does hair slow down the longer it gets

[Xan]

I want to grow my hair to terminal as long as it will grow. I'm at 36" and didn't notice much growth last month. I sure hope it hasn't stoped growing yet I would like to at least get into the 50's. Anyone else have any ideas?

[HairColoredHair]

I think the growth slows or stalls at certain points... I noticed a pause at waist and then it grew pretty quickly to tailbone, then it stopped... another pause at classic, and right now I'm stopped right near fingertip...

Or maybe I only think it stalls because I'm watching it.

[spidermom]

So far, having only grown to hip at my longest (then trimmed back to this length), I've noticed pauses in growth that last up to 3 months. I had a lot of splits when I cut it back last time, and I think it's been growing three times as fast since then. But I don't measure any more.

[akurah]

The visual landmarks get further apart the longer your hair gets. For instance, from a buzz cut, it seems to grow rather quickly to ear, then chin, then shoulder, then armpit, BSL and waist. This is because the distance between those points are actually not that long at all. Going from waist to tailbone can be long. Same with tailbone to classic. And classic to knee is REALLY long.

Hence the illusion of slower growth. Add in the fact that hair stalls at false terminals from having been trimmed in the past, and it can seem like forever before one gets any kind of length. And one's diet has a huge effect--if you eat poorly, your hair and nails are often the first to suffer.

[jojo]

The visual landmarks get further apart the longer your hair gets. For instance, from a buzz cut, it seems to grow rather quickly to ear, then chin, then shoulder, then armpit, BSL and waist. This is because the distance between those points are actually not that long at all. Going from waist to tailbone can be long. Same with tailbone to classic. And classic to knee is REALLY long.

Hence the illusion of slower growth. Add in the fact that hair stalls at false terminals from having been trimmed in the past, and it can seem like forever before one gets any kind of length. And one's diet has a huge effect--if you eat poorly, your hair and nails are often the first to suffer.

this makes perfect sense to me, great analogy

[zift]

The strandes' age might have an effect on growing,cells slow down with age but I'm not perfectly sure about it. Mine grew really slowly when I was growing without trims which has a reason of splitting breaking ends probably. But I haven't experienced any growth stall or slowing yet. I'm at mid-thigh:)

[MemSahib]

Mine slowed amazingly once it got past waist. I raced along till then. However... I have also (ahem) moved into a different phase of womanhood and wonder if that is part of it.

[lora410]

I grew like a weed from 3" to shoulder; stalled, grew like a weed to APL; stalled; Grew 3 more inches, and I was in a stall for about 4months. So I am a staller, but not stalled all at once. My top layers grew 3inches while the longest layers didn't move. Now the bottoms are growing again and the top is stalled. I think my scalp is having split personality issues :lol:

[tuuli]

My hair grew like weed in the past It slowed down after arriving waist. I'm somewhere down to my hips. I gained about 0.5 in per month. Unfortunately the scissors weren't secure in my closet. I trimmed far too much. :demon:

[Calista]

Another reason might be that if you have a consistant growth of, say, 1cm per month, that 1cm will be a smaller and smaller percentage of you overall length the longer your hair gets. If you only have a total length of 1cm to start with your hair will have doubled itself by next month, which is really noticeable. If you are at waist your monthly growth will only be something like 1/80 of your overall length.

Hope that makes sense. :shrug:

[tuuli]

This is a good point Calista! :)

[Arniky]

growth rate- cant say but guess its not always same

[birdiefu]

I was just talking with my DH about this yesterday. He has gotten a very close shave on the back and sides the day before, and we were oohing and aahing over how smooth his scalp was. Yesterday I petted his head and remarked that I could now feel the hairs and it was cool how you could notice his growth in just one day. Then I mentioned to him about how the length of the existing hair effects how we see growth- with him it's one day, for me you can wait two months and still wonder if it's longer (without a tape measure, that is)!

[harpgal]

This is a really good question and one I certainly do not have the answer for. All I know is the stretch between classic and knee goes on forever! And it is boringly straight with no (ahem) "hills" in between. :rolleyes:

[Meli]

I think that the hair might appear to grow slower because of stalling. A major growth stall that lasts for months is one thing, but I think that when hair gets long and there are hairs with lots of different lengths, there could also be minor stalls that may go unnoticed. I had a minor stall for about three weeks in February/March, and I noticed this only because I measured so often while LHC was down. If I had continued to measure only on the 1st every month I wouldn't even have noticed this stall - I still got 0.5" growth in both February and March. I would only have noticed a slower growth compared to the 0.75" growth in January.

[HappyHaley]

It doesn't ever seem to slow for me. I've got growing seasons with my hair and things are normal here now.

~Haley

[EdG]

I haven't noticed any slow down in growth even at upper-calf length. My longest strands are still growing, but there are very few of them. :)
Ed