Need help. hair seems not to grow much.

[Rhiannon7]

Hi, please have patience, reason why i ask for help is because i have not cut my hair, no trim, no S&D since Jan. 7, 2009 and have grown only about 5 inches in 1 year. is it normal? i know that when i reach waist i have a stalling period but then start growing again but this time i'm not even waist yet. I cut to 22 inches back in jan. 2009. now i'm at almost 27 inches.

I have been taking extra good care of my hair, wash with poo only once a week or once every 10 -12 days, condish every time i wash with different condishes most of them to repair or damaged hair. started using H.E. Longterm relationship condish yesterday. i use a leave in treatment ( Pantene Overnight Restoring Treatment.) also use a Mix of Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil on wet and dry hair. i do get lots of tangles, keep my hair in a braid or bun 99% of the time, use BBB on dry hair and Plastic wide tooth comb to detangle wet hair. i air dry, use henna and growing out chemical dye for almost a year.

Also I have been thinking of buying a wood and horn comb but not sure about how to oil wood comb or for how long and if i can use wood comb to detangle wet hair. and wonder if horn comb is not too delicate for how i comb my hair.

Just yesterday i had a hand full of broken or shed hair after trying to deal with a head full of tangles, (i am a messy sleeper, toss alot.)

Any more info you need please ask, I thank all comments and suggestions in advance. and thank you all for your patience. just want to know if such little growing (5 inches in 1 year ) is normal and if anyone can help me with info about wood combs and horn combs and how to use them.


Again thank you.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

although i haven't experienced any (or so i think, i don't measure) stalls but many people here do. Do you massage your scalp?

[elina333]

I dont think 5 inches in a year sounds abnormal..? I think the "normal" growth rate is about 5-6 inches per year... About ½inch per month or a little less. But if you feel this is not normal for you than maybe you should look into your diet? Are you getting enough vitamins and minerals? Have you been stressed out lately, have you been on any kind of medication, stopped with birth control or any og the like?

[jojo]

Thats great growth, my hair is fine and breaks easily if i am not careful. Breakage can make you feel your hairs not growing, when in fact it is but is not gaining length. A sleep cap has really helped my hair hair and I have gained quite a bit of length by using mine. I also oil the very ends and bun daily, sometimes too a little dusting can help.

[Svenja]

I would not worry too much, Rhiannon7. 5 to 6 inches growth in a year is perfectly normal. It says, half an inch per month is normal. So your hair growth is average.
You might want to try massaging your scalp or brush your hair with a very soft brush (but not excessively) to improve your scalp's blood circulation, but imao it's not necessary as your growth is perfectly fine.

Not to worry ;-)

Svenja

[LadyVictoria]

Sounds normal to me. I average about 6" a year when I take proper care of my hair. If you don't already, try adding a nightly scalp massage to your regime, it helps.

[walterSCAN]

Lotsa questions/ thoughts, bear with me! ;)

How do you comb your hair? Obviously, I don't know what you do, but you may need to be more gentle with it-- esp. with F hair. I know I had to slow down when combing so that I wouldn't break so much hair, which can look like a stall if a lot is breaking off. Have you checked for splits/ breakage?

Along that line, I use a BBB without too much trouble (as far as I can tell), but I seem to remember that there are some fine hairs who can't use a BBB because it puts too much stress on hair and leads to breaking. It seems to be people who are one the even finer end of F (I'm right about in the middle). Depending on how fine you are, this could be a problem too.

How do you wear your hair to sleep? If you don't already, braiding before bed could cut down on tangles in the morning-- or a sleep cap (as has already been suggested), or pillow cases with more slip.

Bearing all that in mind, 5 inches is fairly average, as others have already said. If you feel like you used to get more though, it could be one of these^ problems, or something someone else has pointed out. I'll second the idea of checking out your diet/ any medications you are newly on or just came off of.

Good Luck!!

[heidihug]

I put my dry hair in a top knot when sleeping - cuts down drastically on tangles. But, I agree with everyone else about growth rate. I get no more than a scant .5" of growth if I am lucky - about 5 inches a year. Sounds like you are doing the right things. Just be gentle and patient with it, and you will get to your goal.

[CaityBear]

That sounds about right. I don't have much advice, but last year I hit a stall at about waist/hip and I didn't grow an inch in about 5 months. :(

But it sounds like what you're doing is pretty good.

[little_acorn]

You have a similar growth rate to me - around 0.5" a month and its totally average. From what you describe you're getting a lot of breakage. If you are a active sleeper may be consider a sleep braid/bun/cap. Do a S&D and maybe consider a dusting.

On the flip side, your hair looks lovely in the siggy pic :flower:

[Rhiannon7]

Thank you all for the help. great ideas and wonderful comments. all very helpful and make me think. I definitely need to get a satin pillow case and even a night cap.

I do worry about growth rate because before 2009 once i got to BSL i hit waist within 1 year. at least it seemed that way to me. maybe it's age? do not know. or like people say diet and stress.

Dreams in Pink : No i do not do scalp massages, used to do it but seemed that i got more tangles the morning after. or i was doing it wrong.

Elina 333: yep alot of stress last year, new job and alot more responsibility at home. (niece and nephews came to live with me.) Diet has been a bit crazy, but eating well, meats, chicken, eggs, some veggies and fruits, nuts, but i am a crazy eater. and preffer chips and cookies with coca cola and chocolate. but i do eat one or 2 good healthy meals a day. i have asthma and allergies, but had them always and meds did not stall growth before.

WalterSCAN: Yep do rush a bit when i comb and brush my hair at times. specially when i comb wet. specially when there alot of tangles, sometimes i kind of rip them out instead of spending time getting through them with my fingers. (i once even cut the tangle out, have a nice 6 inch section of hair growing out after i had to cut a huge and horrible tangle that would not come out no other way, and i tried, oiled and put condish on it for 2 hours before i decided to cut it out. ) I use a BBB, have not noticed bad reaction to BBB, used it for years. My hair is baby fine. (imagine a pale blonde or red head 6-10 month old's baby hair fuzz, ultra soft, ultra thin, ultra delicate. that's my hair. and scalp.) I always braid for bed, only sleep with my hair down and loose if i washed at night and hair is still wet or damp.

My hair is either braided or bunned 6 out of 7 days a week. I brush with BBB morning and night, and smooth about a quarter sized glob of Shea Butter and Almond oil mix on entire hair from crown to tips after brushing at night, with 2 pumps (about a nickel sized glob ) of Pantene Overnight Repair Treatment. then comb through and braid for sleep. Maybe i'm going overboard? doing too much or putting too many different things at night on my hair? Maybe i should alternate, one night put shea butter and oil on my hair and the next night pantene treatment?

Again thank you everyone for the help and patience.