Stalled or Terminal?

[LaurelSpring]

I seem to be stuck here. The weight of my hair is just below BSL but I am growing out long layers and they are tickling at near waist. I seem to have been here forever and I havent trimmed since Dec. 08. I know that my hair is actually growing because I see the new growth but I dont seem to be gaining any length. I dont see breakage either. Exactly what is a stall as compared to terminal. I would be so upset if this is my terminal. How long do you wait before you know its terminal? What if anything can be done? I am trying to put it up and ignore it but there I am every morning with the mirror checking it out. :confused: any suggestions?

[Fractalsofhair]

I thought terminal was generally around classic or longer for most people. You don't always notice breakage, it might just be the VERY tips.

[liseling]

If you can see new growth it must be growing... Are you actually measuring your length, or are you just relying on how long it looks to you? I know that for me, eyeballing it never works because hair grows slow enough that I usually cant really tell the difference unless I measure.

I really doubt that you've reached terminal with most of your hair above waist. I suppose it's possible that you are one of those genetically rare people that has a very short terminal length, but it would be unlikely. I think that your hair is either growing normally and you just can't see it because you look every day in the mirror and of course can't see any difference :) , or else maybe you could be in a stall.

I think stalls could be triggered by high stress, poor nutrition (or a big change in nutrition), or some other environmental change that your body isn't responding to well.
To grow long, strong hair, eat healthily and include enough protein, try to avoid or counter stress, and pay attention to what is touching/affecting your hair every day.

But I really suspect that your hair IS growing, and you should try to be patient with it :) I know how hard it is! Maybe start measuring once a month (or once a week if you cant wait so long in between) with a measuring tape, keeping all conditions the same (ie wet/dry, combed/uncombed etc). You could keep track of it in a chart if you want - that'll give you something to do besides worrying about it in the mirror every day!

[DragonLady]

I had that happen to me for years. I knew I had new growth because my dye gradually grew out. But the hair never got any longer. I never saw any breakage, and finally just gave it up -I thought I must've done some permanent damage to it.

Turns out, it was being trimmed on my office chair. The line where my hair stopped growing was right at the bottom of the chair, and when I realized that I swear I just wanted to cry -years of frustration over something that simple.

I suggest taking a long, close look at your daily routine and seeing if there's anything you're doing that might be causing it to get broken. From clothing to furniture to certain hairstyles, I've begun to realize that a lot of tiny things can add up to big problems over time.

[hellkitty]

As I understand it (so whip out that grain of salt) a stall is either stress stopping your hair growing (unlikely, since you say you're seeing new hair growth coming in) OR it could be that those particular hairs have reached terminal growth.

Hold on: I didn't say you were AT terminal length.

Hair doesn't say, hey, I'll grow until 35" and then just call it quits. It grows for a certain length of time (measured in years) and then the follicle just packs it in, the hair falls out, and a new follicle comes in to grow. So your not-growing stuff might have reached their terminal TIME. Unless you somehow managed to start the clock growing your hair with all brand new hair follicles (all of their growth clocks starting from zero), each follicle is a different age.

Sure, my ends are 8 years or so old, but most of those follicles have been producing hair for at least 10 years--I've had a few chops along the way. Some of your longer hairs might be not growing because they're about done with their growth time. So it looks like no progress at all. Check: are all of your longest ends nice and fine and tapered at the end, like virgin growth? Unlikely, right? So they've had some growth you've cut off in the past.

Meanwhile, hair higher up is growing in long and strong. And healthy.

I can tell you this for sure, because my longest stuff is 'stalled' at classic, which I know isn't my terminal length (I've grown in longer before), but I can definitely see that new growth from a major shed (several years ago) is steadily marching down my back. I'll lose those longer hairs, but they'll be replaced by never-cut (except for dusting) new growth, which will march me (eventually) closer to my actual terminal length.

It's a changing of the guard, not a stall!

HK

[LaurelSpring]

Thanks for the explanation hellkitty. This makes alot of sense to me and sounds like it could definately be the case. I'm not sure about end breakage but there is some old damage down there. I also have been going through alot of stress lately.

Thanks for the input everyone. I feel alot better about it now.