View Full Version : Lost a foot of growth
LadyGoddess
November 1st, 2015, 06:14 PM
Hello! I was looking through some old photos from around 2007 and noticed that my hair was almost to my knees. Looking at my hair today, it's at least a foot shorter. The last trim I had done was around that time (2007) when it got cut up up to my wrists (ugh, I told them 2 inches max). Any ideas on what to do to get it to go back to the former length?
Factors to consider:
* I've been dying my hair for 15 years now (2-3x/year).
* I shampoo and condition daily (otherwise very greasy hair). I tend to buy cheaper stuff at around $3/bottle which focuses on one of these areas: shine, volume, dyed hair.
* I've got around 20 white hairs around my temples.
* My diet is probably healthier than it was back then.
* I take fish oil, vitamin D, woman's vitamin, and a mood stabiliser drug.
* In my early 30s
I'm trying very hard here to not be upset. My dream is to have ankle-length hair, but I hadn't really noticed the HUGE discrepency until last night.
http://i68.tinypic.com/9r0mqv.jpg
Quasiquixotic
November 1st, 2015, 06:36 PM
Could it be splits or damage cause the hair to break off?
spidermom
November 1st, 2015, 06:41 PM
That would be my question, too: is there a lot of damage?
One of my SIL had fingertip-length hair about 15 years ago but now the longest 5 hairs probably reach about tailbone. The ends look chewed on. She told me that she tries to be careful of it, but I've seen her yanking a fine-tooth comb through freshly washed hair as if it were an enemy she was determined to conquer. I tried to give her some tips, but she wasn't very receptive.
chen bao jun
November 1st, 2015, 06:45 PM
Hello! I was looking through some old photos from around 2007 and noticed that my hair was almost to my knees. Looking at my hair today, it's at least a foot shorter. The last trim I had done was around that time (2007) when it got cut up up to my wrists (ugh, I told them 2 inches max). Any ideas on what to do to get it to go back to the former length?
Factors to consider:
* I've been dying my hair for 15 years now (2-3x/year).
* I shampoo and condition daily (otherwise very greasy hair). I tend to buy cheaper stuff at around $3/bottle which focuses on one of these areas: shine, volume, dyed hair.
* I've got around 20 white hairs around my temples.
* My diet is probably healthier than it was back then.
* I take fish oil, vitamin D, woman's vitamin, and a mood stabiliser drug.
* In my early 30s
I'm trying very hard here to not be upset. My dream is to have ankle-length hair, but I hadn't really noticed the HUGE discrepency until last night.
Oh, I am sorry. I hope you figure out what it is.
My first two thoughts are, it may be dyeing that is keeping you from gaining extreme length again, because of the chemicals. If it is, it may NOT be necessary to stop. There may be things that you can do to make dyeing easier on your hair (there are threads with advice on that).
or
It may be the mood stablizer drug. is that one of the side effects? In this case, perhaps there is another one which may work and not have the same side effects?
I am guessing that it is not the fact that you wash your hair every day, causing this, since I presume you always have, and so also did at the point when you had almost knee length hair. I guess you were dying your hair back then also (since 15 years) but the dye damage may be cumulative?
You are too young for your age to have anything to do with it, unless you have otherwise poor health, which it doesn't sound as if you do.
Sure hope you find out and achieve your dream.
jt623
November 1st, 2015, 07:03 PM
Only you can decide if your hair needs trimmed. Personally, I find that my hair seems to grow faster after a trim. Before a trim my hair was only growing 1/2 inch a month. After the trim, it started growing 3/4 inch to 1 inch a month.
Wildcat Diva
November 1st, 2015, 07:36 PM
Is the drug Depokote?
I wonder if it is the drug. I also had a question if it was breakage too.
missrandie
November 1st, 2015, 07:50 PM
I'm pretty sure that some meds can make hair more fragile. Also, how old is the hair at the bottom? What happened in your life around the time it was growing? How was your nutrition back then? These are things to consider, as they can contribute to strength and integrity.
Nique1202
November 2nd, 2015, 04:22 AM
I'd say a big part of it is the accumulated damage from the dye. Even just a few times a year, that hair at the bottom is going to be many years old. If you changed the brand of dye you use or if the formula changed (since companies love to revamp their formulas every so often) it could be causing more damage now than it was then. Giving up the dye would be my #1 suggestion for growing longer, but it might still take a while for the less damaged hair higher up to grow long enough to cause a difference in the overall length.
I don't think your shampoo or conditioner, or even necessarily washing every day, would cause it, but it's possible if you're being rougher on your hair than you were then or if your hair texture itself changed somewhat in that time (which is SUPER common in the mid-20s and would be harder to notice because of the dye) then parts of your routine might be causing more damage than they used to even though you feel like you're doing the same thing. Evaluate everything you do that touches your hair in a day, and see if there are any ways you could change your habits (comb wet-and-conditioned instead of dry or dry instead of wet, make sure you're not rubbing your hair against anything unnecessarily out of mindless habit, if your protective style gets bumped up against then try a different one, etc.)
Either way, you might benefit from taking a couple of inches off the bottom now, so that the oldest, most damaged weak ends and breakage get nipped before they split and travel upward. Then, I'd see where you are in six months.
lapushka
November 2nd, 2015, 04:49 AM
My first thoughts go to the dye as well. Check your hair / ends (and do this until about 3 inches up the shaft - at least) for white dots or split ends. If you have none of those, chances are you aren't suffering breakage. But ends can *always* break. Also, what medication are you on - it might (or might not) play a part in all of this.
restless
November 2nd, 2015, 12:14 PM
Maybe Im just tired, but I cant find your routine regarding updos anywhere. Do you wear it up on a daily basis? Lots of ponytails/braids? What was your routine before? Im thinking it could be damage from rubbing on things.
Night_Kitten
November 2nd, 2015, 12:39 PM
There could be many factors to consider, here are some things I can think of to try to prevent damage / improve hair condition:
* try scalp-washes, only wetting the hair near your scalp (to about chin / shoulder) while keeping the length dry, doing a full wash only when the length actually needs it (if your length suffers mechanical damage during washing or drying that could help protect the length)
* check if your length / ends need protein treatment or extra moisture, the dying process can result in protein loss and/or more porous (and therefore dryer) hair...
* if possible, try only doing your roots when dying, exposing the length and ends to the dye as little as possible
* check for info on the meds / vitamins you take to see if one of the possible side effects is related to hair growth or condition - you could be sensitive to one of the non-active ingredients (fillers?) in one of your vitamins...
Hope you figure out what is causing the issue and how to avoid it :)
meteor
November 2nd, 2015, 12:43 PM
Oh no! :( I'm very sorry you are going through this, LadyGoddess! :grouphug:
First, I'd look at things you can control: I'd go over the ends and mid length and see if there is any breakage: any split ends, white dots, ends that don't look naturally tapered, etc.
Consider going for a milder (temporary-only) dye without developer, detangling even more gently, wearing hair up, sleeping on silk/satin, protecting hair with a hat when it's windy/sunny, etc... Also, if you wash your hair every day, you could try scalp-only washes sometimes (with length kept braided/bunned under a plastic cap to protect it from over-washing).
Also, can you remember the texture of your hair before vs. today? Did it get finer/more fragile/more dry, snaggy, different texture, etc...? If the ends feel more dry, I'd oil them more to give them more elasticity.
Has your hair thickness (ponytail circumference) changed as well?
Please do mention this issue to your doctor. It's quite possible that there is some health issue causing this, maybe nutritional deficiency or hormones, or the medication you are on. For example, if the medication causes brittle or dry hair, your doctor might be able to prescribe an alternative.
Another thing... and I really hope this isn't your case, but I remember a Sikh girl saying her mom used to have hair at knee+ but, after a certain age, it started getting shorter and shorter and is now waist+ (her hair was never trimmed as per Kesh practice). So either the longer hairs were breaking off or maybe the hairs with longer terminal length fell out and didn't get replaced or got replaced by hair that didn't live out its full terminal length for some reason... but she was healthy, apparently, and her hair care never changed.
Honestly, I don't know what's going on in those situations, but I'd keep digging with a good doctor (doing all the necessary blood tests) while protecting the hair as much as possible in the meantime. :flower:
Best of luck to you, LadyGoddess! :flower: I really hope your hair will be doing much, much better soon! :pray:
LadyGoddess
November 6th, 2015, 05:35 PM
Nope, Welbutrin.
LadyGoddess
November 7th, 2015, 02:19 PM
I just added a photo to my post. Looking at the ends closely, I noticed that the sections differ in length by 2-3 inches. :-/
LadyGoddess
November 7th, 2015, 02:21 PM
Thank you for your comforting words. I'm quite sad about it.
My hair *has* taken on a wavy appearance. Not very dramatic, but a few years ago, my hair was much straighter.
I'm now thinking that I should consider chopping off a foot to see if that'll remove the worst of the damage. My spouse would be so upset. He loves my long hair, but my heart is currently a bit sore too. (I've updated the post here with a photo of the ends)
LadyGoddess
November 7th, 2015, 02:22 PM
I really like the suggestion of dying only the roots. About 7 years ago, I tried to dye it back to match my original medium-to-dark brown hair color, but it just came out red-toned. This was with the darkest brown you could get without going for black.
jarlofthebogfey
November 7th, 2015, 10:28 PM
Thank you for your comforting words. I'm quite sad about it.
My hair *has* taken on a wavy appearance. Not very dramatic, but a few years ago, my hair was much straighter.
I'm now thinking that I should consider chopping off a foot to see if that'll remove the worst of the damage. My spouse would be so upset. He loves my long hair, but my heart is currently a bit sore too. (I've updated the post here with a photo of the ends)
You have to follow your heart. I have lived between hip and classic. Because I have always allowed plenty of damage by the time I reach classic. So I cut back to hip, love my "new healthy hemline", and still feel like I have long hair. DH doesn't "hate" it, but he doesn't like it... he would prefer it was at floor I think. :lol: But it doesn't make him as unhappy as if I had literally cut it all off! 47 - 12, is still 35" of hair. You're basically talking about 3 feet of hair. That's a lot of hair! ;)
However, if your hair is suddenly growing slow... then you're just going to make yourself feel more sad, because you'll feel like you're at 3 feet of hair forever. And that could be far more upsetting than having fairy tails to play with. You definitely have to think really well about it.
I have decided to go without cutting, and therefore I have present and future fairy tails, because of aformentioned damage habits, and previous layers. I'm embracing them. I only desire to cut them off about every 1 out of 3 days... I consider that a battle being well-fought. ;)
natural_shine
November 7th, 2015, 10:45 PM
I had some of those issues... not sure if that bad but anyway, somewere close. I dye my hair too, dye is damaging.
I used morrocan oil (the brand) oil for fine hair, it's the most nourishing of the line, than I sealed the about 4-5 cm starting from the ends with "farouk white truffle foundation", which is like a wax mostly, is seals with no escape, but also nourishes a lot.
After about 4 months of this, my hair turned back to being smooth, and I could cut the split ends alone, without fear that if I cut them, hair will split back again fast.
jarlofthebogfey
November 8th, 2015, 12:10 PM
I can't stop thinking about this.
I think you shouldn't cut. The heft of your words are not about your disappointment in the condition of your ends, although that is present, but rather your words lean much more towards great sadness over the loss of your length. Therefore I cannot help but think DO NOT CUT YOUR HAIR, as you address this problem, and work towards repairing it. I feel like shorter hair will just make *you* feel more sad. And that's no good.
Obviously I don't know you, and I've only read your posts in this thread, but truly... you seem to be placing the length loss a little higher than the condition loss, by just a bit. Therefore... I would say do not remove anymore until you are in a happy place of confidence about it. I hope that made sense...
Maybe you could ask your other half to set aside his personal preference for your hair, and instead give you an honest and loving outside opinion on if he thinks you will be happier with healthier ends or longer ends. He knows you the best I assume, and can likely give you an unbiased opinion if he tries. Having watched you grow out your hair, I'm pretty sure he could enlighten you as to how you act and feel from his perspective on length vs. damage. His answer may surprise you, and really help with your decision.
Since you are already on a mood stabilizer, I think the decision on cutting is extremely important. Having been through my own ups and downs, I'm just really cautious about you cutting too soon. Or hey... maybe even at all. :grouphug:
gthlvrmx
November 8th, 2015, 08:13 PM
I just want to say, don't make any changes with your medication until you speak to your doctor/psychiatrist.
luxurioushair
November 9th, 2015, 01:26 PM
Sorry to hear it, maybe the dyeing is causing the loss of length, maybe it isn't. A foot is no joke, that is 2 years of hair.
LadyGoddess
November 9th, 2015, 06:03 PM
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
What I've for now is buy Garnier's Heal and Seal to see if that'll help. I also bought some shampoo and conditioner from Pantene which is supposed to stop breakage and strengthen hair. I think that's the most I can do at this point. Just re-evaluate in a few months to see if there's been any change.
browneyedsusan
November 9th, 2015, 06:11 PM
Do you wear it up all the time?
If you don't it could be getting damaged and breaking off?
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