Is that true?!?

[M.McDonough]

Is it true split ends make your hair grow slowly? :angry:
I'm terrified of trimming...I think trimming removes new growth but at the same time I don't want to go for months without any noticeable length. I don't know what to do
I think my hair is fairly smooth even though I've only gotten the split ends off once since I started growing my hair 22 months ago.



obviously there's a misunderstanding here
I did not say trimming affects growth..I don't even know who said that! What I meant is ''trimming affects growth in the sense that every time your hair grows a little you chop it off every time your hair grows a little you chop it off...so that way you're obviously not going to gain any lenth BECAUSE OF trimming! that's it.. I didn't say trimming affects the roots or anything like that..

[flickm]

Is it true split ends make your hair grow slowly? :angry:
I'm terrified of trimming...I think trimming removes new growth but at the same time I don't want to go for months without any noticeable length. I don't know what to do
I think my hair is fairly smooth even though I've only gotten the split ends off once since I started growing my hair 22 months ago.

As I understand it, split ends can travel up the hair shaft a bit, potentially making it snap off, so I think they need careful removal. You could always just snip the splits and leave the rest untrimmed. I oil the ends of mine lightly where they're dry, and that certainly stops tangles and breakage.

[Dragon Faery]

Is it true split ends make your hair grow slowly? :angry:
I'm terrified of trimming and I don't want to go for months without any noticeable length
I think my hair is fairly smooth even though I've only got the split ends off once since I started growing my hair 22 months ago.

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: What happens to your ends has no effect on your scalp. Hair is like fingernails: it grows from the root and has no way of sensing what happens to it at the ends. That being said, splits will make your hair APPEAR to grow more slowly over time, especially if you have a lot of them. A split is a place where the hair shaft has been damaged to the point of breaking. Think of hair strands like ropes or threads: over time they start fraying. The purpose of cutting the split part off is to keep the split from traveling further up the shaft, causing the ends of that strand of hair to occasionally break off. Getting rid of splits also keeps them from catching on neighboring hairs and causing tangles or extra roughness that eventually lead to more damage and more splits.

You don't have to cut all your hair every time you get splits. And a few splits are nothing to worry about. But if you get a lot of splits and don't want to cut all your hair, you can search through your hair for the specific hairs that are split and trim those just above the split part. You need to make sure you're using very sharp hair trimming scissors for it, though, as anything else will potentially damage the hair you just cut. If your hair isn't long enough to bring around in front yet, just treat it as gently as possible and don't worry too much. Go for a trim when it gets bad, and rest assured that as it gets longer you can trim those pesky splits yourself and keep your length.

[Chocowalnut]

Your hair grows from the scalp, not the ends. You could never trim and and grow your hair just as fast. The point of trimming is to remove damage (split ends/white dots, which if this breaks off, will make your hair shorter, but does not technically make your hair "grow" slower). People also trim to have a nice hemline.

[Horrorpops]

Totally agree with previous posters, hair grows from the roots and splits happen at the ends. The hair doesn't "know" it gets damaged etc or grow slower as a result (I have had people tell me this, however so be warned! :D ).
However, as explained above if you hair is splitting and breaking all the time at the ends, it'll appear as though it isn't growing because it isn't gaining length. Its breaking as fast (or faster) than it is growing. This is the pits and I personally had hair like this for years while I was bleaching/dying/heat styling it!

Finally I wanted to add that you may not need to trim! Tons of people here swear by it, but just as many don't. :) I personally am currently getting approximately 1 trim a year (maybe 1 or 2 inches) out of convenience primarily and my hair is getting longer than when I used to get 6 week trims.There is actually a "No trimming 2015" thread on this forum which is excellent and full of advice and examples of people who aren't trimming frequently but have beautiful, healthy hair. Check it out here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126267) if you're interested. :) You'll obviously have to see if it works for you, as some people find they like/need regular trims to prevent split ends and damage. However in my experience, trimming less does not mean damaged, split ends or horrible hair.

[M.McDonough]

Totally agree with previous posters, hair grows from the roots and splits happen at the ends. The hair doesn't "know" it gets damaged etc or grow slower as a result (I have had people tell me this, however so be warned! :D ).
However, as explained above if you hair is splitting and breaking all the time at the ends, it'll appear as though it isn't growing because it isn't gaining length. Its breaking as fast (or faster) than it is growing. This is the pits and I personally had hair like this for years while I was bleaching/dying/heat styling it!

Finally I wanted to add that you may not need to trim! Tons of people here swear by it, but just as many don't. :) I personally am currently getting approximately 1 trim a year (maybe 1 or 2 inches) out of convenience primarily and my hair is getting longer than when I used to get 6 week trims.There is actually a "No trimming 2015" thread on this forum which is excellent and full of advice and examples of people who aren't trimming frequently but have beautiful, healthy hair. Check it out here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126267) if you're interested. :) You'll obviously have to see if it works for you, as some people find they like/need regular trims to prevent split ends and damage. However in my experience, trimming less does not mean damaged, split ends or horrible hair.

Yes, I haven't trimmed my hair since the beginning of 2015
Last time I did in November 2014
And Thank you that's what I'm talking about..I think trimming cripples the growth process that's why if you trim less often your hair will grow faster

[Panth]

Yes, I haven't trimmed my hair since the beginning of 2015
Last time I did in November 2014
And Thank you that's what I'm talking about..I think trimming cripples the growth process that's why if you trim less often your hair will grow longer

Trimming has no effect on the growth process, just like splits have no effect on the growth process. Your hair will just grow at its usual rate and nothing (barring internal/biological stuff like health issues, stress, yeast infections) will alter that.

The thing is, though, that "growth" as measured by most people is not really grown (i.e. amount grown) but length gain. Length gain is a function of growth from the top and loss from the bottom. Loss = trimming or breaking off. Either will affect "growth" (i.e. length gain) by a simple function of mathematics. Grow 1" per month but trim 1" per month and you will not see any length gain. Grow 1" per month and trim 7/8" per month and you'll see very, very slow length gain.

Splits affect length gain in exactly the same manner. Splits indicate your hair is breaking off. If loss from it breaking off is near or equal to your growth rate, you'll see little/no length gain. If it's greater than your growth rate, you'll see your hair shorten over time.

Trims can help because (depending on hairtype and damage) sometimes a trimmed split will result in less total being removed from the bottom of the hair strand than if you left it to split further, travel up, break off and loose length in that way. Also, trimming splits means they won't tangle onto other strands so badly (so, you don't risk splitting/damaging/breaking off the ends of other strands when combing out tangles caused by split hairs).

It really depends - some people actually get a better rate of length gain if they do regular microtrimming because they prevent the splits from getting out of hand and causing lots of length loss by breakage. Others get better rate of length gain with minimal/no trims because they either have little splits/damage or their splits don't tend to get very big. It's a YMMV thing and there is no universal answer.

[Horrorpops]

Yes, I haven't trimmed my hair since the beginning of 2015
Last time I did in November 2014
And Thank you that's what I'm talking about..I think trimming cripples the growth process that's why if you trim less often your hair will grow longer

To clarify, my hair appeared to grow slower woth regular trims because each time I got maybe 1 inch cut off which over a year added up to say 6 inches, whereas now I trim off maybe 2 in a year.
I don't know if trimming can physically change the growth of hair at the roots but if you are interested in not trimming definitely check out that thread :)

[Nique1202]

Yes, I haven't trimmed my hair since the beginning of 2015
Last time I did in November 2014
And Thank you that's what I'm talking about..I think trimming cripples the growth process that's why if you trim less often your hair will grow longer

Well, sort of but I'm not sure if you're just oversimplifying or if there's a language barrier going on here. Trimming doesn't increase or decrease the growth rate at the roots, but if you're trimming your ends as much as your scalp is growing out (or, if your hair is so weak that it's breaking off as much as the scalp is growing) then you'll never see an increase in length. If your hair grows 1 cm every month, but you lose/cut 1 cm every month, then your hair will stay the same length. If your hair grows 1 cm every month, but you trim 1 cm every six months, then your hair will grow longer over time.

If you want to increase length, just snip the split ends that you find off with nice, sharp scissors a little bit above where the top of the split is (making sure that if the split is backwards on the hair, you trim above where the hair shaft started separating) and don't trim the rest of the hairs. Eventually you might notice some thinning at the ends because of this, in which case you can trim up the rest of the hair a little bit to even it out if it bothers you, but by then you should have at least gained more length so the little trim won't feel like it's holding you back as much.

[truepeacenik]

Trimming has no effect on the growth process, just like splits have no effect on the growth process. Your hair will just grow at its usual rate and nothing (barring internal/biological stuff like health issues, stress, yeast infections) will alter that.

The thing is, though, that "growth" as measured by most people is not really grown (i.e. amount grown) but length gain. Length gain is a function of growth from the top and loss from the bottom. Loss = trimming or breaking off. Either will affect "growth" (i.e. length gain) by a simple function of mathematics. Grow 1" per month but trim 1" per month and you will not see any length gain. Grow 1" per month and trim 7/8" per month and you'll see very, very slow length gain.

Splits affect length gain in exactly the same manner. Splits indicate your hair is breaking off. If loss from it breaking off is near or equal to your growth rate, you'll see little/no length gain. If it's greater than your growth rate, you'll see your hair shorten over time.

Trims can help because (depending on hairtype and damage) sometimes a trimmed split will result in less total being removed from the bottom of the hair strand than if you left it to split further, travel up, break off and loose length in that way. Also, trimming splits means they won't tangle onto other strands so badly (so, you don't risk splitting/damaging/breaking off the ends of other strands when combing out tangles caused by split hairs).

It really depends - some people actually get a better rate of length gain if they do regular microtrimming because they prevent the splits from getting out of hand and causing lots of length loss by breakage. Others get better rate of length gain with minimal/no trims because they either have little splits/damage or their splits don't tend to get very big. It's a YMMV thing and there is no universal answer.


This.
Here's how I explain it: length = growth - trimming or damage.
People who report gains in growth after a trim typically had damage and breakage issues, therefore weren't seeing much gain.
Some will come back with : "but I was measuring the dye demarcation line."
Placebo effect. Or it coincided with a spurt.

[M.McDonough]

To clarify, my hair appeared to grow slower woth regular trims because each time I got maybe 1 inch cut off which over a year added up to say 6 inches, whereas now I trim off maybe 2 in a year.
I don't know if trimming can physically change the growth of hair at the roots but if you are interested in not trimming definitely check out that thread :)


Well, sort of but I'm not sure if you're just oversimplifying or if there's a language barrier going on here. Trimming doesn't increase or decrease the growth rate at the roots, but if you're trimming your ends as much as your scalp is growing out (or, if your hair is so weak that it's breaking off as much as the scalp is growing) then you'll never see an increase in length. If your hair grows 1 cm every month, but you lose/cut 1 cm every month, then your hair will stay the same length. If your hair grows 1 cm every month, but you trim 1 cm every six months, then your hair will grow longer over time.

If you want to increase length, just snip the split ends that you find off with nice, sharp scissors a little bit above where the top of the split is (making sure that if the split is backwards on the hair, you trim above where the hair shaft started separating) and don't trim the rest of the hairs. Eventually you might notice some thinning at the ends because of this, in which case you can trim up the rest of the hair a little bit to even it out if it bothers you, but by then you should have at least gained more length so the little trim won't feel like it's holding you back as much.

I did not say trimming affects growth..I don't even know who said that! What I meant is ''trimming affects growth in the sense that every time your hair grows a little you chop it off every time your hair grows a little you chop it off...so that way you're obviously not going to gain any lenth BECAUSE OF trimming! that's it.. I didn't say trimming affects the roots or anything like that..

[endlessly]

Yes and no.

Yes, if the split has traveled entirely up the hair shaft because then it can damage the follicle making that particular hair grow much slower or stop growing completely. But, if you only have a small split at the end, no, it doesn't make your hair grow slower. Your hair grows from the roots, not the ends, so a split end won't affect it whatsoever. If I were you, I would look into S&D as a way to maintain splits since that way, you can avoid trimming a large section of length off.

[AmethystLily]

Trimming doesn't affect growth from the scalp. But both trimming and breakage can lower how much of that growth you retain at the ends. Growth =/= retention. If you are dealing with breakage or splits that lead to breakage, trimming can be a good thing. The trick is not to cut off an amount equal to or greater than your growth rate.

For example: Jenny gets 0.5 inches per month. If she trimmed 0.5 inches or greater monthly (or at an interval that equaled that same amount monthly like 1 inch every 2 months), she would not retain that length. If her hair is prone to breakage, and the breakage equals her growth rate, again, there's no length retention. Jenny's growth appears stagnant.

Since Jenny gets 0.5 inches growth per month, she would get 1 inch every two months. If she trimmed 0.25 inches every two months, she would still retain 0.75 inches in that same time frame. Over a year, Jenny would have a 4.5 inch length gain.

That was probably too much math, but here's a simple way to put it: Trim off less than you grow regularly, and you will gain length (retention). Trimming off an amount equal or greater than your growth rate means no gain or hair getting shorter.

To minimize this, a lot of people do a deep trim or cut to get rid of serious damage, and then trim tinier amounts (microtrim) from then on to prevent further damage. You can also "search and destroy" - look for splits on individual hairs and cut as you see them.

It can also help tremendously if you wear your hair up so your ends don't brush against your shoulders/back (or against the back of a chair, backpack, etc.).

[meteor]

I see a lot of great answers here, I have nothing to add, except that I don't know if split ends actually do travel up. I think they have potential to travel up, kind of how a hangnail can keep peeling under more stress... but I would imagine it depends on the kind of mechanical stress those individual split hairs are under.
This is purely my theory, but I think a small percentage of split hairs exposed to lots of additional mechanical damage, for example, can travel up, but most of them may stay the same if left alone and treated gently.

It would be cool to do this experiment to settle the issue, but I don't have any split ends in my hair to work with: I wanted to get a few hairs with different kinds of splits and see under what sort of tugging/pulling the split will increase/peel further up and if it's matching the kind of normal daily wear & tear that we put hair through. :hmm: I think it would be interesting to test.

I can certainly see how split ends left to their own devices will both increase tangling and also make the ends appear thinner or less neat than what they are. Ideally (though it's certainly not necessary) I'd recommend snipping them off with very sharp scissors in clean straight cut perpendicular to hair growth, as nothing mends splits permanently. :)

But the real solution for splits is prevention: all sorts of damage avoidance, gentle handling and adequate conditioning that provides slip and helps prevent damage.

[jeanniet]

I'm not sure what you're asking, based on your edit. If you trim, your hair is shorter, so of course it will take longer to grow from Point A to Point B. But the actual rate of growth is not based on how much or little you trim. A few splits aren't a problem, and can be dealt with by S & D, but a lot of splits lead to breakage, meaning shorter hair and longer to goal length (or, if it's bad enogh, no growth at all because of constant breakage).

[Panth]

I did not say trimming affects growth..I don't even know who said that! What I meant is ''trimming affects growth in the sense that every time your hair grows a little you chop it off every time your hair grows a little you chop it off...so that way you're obviously not going to gain any lenth BECAUSE OF trimming! that's it.. I didn't say trimming affects the roots or anything like that..

You said (my bold):


Yes, I haven't trimmed my hair since the beginning of 2015
Last time I did in November 2014
And Thank you that's what I'm talking about..I think trimming cripples the growth process that's why if you trim less often your hair will grow faster

That is why everyone thinks you thought trimming actually affects growth. "The growth process" = the process by which your body grows hair. Not how much length gain is visible.

[Horrorpops]

What I meant is ''trimming affects growth in the sense that every time your hair grows a little you chop it off every time your hair grows a little you chop it off...so that way you're obviously not going to gain any lenth BECAUSE OF trimming! that's it..

Apologies, my mistake! I've had a few people try and explain how trimming does affect growth at the roots, which is why I thought that was what you were saying. :blossom:
Totally with you there! I get way too snip happy with regular trims to gain any length :D

[irishlady]

No, split ends will not affect the rate at which your hair grows, as it grows from the roots, not the ends.
The split ends may however make it SEEM that it's growing slower because of the ends breaking off. Just trim off any split ends when you see them :)

[M.McDonough]

That's a dilemma ! [sigh]

[Wusel]

Getting rid of splits also keeps them from catching on neighboring hairs and causing tangles or extra roughness that eventually lead to more damage and more splits.


I didn't know this but it sounds very logical. Split ends are kinda dry and clingy... I'm sure they are no good for healthy hairs.

[janeytilllie]

It all depends on a individuals hair.

Splits can if neglected and are many can travel up causing breakage. Think of it like a thread. A split thread will part and go further up. A split thread needs cutting.

Many people, including me do preventive measures so splits are stopped being made in the first place. Moisture treatments,Oiling, cones,wearing hair up in protective styles, sleeping on satin pillowcase or sleep cap,better hair tools,safe hair accessories, herbs, changing routines. The list is endless.

Everyone's hair is different. :)

A lot of people can S&D (search and destroy) cutting an individual hair, just above a single split hair.

My hair is very susceptible to breakage. In the past. I had splits and I didn't trim it eventually lead to breakage. You can see the breakage in my signature picture of 2009 below.

I now trim every 4-6 months only taking 0.5" off. I do cut a lot of growth off but it's my personal hairs preference. :)

It's all trial and error. The best place to start is seeing what causes splits and eliminate that, so it decreases splits being formed.

Dryness and hearing hair snap are warning signs that a split may occur. Extreme dryness makes hair very delicate. YMMV

Once a spilt is there nothing on earth can mend it only cutting.

HTH :flower:

[Jadestorm]

In my opinion it's better to get rid of splits regularly just because leaving them will just make your hair break anyway and they're not miraculously going to disappear, so it's better to deal with them. Cutting and then taking extra good cares of those ends is what I personally do.

[M.McDonough]

I guess I'll go for it -.- I'd rather lose some length than have split ends!

[M.McDonough]

On the other hand, I'm not planning to trim until I reach my goal. Again I don't want to chop off my hair every time it grows a little..

[spidermom]

I've been in the sorry state where my hair was breaking off about as fast as it grew in the past. I am a fan of trimming, but not too much.

[QMacrocarpa]

I've been in the sorry state where my hair was breaking off about as fast as it grew in the past. I am a fan of trimming, but not too much.
Me too, on both points. OP, if you don't actually have splits now, I think you can wait to trim. My ends get into bad shape fairly quickly, so I self-trim twice a year. If I go much longer, I get instantly-tangling ends, and start seeing lots of short pieces break off during detangling. Some people have sturdier hair, and there's no need for them to trim as frequently.
:blossom:

[Mullsha]

I would recommend search and destroy for you it's a lot better then strait up trimming. (That is if split ends become a problem Hairfreaky longhair has his hair to the ground without trimming.)

[alexis917]

Splits don't directly slow the growth rate. But, they can negate it- if your hair is really damaged, any new growth won't make a difference because the ends will keep snapping off.

If you really need to trim, I used to love Feyes Method. I don't S&D if I see more than a few splits- I like a blunt hemline.

[Lucy Elizabeth]

It depends on the person's hair

Some people have tougher hair that can go YEARS without trimming and have no splits.

The split ends don't stop your hair from growing, because it grows from root to tip, but if they are bad enough the splits can travel up the shaft and break off, making your hair appear shorter.

I would say if you want to grow to extreme lengths try to get it cut an inch or so twice a year, avoid heat and wear protective styles. Hair splits no matter what from wear and tear, but the way you care for it will greatly affect how often/how much you need to get trimmed.

[Nadine <3]

I have splits and my hair grows just fine. I try to trim them out (S&D) so they don't snap off, but the layers I have left are in horrible shape.