Hair Growth Rates per Year and Variability

[Brandt]

Greetings,

I saw the thread of people posting two pictures of their hair, one year apart (definitely fascinating, and to prepare myself for one year from now, I need to take a really good picture of the back of my hair--definitely outdoors in sunshine where I think it looks best for photos). While I'm sure this has been covered many times before but is deep in the archives, I thought I'd ask:

What do people here typically find their growth rates per year? Do most people have the typical "published" 5-6 inches, or perhaps is there some difference from that number (or could there even be a systematic difference among a group like this which celebrates long hair--perhaps because it's easier for members here to attain that)? But perhaps more importantly, does this change any with hair length? I would guess not (unless there were some negative thing going on with one's hair--or approaching the terminal hair length, which I'd guess would be approached asymptotically).

Anyway, just curious!
Brandt

[Corvana]

I have a slightly higher than average growth rate (.629" per month for 7.556" a year), but that's with as optimal of care as I can manage. The past couple years my care hasn't been optimal (even slipping into "not great at all"), and while I was still gaining length overall, my average growth dropped to .546" a month. But I don't think my hair was really growing any slower, I was just wearing it down more than I should've been and wearing down the ends and losing length that way, or losing length in small bits from having to cut out tons and tons of splits gained from wearing my hair down so often. Plus on top of that I had a few stalls due to stress or illness, which adds gaps in my growth tracking and lowers the average. I do tend to have growth spurts that make it up, though, when those happen.

The average is the average, though, and from what I've seen around here over the years we've got everything all over the board! Sometimes a person's rate goes up or down due to care like me, or because of their age, or an illness, or... There's any number of factors, really! So it's likely that here our average is just the average. We do have a much higher rate of keeping growth, IMO, than your average person likely due to the fact that people here are specifically paying attention to and cultivating that.

Anyway that's a whole lot, and I don't even know if it fully makes sense :laugh: I shouldn't post while so fatigued, but I'm super bored and can't actually fall asleep. So now LHC has to deal with me :rollin:

[Bat]

Mines been very consistent growth wise the last 3 months I've grown 1.2 cm each month

[foreveryours]

Greetings,

I saw the thread of people posting two pictures of their hair, one year apart (definitely fascinating, and to prepare myself for one year from now, I need to take a really good picture of the back of my hair--definitely outdoors in sunshine where I think it looks best for photos). While I'm sure this has been covered many times before but is deep in the archives, I thought I'd ask:

What do people here typically find their growth rates per year? Do most people have the typical "published" 5-6 inches, or perhaps is there some difference from that number (or could there even be a systematic difference among a group like this which celebrates long hair--perhaps because it's easier for members here to attain that)? But perhaps more importantly, does this change any with hair length? I would guess not (unless there were some negative thing going on with one's hair--or approaching the terminal hair length, which I'd guess would be approached asymptotically).

Anyway, just curious!
Brandt

Boringly average here, consistently 5 to 6 inches over a year's time. As it gets longer, breakage and shedding do become more significant issues so increase in apparent length slows down until terminal is reached when it stops. Mine seems to grow a little faster in the summer, at least when I'm not measuring it and slows down when I do. Interestingly to me is I shed much more in the winter here. It must be the didgeridoo in the background :p

[Bri-Chan]

Mine is always been 5 inches or slightly more. I haven't noticed difference with different lengths.

[EdG]

My hair grows about half an inch per month.

"Terminal length" is the product of growth rate and duration of the growth cycle. Growth rate tends to be fairly constant, while duration varies enormously among the hairs on one's body (from one month to several years).
Ed

[foreveryours]

My hair grows about half an inch per month.

"Terminal length" is the product of growth rate and duration of the growth cycle. Growth rate tends to be fairly constant, while duration varies enormously among the hairs on one's body (from one month to several years).
Ed

Only in a vacuum.

Terminal length = Growth Rate * Duration of Growth Cycle - DAMAGE

:p

[shelomit]

Oh, but foreveryours, everybody prefers to do physics in a vacuum ; D

[lapushka]

There's people on here who get 6 inches, or even more, and there's people who barely get 4. It varies. And when we say it averages 1/2 inches a month, that is what it is... an average rate.

I mean last year there were at least 3 months where I got an inch for sure instead of my usual growth, which is 1/2 inch (or 1.2 cm, which, I calculate in cm). I still don't know why because never ever have I had growth this fast.

[MoonLady]

Since I process my hair, I can usually see the growth rate. Sometimes I get 2 inches in 3 months. Sometimes it takes 4. But I generally get 6+ inches a year. I had two trims last year though, so *shrugs*. I do think it grew faster when I was less stressed and eating better (AKA between uni semesters)

[foreveryours]

Oh, but foreveryours, everybody prefers to do physics in a vacuum ; D

LOL, it's easier, you can ignore reality!

[Brandt]

Thanks to everyone for their answers! First, I definitely want to minimize damage, and I'm fortunate that for the most part I don't have much breakage of hair (I'm careful when I comb or brush my hair, and avoid combing/brushing when wet). I had heard that hair can grow faster in summer than winter, though there's suggestion that it's because people are more physically active in summer, so better blood flow (that would depend on the location--hot humid summers might make people less physically active then--or in a Mediterranean climate where one can easily be active outdoors throughout the year--and the person, such as someone who really likes participating in winter activities or sports). I'm not surprised to read that stress or illness would hamper hair growth. Of course, UVB rays, which are the ones which can damage hair, are more prevalent in spring and summer (since the sun angle needs to be at least 45-50 degrees above the horizon to avoid too much scattering of the UVB radiation in the atmosphere), though not sure if that would have much effect on hair length (versus hair quality--UVB radiation can result in hair protein loss, versus UVA radiation which destroys the melanin--that can still reach the surface of the earth even at a low sun angle unlike with UVB).

I'm impressed with those making good measurements as well.

[illicitlizard]

Chipping in, unsure about variability but when my hair was a more manageable length and I could measure monthly growth with relative accuracy, I got about 1.5cm a month, which is 18cm/7.08" a year . Based on my length maintenance I'd say I'm still averaging around that a few years on. Which ends up being just a tiny bit over 1/2" a month. I don't seem to experience any stalls with stress etc, but neither do I notice excess growth with more exercise or during summer (which is basically year round here but I digress).

As with all things hair growth, it's less important how quickly you can grow and more crucial how much length you can maintain (factoring in trims and breakage/damage).

[Brandt]

Of course, stress is a bit hard to measure (though I'm sure if one wants to do a scientific study to determine changes in hair growth with stress, then there's probably a systematic way to approximate that). Of course, yes--I think Australia has mostly good climates (except for the occasional excessive heat and fires--those of us in southern California share some of your experiences there)! I'm fortunate that so far I don't seem to have any breakage or damage, so I can enjoy the maximum hair growth.

[lapis_lazuli]

Average here as well, and I have to "work" for those 6"/year. Besides minimizing breakage with daily updos for maximum length retention, I'm a lazy vegetarian and can easily miss several nutrients in my diet. I drink supplements now and am really happy when I'm average (especially when terminal length could strike at any moment!)

[Brandt]

I'm actually a vegan myself, though I do pay attention to make sure I get the proper nutrients (it helps that I eat a good variety of vegan food, including different protein sources). I like the comment about "terminal length could strike at any moment"--given the range of 2-7 years for the anagen growth stage (though most people are well above 2 years), and I'm a little more than 2 years into my hair growth (well, my hair was still a "few inches long" after my last cut, so it could be like 2 1/2 years or so).

[Bat]

Chipping in, unsure about variability but when my hair was a more manageable length and I could measure monthly growth with relative accuracy, I got about 1.5cm a month, which is 18cm/7.08" a year . Based on my length maintenance I'd say I'm still averaging around that a few years on. Which ends up being just a tiny bit over 1/2" a month. I don't seem to experience any stalls with stress etc, but neither do I notice excess growth with more exercise or during summer (which is basically year round here but I digress).

As with all things hair growth, it's less important how quickly you can grow and more crucial how much length you can maintain (factoring in trims and breakage/damage).

Yours grows 3mm faster than me, so lucky. 😁

[lapis_lazuli]

I'm actually a vegan myself, though I do pay attention to make sure I get the proper nutrients (it helps that I eat a good variety of vegan food, including different protein sources). I like the comment about "terminal length could strike at any moment"--given the range of 2-7 years for the anagen growth stage (though most people are well above 2 years), and I'm a little more than 2 years into my hair growth (well, my hair was still a "few inches long" after my last cut, so it could be like 2 1/2 years or so).

I do wonder where that 2-7 year range comes from; the lower end of that seems exceptionally rare. My longest hairs are over 10 years into their anagen phases, which I'd like to think is not that unusual, but impossible to know given most people never go for terminal. Regardless, I don't think you need to worry about it just yet! There's usually an appearance to it, gradual tapering down the length to nothing as the hairs with the longest anagen phases max out. I still have a handful working their way down, so I try to be optimistic and know after taking care of my health and protecting the strands, it's out of my hands.

[enfys]

I've been recording growth fairly consistently for about six years and it's averaged out to a slight bit under 6" per year, every year. There have been some significant health events and a lot of stress at various times but the trend is still the same. I recall other times in my life where I've measured monthly and got that average even when I was much younger, back in my teens.

For me at least it seems around 6"/year is a normal average.

[KokoroDragon]

I was measuring monthly for a while and recorded about 1/2" per month, but when measuring over the course of a year I seem to gain a bit more than 6". Maybe 6.5" or so. I also haven't noticed a difference in growth rate in winter vs. summer, and I live in an area that has very different weather in each season (winter is very dry and cold, summer is warm and humid). I do, however, notice more shedding in winter than summer.

[Brandt]

I do wonder where that 2-7 year range comes from; the lower end of that seems exceptionally rare. My longest hairs are over 10 years into their anagen phases, which I'd like to think is not that unusual, but impossible to know given most people never go for terminal. Regardless, I don't think you need to worry about it just yet! There's usually an appearance to it, gradual tapering down the length to nothing as the hairs with the longest anagen phases max out. I still have a handful working their way down, so I try to be optimistic and know after taking care of my health and protecting the strands, it's out of my hands.

Lots of links have proclaimed 2-7 (or even 2-6) years for the anagen growth stage on the scalp, such as this one: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/science-hair

But now that I'm in the LHC, I think I should probably be less pedantic and actually listen a lot to all of you and your experiences versus just "becoming an expert based on what I read from Google searches" as I kind of was doing beforehand (with the only question being because there are a lot of successful people here with long or very long hair growth, could the LHC community have a longer than average anagen growth stage?).

I'm thinking this as a fun adventure, and I'm hoping for the best (as long as I can get my hair to grow to somewhere around my waist or hips, I'll be happy--and if it grows longer, I'll be quite fascinated).

[Brandt]

I was measuring monthly for a while and recorded about 1/2" per month, but when measuring over the course of a year I seem to gain a bit more than 6". Maybe 6.5" or so. I also haven't noticed a difference in growth rate in winter vs. summer, and I live in an area that has very different weather in each season (winter is very dry and cold, summer is warm and humid). I do, however, notice more shedding in winter than summer.

Wow--more shedding in winter than summer! You just gave me something new to think about--any seasonal effects of the shedding of hair--thanks! (I hadn't noticed any variability myself--yet--but seasons are a bit more moderated where I live).

[ipickee]

I get between 6.5 and 8" per year. I only hit the 8" if I'm taking collagen, eating healthy, and really chugging the water. The last six months have been horrible on my habits, and it feels like my hair is suffering for it. I need to get back in the groove!

[lapis_lazuli]

Lots of links have proclaimed 2-7 (or even 2-6) years for the anagen growth stage on the scalp, such as this one: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/science-hair

But now that I'm in the LHC, I think I should probably be less pedantic and actually listen a lot to all of you and your experiences versus just "becoming an expert based on what I read from Google searches" as I kind of was doing beforehand (with the only question being because there are a lot of successful people here with long or very long hair growth, could the LHC community have a longer than average anagen growth stage?).

I'm thinking this as a fun adventure, and I'm hoping for the best (as long as I can get my hair to grow to somewhere around my waist or hips, I'll be happy--and if it grows longer, I'll be quite fascinated).

It really is an adventure into the unknown. With a little knowledge and luck, there's no telling where it will lead. I hope you reach your goals - and beyond!

[Saldana]

My hair seems to grow in seasonal spurts, averaging out to about 4.5" per year. The growth has slowed some as I've gotten older. But trends I've noticed - it grows a little faster in the spring, steadily in summer, big seasonal shed in autumn (which freaks me out every year, even when I KNOW it's coming), and very slow growth in late autumn and winter.

[Brandt]

My hair seems to grow in seasonal spurts, averaging out to about 4.5" per year. The growth has slowed some as I've gotten older. But trends I've noticed - it grows a little faster in the spring, steadily in summer, big seasonal shed in autumn (which freaks me out every year, even when I KNOW it's coming), and very slow growth in late autumn and winter.

Good point regarding changes with age and slowdown in hair growth. At first I thought "Oh...men (or women) who are losing hair probably see that" even though that's not necessarily the case--it could be that once hair falls out that it won't be replaced, regardless of growth speed. Fascinating that you have a seasonal shed in autumn (someone else said it was during winter--though someone in a much harsher climate (IIRC) than western Oregon).

[Brandt]

I get between 6.5 and 8" per year. I only hit the 8" if I'm taking collagen, eating healthy, and really chugging the water. The last six months have been horrible on my habits, and it feels like my hair is suffering for it. I need to get back in the groove!

Water is obviously important for good health--not just hair, but good reminder!

[Kathie]

I manage on average of 0.75 inches a month. I first calculated this in 2010. After some time away from measuring, I did the maths again over the last 6 months of 2021. Same growth rate.

[Bat]

I had a 0.2mm increase last month that was a nice Discovery

[SaveTheTapirs]

I don't know yet what my monthly growth rate is (in a few days I'll have one month's data). But since I'm pregnant right now, I barely shed at all, which is always really weird. And I'll start shedding like crazy around 4 months postpartum, which makes me want to cut my hair short, so I have to stay strong!

[MusicalSpoons]

I sloppily measured one year and it came out to around 1/2" average per month - although I'm trying to remember to measure when I take my seasonal length shots now so maybe next year I'll have updated results.

However, I remember noticing I'd passed knee a month before I estimated I would, and ankle was half a month earlier than anticipated - but I also thought I had a stall at one point, although not keeping track very well I can't be sure whether it was a stall or just inaccurate measuring. That's also why I tend to round to the nearest half inch, because short of having someone pull it straight for me I can't be entirely certain my measurements are accurate.

EDIT: I looked back on my blog and it took me 18 months to grow 7.5" (June 2020 to December 2021) and I don't think I trimmed, and that averages out at 0.416 or 5/12", or 1.05cm per month. Which actually isn't terrible, just under half and inch. So I don't know if it was indeed a stall - might have been - or some breakage from these very feeble ends. I do know the measurements I note down on my blog are as accurate as I can get by myself though; I check at least 3 times. It is infinitely easier with a long tape measure though, which is partly why I am happy to measure more often now than before I had it. /EDIT

Actually possible factors for reaching milestones 'earlier' may include: measuring my milestones may not have been completely accurate, difficult to do past classic length by oneself; and I tended to try to give myself a generous estimate for reaching milestones to account for any slowing or even breakage (and especially now with my ends at ~10yrs old).

This is a very unstructured waffle so I don't know if there's any sense to be made from it :lol:

Oh also, I did notice an autumn/winter shed for a few weeks last year. I have had short periods of marginally increased shedding before and not been able to pin it on a season though, so I don't know if it just comes in phases or not. But now I have a mental note that it was at the turn of the season (ish) I may better remember to note any correlation next time.

[Believe it or not I am reasonably scientifically minded, I've just not had the mental energy to devote to proper tracking of these things. I also have an obsessive personality so resisting the temptation to start tracking properly is also a form of self-preservation; I can't afford to become obsessive over it because that is incompatible with having such limited energy and a terrible memory!]

[pisinoe]

My hair growth is between 2cm to 2,5cm a month it seems, I'm not exactly sure but I guess I'll find out next month once I complete a year without cutting. :)

[tuanyiji]

I will do monthly record from now on, the last half year I didn’t, but last summer to autumn I had a fast grow rate of 2-3cm/months, but I also shed more than usual due to pressure and hormones chaos. I now every day have a 5-minute head massage with minoxidil, exercise at least 60 minutes, chug 2.5L of water, get multiple vitamins and lots of proteins, do 7-day inversion at the begging of each month, weekly hot oil treatment, LLLT helmet every other days, keep my hair in a bun in my waking hours for minimal mechanical damage, sleep in silk bonnet and on silk pillow case, with all those efforts combined, I wonder when my shed would fully recover and let me return to the iii realm.

This picture shows how my hair grew from 2020.11.28-2021.7.4-2021.11.18 A Full Year's Growth

https://tinypic.host/images/2022/07/24/_20220724204525.md.jpg (https://tinypic.host/i/jj4J5)

[rosenester]

I have root regrowth from bleaching for over 10 years ,and maintain bangs. I haven’t been measuring my length for long, but those 2 habits had me paying attention to the growth from the roots.

On average, I grow 1 cm a month, because I cut off about that each month to maintain my bangs. It’s not always the same. A few months out of the year, I have to cut them twice a month, and a few months of be year they don’t need to be cut at all. In the end I grow 10-12cm. I guess? I usually measure in inches now, though it more difficult to be accurate… I think I grow between 4-5 inches a year.

I changed my supplements this year, and take fish oil and collagen on vegetarian days, which are most days of the week. I have had a few more spurts this year than normal, so may have grown more, have to measure my regrowth to be sure.

I bike and hike year round, so a activity level doesn’t correspond with season for me related to hair growth. Also, My nail growth doubles when my hair growth does, so If I have to cut m nails every 7 days, I can expect a good hair growth month of at least 1/2”

[spidermom]

The last time I paid close attention to this, I got 7 inches (17.78 cm) of growth per year, fastest in summer and fall, slowest in winter, speeding up a bit in spring. I'm pretty sure the increased growth rate is due to increased hours of sunlight. That makes everything grow.

[browntatis]

My average yearly hair grow is about 8 inches.
In 2017/2018 I went from SL to BSL with 2 trims
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34911&d=1546478781

And in 2020/2021 I went from BSL+ to WL+ but I trimmed about 3 times.
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45904&d=1631213988

So far I have grown 3 inches in 5 months (since February that was the last time I dyed my hair) so I'm thinking this year my growth will be about 7.5 inches.

My hair grows pretty fast, my problem is I have no self control and keep cutting it, so Ive been stuck between BSL and WL forever :'( my hair could be to the to the floor if I just stop! :(

[Bat]

My hair growth is between 2cm to 2,5cm a month it seems, I'm not exactly sure but I guess I'll find out next month once I complete a year without cutting. :)

That is super fast mine only grows about 1.2 to 1.5m a month

[foreveryours]

That is super fast mine only grows about 1.2 to 1.5m a month

:blueeek: Careful those hormones, else you be shaving twice a day! :p