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View Full Version : Don't worry about your growth (or lack thereof)



Fia
April 1st, 2017, 08:20 AM
It's so easy to stare yourself blind at numbers, how many inches (or centimeters) the hair has grown since last time you measured. Don't. Your hair grows at exactly the pace it should, whether that is fast or slow.

Enjoy your hair here and now, for what it is, and what you can do with it. Don't wish for another foot of hair now, immediately. You wouldn't know what to do with it. The steady pace at which your hair grows allows you to gradually adjust to its new needs, new updos and new intricacies in caring for it. Don't ask for something to disrupt that natural process by bypassing the natural evolution your hair goes through.

Even the stalls in growth where it seemingly has stopped has a reason. Perhaps you need to pause as well, not concentrating on hair, just focusing on living, breathing and taking care of what already is there. There is never a fault in the overall plan of life, everything happens for a reason and that hiatus is likely something you needed as a break to refocus and spend your energies elsewhere. It might even be life's way of saying 'back off for a while, you are obsessed with all this hair-growing business and neglecting far more important issues'.

So, don't obsess, don't worry. Your hair is perfectly fine, no matter what rate it grows at. It comes in at exactly the pace it should, allowing you to keep a balance where your hair doesn't overwhelm your life and allowing you to adjust accordingly. It is only hair after all, and it has a life of its own, don't let it absorb you so fully that your life becomes hair and only hair. Allow yourself to live with your hair, not through your hair.

lapushka
April 1st, 2017, 08:25 AM
Easier said than done, Fia. ;) There wouldn't be all these vitamin supplements and how to grow hair faster and monistat threads on here if we could all just be patient.

Aredhel
April 1st, 2017, 08:35 AM
I'd know exactly what I'd do with an extra foot of hair, my hair has been that long before. :p

Lack of growth could indicate health issues too so there's definitely a point to keeping an eye on it. :)

Appreciate the sentiment behind your posts though, like always. <3

Reyesuela
April 1st, 2017, 09:06 AM
It's not perfectly fine if you're balding.

Just saying.

Guess I should accept losing 80% of my hair by 45 like my grandmother because it's meant to be?

No thanks. Modern medicine is pretty freaking awesome.

pandabarrier
April 1st, 2017, 09:46 AM
I agree with Aredhel, lack of growth could indicate health issues too.
I go through phases of benign neglect and hair growth experiments, I'm still trying to find a balance, not let my hair hobby consume my spare time too much, and at the same time make sure my hair is well cared for so that it stay on my head for years (hopefully) in good condition.

Rebeccalaurenxx
April 1st, 2017, 09:56 AM
I think Fia is just trying to say, you shouldn't obsess over your growth too much. It can make your mental health, just as bad as your physical health. And it's completely true.

Take a step back, breathe, and accept the growth that was naturally given to you. Eventually you will hit your goal, and you will know how to handle your hair at that length because you have hit each and every milestone. Coming from someone that has NEVER HIT ANYTHING BELOW APL UNTIL THIS YEAR if I was given an extra foot of hair all of a sudden, I would not know how to deal with it. Hitting BSL and other markers has taught me over time how to handle length.

If you have health issues; ie you're losing hair, balding, etc. I think those issues are obviously.. important and not to be ignored. I don't think fia was saying "ignore your hair fall out and go on with your day ignoring whatever health issues may show itself through your scalp." Fia was simply stating not to obsess but to enjoy the journey. Which sometimes has to be a constant reminder to users here.

:)

lapushka
April 1st, 2017, 10:11 AM
I think Fia is just trying to say, you shouldn't obsess over your growth too much. It can make your mental health, just as bad as your physical health. And it's completely true.

Take a step back, breathe, and accept the growth that was naturally given to you. Eventually you will hit your goal, and you will know how to handle your hair at that length because you have hit each and every milestone. Coming from someone that has NEVER HIT ANYTHING BELOW APL UNTIL THIS YEAR if I was given an extra foot of hair all of a sudden, I would not know how to deal with it. Hitting BSL and other markers has taught me over time how to handle length.

If you have health issues; ie you're losing hair, balding, etc. I think those issues are obviously.. important and not to be ignored. I don't think fia was saying "ignore your hair fall out and go on with your day ignoring whatever health issues may show itself through your scalp." Fia was simply stating not to obsess but to enjoy the journey. Which sometimes has to be a constant reminder to users here.

:)

I agree with that! :agree:

Fia
April 1st, 2017, 10:26 AM
I think Fia is just trying to say, you shouldn't obsess over your growth too much. It can make your mental health, just as bad as your physical health. And it's completely true.

Take a step back, breathe, and accept the growth that was naturally given to you. Eventually you will hit your goal, and you will know how to handle your hair at that length because you have hit each and every milestone. Coming from someone that has NEVER HIT ANYTHING BELOW APL UNTIL THIS YEAR if I was given an extra foot of hair all of a sudden, I would not know how to deal with it. Hitting BSL and other markers has taught me over time how to handle length.

If you have health issues; ie you're losing hair, balding, etc. I think those issues are obviously.. important and not to be ignored. I don't think fia was saying "ignore your hair fall out and go on with your day ignoring whatever health issues may show itself through your scalp." Fia was simply stating not to obsess but to enjoy the journey. Which sometimes has to be a constant reminder to users here.

:)

Yep, that about sums it up. Sometimes it sucks not having English as your first language, even with a good command of it, misunderstandings are a lot easier to come by for a non-native speaker. :)

Reyesuela
April 1st, 2017, 09:40 PM
I think Fia is just trying to say, you shouldn't obsess over your growth too much. It can make your mental health, just as bad as your physical health. And it's completely true.

Take a step back, breathe, and accept the growth that was naturally given to you. Eventually you will hit your goal, and you will know how to handle your hair at that length because you have hit each and every milestone. Coming from someone that has NEVER HIT ANYTHING BELOW APL UNTIL THIS YEAR if I was given an extra foot of hair all of a sudden, I would not know how to deal with it. Hitting BSL and other markers has taught me over time how to handle length.

If you have health issues; ie you're losing hair, balding, etc. I think those issues are obviously.. important and not to be ignored. I don't think fia was saying "ignore your hair fall out and go on with your day ignoring whatever health issues may show itself through your scalp." Fia was simply stating not to obsess but to enjoy the journey. Which sometimes has to be a constant reminder to users here.

:)

Definitely. But I feel like an idiot because I NEVER measured my hair before it started falling out. NEVER. So I didn't have a baseline to sanity check. I knew I was losing a lot of hair (because of the massive amounts of hair balls the size of rodents that came out.) But was it thinning? Was I paranoid? I only "measured" by gripping the hair at the base of my neck and feeling how far my thumb wrapped around. Was I just imagining that it was thinner? By the time I was certain that A) it was ABSOLUTELY thinning, and B) that it wasn't a temporary thing, I'd lost half my hair. I'm extraordinarily lucky that it's all growing back, but most would not be this lucky if it had gotten to this point.

So don't obsess. But measure once a month--circumference and length--and write it down so you know what's abnormal when weird things happen, far beyond seasonal sheds. "Everything is fiiiiiine" is only fine as long as everything actually IS fine. :)

Rebeccalaurenxx
April 1st, 2017, 10:30 PM
Definitely. But I feel like an idiot because I NEVER measured my hair before it started falling out. NEVER. So I didn't have a baseline to sanity check. I knew I was losing a lot of hair (because of the massive amounts of hair balls the size of rodents that came out.) But was it thinning? Was I paranoid? I only "measured" by gripping the hair at the base of my neck and feeling how far my thumb wrapped around. Was I just imagining that it was thinner? By the time I was certain that A) it was ABSOLUTELY thinning, and B) that it wasn't a temporary thing, I'd lost half my hair. I'm extraordinarily lucky that it's all growing back, but most would not be this lucky if it had gotten to this point.

So don't obsess. But measure once a month--circumference and length--and write it down so you know what's abnormal when weird things happen, far beyond seasonal sheds. "Everything is fiiiiiine" is only fine as long as everything actually IS fine. :)

I mean with shedding and lack of growth... they're on two different planes.
If I 1. Don't see a lot of growth. I'm not going to worry - although some members here DO. And they obsess over it. It wouldn't worry me about a health problem.
But if I 2. See a lot of shedding - im going to worry.
I think shedding and growth are two different signs of something else.
It's much more logical to "monitor" something like that - shedding. However I think the forum post was more targeted towards those of us that obsess a little too much about measuring the length of our hair -- not the circumference. :) That's why she mentions rate of growth.
Growth and shedding are two different things.

Reyesuela
April 1st, 2017, 11:06 PM
I mean with shedding and lack of growth... they're on two different planes.
If I 1. Don't see a lot of growth. I'm not going to worry - although some members here DO. And they obsess over it. It wouldn't worry me about a health problem.
But if I 2. See a lot of shedding - im going to worry.
I think shedding and growth are two different signs of something else.
It's much more logical to "monitor" something like that - shedding. However I think the forum post was more targeted towards those of us that obsess a little too much about measuring the length of our hair -- not the circumference. :) That's why she mentions rate of growth.
Growth and shedding are two different things.

Slower growth actually often comes with androgenic alopecia. :) If your circumference has lost 20% of its volume and your hair is growing 30% slower or the taper is suddenly more dramatic, it's worrying time. If it loses 20% of its volume but your hair is growing at the same rate or hasn't lost more at the length, it's probably fine to chill for a little while and see if it was a stress-shed or something else that's reversible without you worrying about it.