Other theories on Spring growth.

[RancheroTheBee]

As I am sure I constantly bemoaned, I only grew a centimeter between January and February of this year. I then went up to an inch between Valentine's Day and now.

I initially attributed this growth to my patented nettle-MN-cayenne mixture, of which I made enough to last me a whole week. My roots nearly doubled during that week. I was thrilled! Then, today, I was sitting there in the bath, and went to wash my armpits. They were strangely fuzzy. I thought I was imagining things, but when I looked closely, I realized the hair was more than an 8th of an inch long. I shaved my armpits just two days ago! It seems as if everything on me is getting fuzzier faster, and it had nothing to do with the Monistat or peppers.

Then I thought, well, it's spring. I had slow growth in Winter, and now Mother Nature is on my side. But isn't the warmer weather or the sun the contributor to this supposed growth spurt? The fact is, I've only been able to wear a t-shirt outside once this spring so far, and it's only been sunny or even remotely temperate for about 40% of the time. It's been snowing like mad and it's been cold for the last two weeks, with the sun rarely making an appearance. Plus, I rarely the leave the house save for school or work, which is still infrequent.

So, does this spring in growth (nahaha, so funny) have anything to do with the weather, or are some people just programmed to grow faster at certain times of the year, regardless of how warm it is?

[Roseate]

I have the opposite of answers: more questions!

For those of you in the Southern hemisphere, you get Spring growth in the Southern spring, right? I'm guessing yes. Maybe it's a length-of-day thing, not necessarily dependent on temperature. If it was just temperature, people's hair would grow faster in warmer climates, and I don't think that's true.

And for those of you in Equatorial climes without much change in sun position throughout the year, do you still get Spring growth?

[Supermodelsonya]

I have heard this many many times. LOL I've read on several hair forums where ladies experienced the most growth in the spring/summer whereas in the fall/winter, the growth seemed to slow down.

Could our hair growth be related to seasons? It makes sense to me...everything else grows. LMAO

[amaiaisabella]

I'm not really sure why the Spring growth spurt occurs, though I am looking forward to it since this time last year my hair was in terrible shape :) My own theory, though, is that I wear less layers of clothing in summer, so my hair has less chance of getting caught on wool or a nubby trenchcoat. Others have mentioned tucking their hair into their collar when it's cold, though, so that dispels that theory.

Maybe the heat opens up the pores on the scalp to allow the hair to come through? :confused: I'm fresh out of ideas.

[spidermom]

I have summer, fall, and winter measurements (July 18, October 18, January 18 ); they are all the same (+2 inches), averaging 2/3 inches per month. I'll have a spring measurement in about another month. I'm really curious to see if it will be different.

[RancheroTheBee]

I'm not really sure why the Spring growth spurt occurs, though I am looking forward to it since this time last year my hair was in terrible shape :) My own theory, though, is that I wear less layers of clothing in summer, so my hair has less chance of getting caught on wool or a nubby trenchcoat. Others have mentioned tucking their hair into their collar when it's cold, though, so that dispels that theory.

Maybe the heat opens up the pores on the scalp to allow the hair to come through? :confused: I'm fresh out of ideas.

That's the thing that's kind of blowing my mind. It's freezing here. We have six months of winter. That said, I grow approximately nine inches a year, and most of it in spring and fall, but it's always raining and snowing or some other weather disaster. I don't see why I grew an inch without doing anything different.

I think it may be a phenomenon similar to molting. I picked up one of my birds today (a dove) and I was completely horrified to discover that she has like, three feathers on her head. She looks awful; from far away, her skin and feathers blend, so it was a real shock... but I digress. So, her natural molting is occurring even though her body hasn't been exposed to the sun or warm weather. Maybe that happens with people?

[JamieLeigh]

Someone actually told me that there were certain vitamins our body absorbs from the sun's rays that help with hair and skin....so maybe when the sun is closer to us, planet-wise, we absorb more of those vitamins?

Of course, too much sun is bad for both hair and skin...so I dunno. :p

Interesting question though. I actually seemed to grow more quickly in the winter time...I put it down to being an "animal" thing - most animals grow thicker coats in the winter. I just figured it was the same principle that affected hair. But then there are so many people who get a stall in the winter, so again...I dunno. :p

[ImperfectBrat]

My theory:

Picture early men and women.

In winter, food would be hard to come by and the body would be putting vitamins and energy to just staying alive.

Come spring and summer, food would be more abundant and the body had the message from the brain telling the body that its okay to use x or y vitamin or such to grow hair or what have you.

*shrug*

Just my odd thought

[wintersun99]

I don't have the answers, but posting my recent experience... I left for Mexico on the 20th and had NO ROOTS showing. I returned yesterday with 1/2"+ of new growth plus massive fingernail growth.... Yay!

So, was it the warm temperatures and sun? the bean/cheese burritos? the margaritas? hmmm

[Fluke]

Didn't I see someone mention on some other thread that it was the angle of the sun that correlated with growth spurts..? That the sun hits us at a different angle in summer (why it's warmer, why the days are longer and so on and so forth, everything that makes spring/summer, really) and that is what makes hair grow faster..?

[jojo]

This is my theory I don't think its the sun/warmth which makes hair grow faster during warmer months, if this was true everybody who lived in a hot country would have fast growing hair. I personally think its due to having more daylight. In the UK we put our clocks forward an hour at the begining of spring so as a result evenings stay lighter for longer. Like a plant our hair needs various things to grow, food, water and light, in winter we have less light and less growth. I think this makes sense.

i meant clocks back not forward!!!

[bouton99]

For me the length-of-day makes more sense. The body needs daylight for certain functions. The warmth might help but it's no nessessity.
Hoping now for my hair to start growing again after two month without anything :rolleyes: