. As long as it is conditioned if I don't have conditioner all bets are off.

I go by the waist of my pants it does not feel any closer to the waist of my pants then 6 months ago.

[Sheylenna]

I have a short body so waist for me is shor. I see pics or vids of people with waist length hair and its like wow that is soooo much longer then mine.

[Seeshami]

Put it up and ignore it. The watched pot never boiles. When I was getting ready for my wedding I measured my hair amd felt like it didnt grow for months.

[Agnes Hannah]

Mine isn't doing much at the minute, it has just reached 30", but was 29" for about six months! I have trimmed it though, twice in this time, just 0.5cm each time so I guess it has grown a little. I find that in winter it grows less too. Now spring is coming, the speed of growth will increase. Maybe this is the same for you too.

[lapushka]

It sounds like you've been getting a lot of trims lately. Could that be a contributing factor?

[swearnsue]

I suggest getting a leave in conditioner to put on your ends. I like Pantene Overnight Miracle. When I use it, almost every night, I stop the breakage and gain length.

Also, do you have enough protein and other nutrients in your daily diet? Just a thought that very slow growth could be caused by lack of protein, or iron.

[endlessly]

The only reason I can think of for it not appearing to grow longer is if the ends are breaking off due to damage of some kind. You would still notice the growth at your roots, which is what you had mentioned, but it's possible for the length to just be breaking. Typically, I would tell you that your hair growth might be stalled because that does sometimes happen - I had a stall for 3 months and then it seemed to suddenly grow 5 inches over night! But, if that was the case, I don't think you'd been seeing any growth at your roots, so I'm not sure. Otherwise, do you seem to have more volume to your hair? Because that too could make it appear at the same length when it is actually growing longer. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

[meteor]

My hair is either in a high pony/low braid or a side pony/braid usually sometimes I wear it down. My hair does not really tangle. As long as it is conditioned if I don't have conditioner all bets are off.

I'd highly recommend learning buns and other updos (YouTube is great for that - Torrinpaige comes to mind). Quite a few LHC-ers reported hitting false terminals until they started wearing hair up all the time. Don't underestimate all that mechanical damage, at first invisible to the naked eye, that can accumulate when hair is worn down (especially on finer hair).

[lapushka]

Check your lengths for signs of white dots or splits. If there are those there, your hair might be in fact breaking off (white dots).

[Sheylenna]

I haven't even thought about my hair for months I just noticed the other day that it hasn't gotten any longer.

[Sheylenna]

Haven't cut it since summer. Not even the bangs which I'm determined to grow out.

[Sheylenna]

Protein and iron are probably about the ONLY nutrients that I get on a regular basis since meat and milk are about the only things I constantly keep in my house ^ . ^

[Sheylenna]

The only reason I can think of for it not appearing to grow longer is if the ends are breaking off due to damage of some kind. You would still notice the growth at your roots, which is what you had mentioned, but it's possible for the length to just be breaking. Typically, I would tell you that your hair growth might be stalled because that does sometimes happen - I had a stall for 3 months and then it seemed to suddenly grow 5 inches over night! But, if that was the case, I don't think you'd been seeing any growth at your roots, so I'm not sure. Otherwise, do you seem to have more volume to your hair? Because that too could make it appear at the same length when it is actually growing longer. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

Volume? My hair doesn't even hold a curl when it is curled with tons of hairspray mousse gel and a curling iron at hair damaging temps. Volume nah my hair is as straight and flat as ever ^ . ^

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Try improving your diet and keeping your hair up in ends-friendly styles - claw clips, hair sticks or forks. Preferably not elastics as they can break and damage your hair. I'm sure that if you avoid doing damage to it, and are gentle and patient you will see growth.

[Sheylenna]

I'd highly recommend learning buns and other updos (YouTube is great for that - Torrinpaige comes to mind). Quite a few LHC-ers reported hitting false terminals until they started wearing hair up all the time. Don't underestimate all that mechanical damage, at first invisible to the naked eye, that can accumulate when hair is worn down (especially on finer hair).

Oh I watch those tutorials all the time problem is I get frustrated cause when Torrin does something she puts less then a 1/4 of her hair in a braid and it looks like mine does when all my hair is in a braid. Then she gets the updo done and what for her is a do almost bigger then her head is for me a do that is smaller then my fist. And while I have large hands they are not that large. ^ . ^ my hair also does not like to STAY in an updo I put it up less than an hour later the ends are sticking out and the pins are slipping off. Then I get in my car and yank it down out of frustration cause I can't lean back against the headrest comfortably and my neck is starting to hurt. So I compromise with the braid or ponytail. And even then I'm only really comfortable with a braid. And it takes me so long to put the hair up and it's messed up so quick that its frustrating.

My only consolation is that my hair and scalp are NOT sensitive and I can used anything in it. Though I have more problems when I baby my hair then when I don't maybe I should just stop worrying.

[Sheylenna]

Check your lengths for signs of white dots or splits. If there are those there, your hair might be in fact breaking off (white dots).

My hair always has splits even when its growing fine. Infact it gets more splits when I try to get rid of them all. Oh well I need to find my hair scissor.

[Nique1202]

I'd highly recommend learning buns and other updos (YouTube is great for that - Torrinpaige comes to mind). Quite a few LHC-ers reported hitting false terminals until they started wearing hair up all the time. Don't underestimate all that mechanical damage, at first invisible to the naked eye, that can accumulate when hair is worn down (especially on finer hair).

This so much. Even if the elastics you use are metal-free/snag-free, there's friction from the thread/fabric covering the elastic as you pull it through to put it up, mechanical damage from especially the hairs on the outside of the ponytail being compressed and bent if they get caught between the loops of the elastic, constant mechanical damage throughout the day as those compressed hairs are swished and rubbed together and against the elastic whenever you move your head, friction damage on the ends and the length as it rubs against your clothes/bag straps/anything else that touches your shoulders, and more mechanical/manipulation damage and friction on the hair as you take the elastic out.

If your hair takes 2-3 years to grow to bsl/waist from the scalp (depending on your growth rate) that's 2-3 years of accumulated daily damage. That on top of bleaching (even if it's just a shade or two, twice a year) could absolutely cause a false terminal before waist from breakage. No-metal elastics are touted as safe, but daily use will still cause a lot of damage. Buns, especially held with a smooth stick, pen, pencil, or spin pins, don't compress the hair the same way, don't cause or enable friction in the same way, and protect the length and the ends except for what's on the very outside of the bun.

[Duchess Fuzzy Buns]

Oh I watch those tutorials all the time problem is I get frustrated cause when Torrin does something she puts less then a 1/4 of her hair in a braid and it looks like mine does when all my hair is in a braid.Then she gets the updo done and what for her is a do almost bigger then her head is for me a do that is smaller then my fist. And while I have large hands they are not that large. ^ . ^ my hair also does not like to STAY in an updo I put it up less than an hour later the ends are sticking out and the pins are slipping off. Then I get in my car and yank it down out of frustration cause I can't lean back against the headrest comfortably and my neck is starting to hurt. So I compromise with the braid or ponytail. And even then I'm only really comfortable with a braid. And it takes me so long to put the hair up and it's messed up so quick that its frustrating.

My only consolation is that my hair and scalp are NOT sensitive and I can used anything in it. Though I have more problems when I baby my hair then when I don't maybe I should just stop worrying.
I know what you mean- Torrin is one of my favorite youtubers, but she has SO MUCH more hair than me so nothing ever looks the same in my hair. :D If that's discouraging to you, look for hair tutorials from other people with thinner hair, like maybe Loepsie or Lilithmoon... I do think buns or full updos of some sort that keep your ends protected will help you see more growth.

[meteor]

Oh I watch those tutorials all the time problem is I get frustrated cause when Torrin does something she puts less then a 1/4 of her hair in a braid and it looks like mine does when all my hair is in a braid. Then she gets the updo done and what for her is a do almost bigger then her head is for me a do that is smaller then my fist. And while I have large hands they are not that large. ^ . ^ my hair also does not like to STAY in an updo I put it up less than an hour later the ends are sticking out and the pins are slipping off. Then I get in my car and yank it down out of frustration cause I can't lean back against the headrest comfortably and my neck is starting to hurt. So I compromise with the braid or ponytail. And even then I'm only really comfortable with a braid. And it takes me so long to put the hair up and it's messed up so quick that its frustrating.

My only consolation is that my hair and scalp are NOT sensitive and I can used anything in it. Though I have more problems when I baby my hair then when I don't maybe I should just stop worrying.

Try sectioned buns: first do a bun from a half up and losely twist or braid and wrap the remaining hair around the main bun.
Or do something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsQ15IxkWMA (This "braided beehive" is great not only for thick hair to distribute weight but also to spread out the hair in a big bun)
Or try updos that really spread out hair: the Jamie Leigh, neoma knot, the Masara, French tuck, French twist, Gibson tuck, peacock twist...


My hair always has splits even when its growing fine. Infact it gets more splits when I try to get rid of them all. Oh well I need to find my hair scissor.

I know not everybody on the LHC agrees with this, but I firmly believe that developing splits frequently is *not* normal - it just means that this routine is not good enough for this specific hair type.
Maybe you need to baby your ends more, oil the ends of your hair every night, sleep with hair contained (braided/bunned) on silk/satin (pillowcase/sleep cap), condition hair a lot more intensely, do pre-poo oiling, oil rinses, add oils to conditioner, LOC method...

[MsVenus]

Hello, from the sound of your day to day style I believe it is damaging. To pull the hair half way through an elastic to make a bun puts tension and friction on the strands in that area where the band constantly sits. I agree that twisting the hair in some sort of bun with no elastics in it daily would show you some improvement. I do also believe it is hard to notice length in certain areas behind your back. So try to stop pulling it half through the bands daily for a loop bun. Try to just do a simple cinna bun or similar with a stick or fork daily and leave it.
Braids are also problematic because you have to use an elastic to hold the ends. that weakens the ends. Using elastics or bands may work for virgin hair, but for color treated hair it might be best to do styles which do not rely on elastics cutting across any part of the strand whatsoever. So a twisted bun held by a stick or even a satin cloth scrunchy would create fewer friction spots on the length of the hair. And if you want to do a braid, try a paranda. That way you tie it off with a band on the added longer yarn, hair fiber or whatever instead of on your own strands.
Best wishes.

[Shibe]

I thought my hair wasnt growing and I just realized it was breaking off. Braiding at night does nothing because my ends are still exposed.

I have been doing catnip tea rinses, wearing a parandi to bed, and covered my pillow in satin. I'm already seeing an insanely lower amount of splits.

You could have mechanical damage without realizing it.

edit: I just realized we are essentially hair type twins: It took me a LONG time to realize what I thought was doing to protect my hair wasn't enough. With hair as fine as ours we need to overcompensate. Mine breaks if you look at it wrong!

[memeow]

If you have lots of splits you almost certainly are just having the ends fall off at the same rate your hair grows. This happened to me for about a year. What made a difference for me was that I stopped brushing (I'd been using a plastic brush) and started just finger detangling as necessary, and I stopped wearing ponytails and switched to spin pin buns. Good luck!