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crystal_k
April 3rd, 2010, 06:16 AM
really frustrated because since i joined this site not long ago . im getting obsessed with my hair . I cant stop massaging my head , have been taking biotin but my skin has got really bad spots now so ive just stopped. Now decided to try msm hopefully this wont break me out. The problemis despite all this my hair only seems to grow 1 cm per month. This is really frustrating as ive been on here reading that people are getting an inch or more a month , I would die for an inch a month how do people get that growth.
My hair is apl at the moment and has been this length forever. Bsl seems like ages away at this rate.

Vermelha
April 3rd, 2010, 07:05 AM
All last year I was stuck at between APL and BSL too. But the MSM really helped me get over that hump recently. I get what you mean about the biotin. It can cause breakouts, but then I started taking it with this Hair Skin and Nail vitamin from Spring Valley and the breakouts reduces. I also stopped using so much shampoo and I WO wash on most days. That helped with thickness so far.

Funny you mention biotin, because I haven't taken it in two days and my skin looks much better just that fast.

Anywho, hang in there. I'm still awaiting my full BSL hair too. I got this long layer that is BSL, but I know I'm going to have to cut it off because of a bunch of fairy knots :(. But MSM really is good stuff. That with biotin has really filled in my thinning areas.

Hana
April 3rd, 2010, 07:13 AM
unfortunately, a little patience will do you good, i found this out too!

its kinda hard first knowing what your hair (and body!) likes and doesnt like, I found it took some experimentation - and I'm still trying to get it right. as long as your hair is in good condition and healthy, the rest you have to leave up to your follicles.

my hair naturally grows slowly too. I'm trying a months challenge to put it up and forget about it, so when a month comes by pretty quickly, i can say, WOW look at all that growth! :D im only on day 3, though.

crystal_k
April 3rd, 2010, 07:16 AM
Yes i suffered with acne years ago an have been taking biotin for about 2 months and now my skin is really bad hopefully it will start to clear now ive stopped taking the biotin.
If i reach bsl i will really feel like ive acomplished something as this will be the longest ive been for years. really boring lenght for me long but not short. I might like it if i hadnt been at this length for about 6 years despite trying to grow it lol . I know why it wasnt growing now lol so im confident im on my way to longer hair its just taking ages.


ETA:
if you wear your hair up for a month does that mean you completely leave it up or do you take it down and wash it brush it without looking at it. i would like to try that but i think i look better with my hair down.

Vermelha
April 3rd, 2010, 07:30 AM
if you wear your hair up for a month does that mean you completely leave it up or do you take it down and wash it brush it without looking at it. i would like to try that but i think i look better with my hair down.

I wear my hair up all the time too. I take it down, wash it, and put it back up. I think I look better with my hair down too, but it can snag things and end up breaking off ends, then I see no growth :(.

elina333
April 3rd, 2010, 07:33 AM
To put it up and forget about it has worked for me! I joined here in january and I've already had some serious growth. I dont see it on a daily basis since I dont wear my hair down other than the occasional weekend, which is why I notice the growth.

Also what is your routine? Washing method, oiling, do you wear your hair in ponytails, buns or braids, are you sleeping on a satin pillow case? Things like these really help with the breakage issue, which stopped my growth for YEARS!

EDIT: You should avoid the ponytails and opt for buns and braids :D

Also, the biotin... Could you maybe just lower the dose? I have acne problems too and when I OD on the biotin it gets bad, but if I keep a lower intake its no problem..?

Good luck and happy growing! :pegasus:

countryhopper
April 3rd, 2010, 09:03 AM
I close to APL, but not quite there yet!!

I was considering trimming my ends to even the hemline since I'm growing out an angled bob and the front layers are at APL and the back ones are a good 2 and a half inches away from APL. But then I thought about the fact that the more I trim, the less growth I will see. Thankfully, I'm not growing out damage, so my ends aren't damamged or split, so I'd only trim to even things up a bit.

My advice to you would be to take a picture from the back now(wearing preferably a striped shirt) and try to forget about it (as I am trying to forget about my own!). If you MUST trim, do only 1/8 inch dustings as infrequently as you can. After a few months, wear your same striped shirt and take another picture. Have you seen the hair pass a stripe or two?? This way you won't go nuts trying to measure every day, etc. You'll have visual PROOF!!

Themyst
April 3rd, 2010, 09:07 AM
A watched pot never boils! :p

My hair goes through slow and fast periods of growth. Don't get discouraged. The best thing I did for my hair is to put it in a bun all day and forget about it. That's when I started noticing the growth.

GoddesJourney
April 3rd, 2010, 10:17 AM
A little information about your hair type and hair care routine might help. It's possible that you have some damage from the typical things that people do with their hair (dying, stripping shampoos, flat ironing, etc.) that is causing your hair to break off before it gets any longer. It probably is growing at the roots but the ends aren't surviving. If your hair is fine, it could break without even really showing splits, especially if it is light in color. My advice would be to hang in there and try to minimize damage as much as possible. Take a look at the articles and see what you can learn. There's a lot of information there.

My advice to anyone, regardless of hair type that is new here would be to throw out your plastic brushes and combs imediately. Invest in a wide tooth wooden comb ($7-$10) that has no seams to damage your hair and doesn't cause static. I horn comb ($12-$15) is a little more pricey but they're really nice. If you like brushing, there are some really nice wooden paddle brushes that feel nice on your scalp (maybe $10). Just be nice to your hair, whatever you do. Save the heat drying/styling for only special occassions. And most importantly in the long run, do not waste your money on any new products until you've checked the "reviews" section and maybe done a search. There are a lot of products out there that claim to be really great and are terrible for your hair or simply not worth the price. You can lose a lot of money over time sampling products that don't need to be sampled. Anyway, if any of this sounds like you, you might want to think twice about it. Patience. If you put your hair up, you can't tell if it's growing or not, so it won't drive you crazy.

On a side note, the weather is starting to warm up, so that might help you. A lot of people experience stalling in growth during the colder months. This month was the first month I've had noticeable growth in quite awhile, while I was gaining an inch per month last summer.

chopandchange
April 3rd, 2010, 10:38 AM
It's because you're thinking about it too much! ;)

TigerLily1
April 3rd, 2010, 10:39 AM
I too have 1cm growth each month, I am newbie here.
I have started wearing my hair in a bun last week, but am not used to it, it hurts / irritates me by end of the day, even if I made it a loose bun, my hair is too short (just above APL) to make in nice braid dos, so messy bun is the only do I can do with my very curely hair.

Can someone suggest a correct MSM dose?

redneckprincess
April 3rd, 2010, 11:40 AM
we can grow together...Im at just bairly APL going to BSL....some months I get 1" a month mut mostly its 1/2"....I take all kinds of supplements
but I do know its getting warmer, and most peoples growth rate seems to speed up during the summer...
Taking monthly/bi-monthly pictures helps...I never feel like my hair is growing but when I take a picture and compaire it to the previous one, I realize just how much it IS growing...
Im a wavy/curly too, so sometimes growth doesnt seem to show up as easly...:)
good luck

crystal_k
April 3rd, 2010, 11:57 AM
hi Redneck princess that would be a good idea. Unfortunately for mei live in england and we gardly get any summer especially in londonthe only timei notice any real growthg spurts is when i go on holiday to a hot country and sadly thats not that often boo.

TigerLily1
April 3rd, 2010, 01:00 PM
Crystal, yeh true, I live in the UK as well, I heard the forecast is that we are going to have a very hot summer this year, however, first we'll have to get through a very very wet April showers.

crystal_k
April 3rd, 2010, 05:00 PM
Ohh fingers crossed we desereve a summer this year we havent had a decent one for a few years now x

Rhiannon7
April 3rd, 2010, 06:41 PM
Hang in there, have ALOT of patience and experiment slowly. last year i stalled at BSL and felt hair did not grow for 9 months, i simply gave my hair benign neglect, (it means wash and condish and oil and massage, keep it in braids or buns, but basically do not measure for 3-6 months. ) you'll see the difference. I went from BSL to almost waist doing benign neglect. just kept it up in braids and buns and ignored the measuring tape.

You could also be going through a seasonal stall. it's normal.

Once you start to experiment change 1 thing at a time and give it at least a month between changes so you can see the hair respond to that certain change. but for now simply bun it or braid it and forget about measuring.

jivete
April 3rd, 2010, 07:32 PM
There's been a lot of good advice, but also remember that hair only grows and average of 1cm per month. So your growth sounds perfectly normal.

spidermom
April 3rd, 2010, 09:58 PM
I think it takes as long as it takes, so best you get your mind out of your hair follicles and get busy with other things. One of these days you'll pass a mirror or a shop window and think "Wow! When did my hair get so long?" Definitely don't check the length every day, much less many times a day, or you'll never see any progress.

Debra83
April 3rd, 2010, 10:09 PM
It feels slow to me too, until I look at pictures. I'll tell you one thing I might start trying though when I'm home and why.

My friend from Switzerland says that during the winters that she's outside a lot and wears a lot of hats (skiing or whatever), she notices fast hair growth, than if she's not outside lots wearing hats. I wonder if keeping the head warm lots in the winter helps to encourage faster growth, kinda like being in the summer. Rats. Shoulda tried it a couple of months ago. Oh well, something to keep in mind, eh?

long.again
April 3rd, 2010, 10:10 PM
When I first joined the site, I felt like this too. I was measuring all the time and totally freaking out. Once I got in my own flow of things, I sort of forgot about my hair until people around me started commenting on how long it's gotten. Then I took a photo and was shocked. I still grow slow (4" in a year) but that's awesome for me.

Some of us just grow hair slower. You just have to treat it well and focus on keeping what you have as healthy as possible.

ChloeDharma
April 3rd, 2010, 10:51 PM
I too have 1cm growth each month, I am newbie here.
I have started wearing my hair in a bun last week, but am not used to it, it hurts / irritates me by end of the day, even if I made it a loose bun, my hair is too short (just above APL) to make in nice braid dos, so messy bun is the only do I can do with my very curely hair.

Can someone suggest a correct MSM dose?

One thing you might want to try is a peacock twist. It looks great at your length and i do miss doing it.......i still do but my hair kinda just looks like a kind of ponytail at this length lol. Anyway you just gather your hair as if ponytailing it but a bit lo down, twist it up, hold with a claw clamp, then let the ends fall over or stick up, either is cool and will help keep them at least a bit away from friction. This should see you through to hen you can do a bun more comfortably. You could actually tuck the length into the fold and clip it to be more protected if you want.

Crystal K, as has been said 1cm (roughly half an inch) is a decent healthy average growth so relax, you are doing fine. I do agree that the watched pot never boils so try to keep your hair up as much as possible, eat well, keep up with that massage and your hair will suddenly seem longer before you know it :)
A word on MSM, i'd start out on a low dose and increase it gradually, i find if i jump in after not taking it for a while it can do dodgy things with my digestion. Holland and barrett often do special offers on it too so keep an eye on them for cheap deals.
Good luck growing :)

TigerLily1
April 4th, 2010, 05:25 AM
Chloe, many thanks, peacock twists look great on ladies, especially ladies with straight hair, my hair is too curly, also I find using the big clips required for peacock twist are very painful lol, that's why I opted for messy buns that are held by soft elastic bands. I guess I have to start practicing some braiding.

I got MSM from H&B yesterday, it was half price, I took two capusles each is 750mg, I also got the silica complex, only their silica complex didn't have any silica in it!! but it had 500mg of horsetail. I took one tablet of that.

After taking the above I had a little headche, didn't last long just about half an hour, I never normally get headaches (unless I pull my hair too tight)so wondered if that was to do with the either MSM or the silica complex.

ChloeDharma
April 4th, 2010, 07:16 AM
Chloe, many thanks, peacock twists look great on ladies, especially ladies with straight hair, my hair is too curly, also I find using the big clips required for peacock twist are very painful lol, that's why I opted for messy buns that are held by soft elastic bands. I guess I have to start practicing some braiding.

I got MSM from H&B yesterday, it was half price, I took two capusles each is 750mg, I also got the silica complex, only their silica complex didn't have any silica in it!! but it had 500mg of horsetail. I took one tablet of that.

After taking the above I had a little headche, didn't last long just about half an hour, I never normally get headaches (unless I pull my hair too tight)so wondered if that was to do with the either MSM or the silica complex.

Hmmnnn those claw clamps shouldn't be painfull, i often put them in as a quick way of putting my hair back and i often forget i even have one in....how strange :confused:
I was actually thinking the curls sticking up would look good but if you have tried it and don't like the look then you are of course the best judge. Maybe you could start a thread asking for advice on comfy updo's, unfortunately i'm not very good at them as i haven't practiced much.....most of the time i just stick my hair up in a simple bun out of lazyness lol.

I have that same silica from H&B, the horsetail contains silica. I really should remember to take them. From the reading i've done on MSM i'd say that's the one most likely to cause the headaches, they should wear off soon though. Thanks for letting me know it's half price, i've somehow lost the two bottles i got when they had a BOGOF so i might buy some more :)