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sayshell
April 21st, 2010, 01:43 PM
Hi I have been growing my hair for 3 years now from being bald but it has stopped half way down my back. It has not grown for 6 months (I measure the length frequently) is it normal for hair to stop growing and start growing again or has it reached its terminal length? Its like my life goal to have waist length hair. I never trim my hair because I know that practice does not work. Homeless people and siks have super long hair and their hair is as damaged as humanly possible. I eat extremely healthy and spend at least 4 hours a day exercising. I am a 22 year old man. My hair is thick so I am sure it is not my diet + all the other hair on my body grows at its normal rate so something is wrong with the hair on my head.
I read that a haircut can cause this to happen because my last one was 3 years ago so a lot of those hairs lifespan would be used up, however if this were true then wouldn't their be a couple random hairs that are super long because their life just started when my last hair cut took place? All my hair is almost exactly half way down as if it looks like it were cut at that length. I am just wondering if you know anyone who had this and actually did have hair keep growing after being 100% sure it stopped.

So yeah to summarize is it at its terminal length, or does hair ever stop growing for a period as long as half a year and start again?

Fractalsofhair
April 21st, 2010, 01:48 PM
It's normal for hair to stop growing at that length due to damage. Not all homeless people have long hair, and most that do have dreads from what I've seen. A lot of homeless people also don't wash their hair as much as other people, and can't have the time to style it with heat or dyes, allowing them to grow their hair longer. Sikhs take very good care of their hair, hence the length. Some people also just have amazing hair naturally. (Sadly, most of us need to be gentle with our hair!) Do you wear your hair in a braid or a bun all of the time, including in your sleep? That might help. As will using more conditioner, maybe not shampooing the length, etc.

Haircuts do NOT affect terminal length at all, other than cutting off the ends of hairs. Your hair doesn't know if it's had a haircut or not. You might want to get a trim if you think there are splits.

If your hair is tapering to a V shape, with very thin ends, it might be your terminal length, but false terminal is very common at that length due to chairs and such rubbing against hair.

Also, it's not unusual for hair to not grow or grow much slower in winter.

Dreams_in_Pink
April 21st, 2010, 01:48 PM
That's called a stall. We never know when and how they happen, but it's very common.

sayshell
April 21st, 2010, 03:35 PM
It's normal for hair to stop growing at that length due to damage. Not all homeless people have long hair, and most that do have dreads from what I've seen. A lot of homeless people also don't wash their hair as much as other people, and can't have the time to style it with heat or dyes, allowing them to grow their hair longer. Sikhs take very good care of their hair, hence the length. Some people also just have amazing hair naturally. (Sadly, most of us need to be gentle with our hair!) Do you wear your hair in a braid or a bun all of the time, including in your sleep? That might help. As will using more conditioner, maybe not shampooing the length, etc.

Haircuts do NOT affect terminal length at all, other than cutting off the ends of hairs. Your hair doesn't know if it's had a haircut or not. You might want to get a trim if you think there are splits.

If your hair is tapering to a V shape, with very thin ends, it might be your terminal length, but false terminal is very common at that length due to chairs and such rubbing against hair.

Also, it's not unusual for hair to not grow or grow much slower in winter.

No I never tie my hair up ever. My approach is a "natural" approach. I basically just leave it alone, I only bathe once a week and comb it usually before I bathe, aside from that I never touch it. I don't use shampoo but I do use conditioner.
Thanks for the information. For me quantity is more of an issue than quality I don't want to trim it until it reaches the length I want otherwise it will take longer to get there.

One more weird question, is the temperature of the hair what stops it from growing or the temperature of the body? I know hair grows more in the summer so I wore down jacket inside all winter long to the point I was sweating continually all day long. It did not work however. I do not understand how damage can effect hair, the logic does not make sense to me unless you are physically severing the hair by applying enough pressure.

joiekimochi
April 21st, 2010, 07:53 PM
Just a note: all my Sikh friends do not have damaged hair AT ALL. In fact they have the longest and strongest hair I've ever seen. Especially my male Sikh friends. They take extremely good care of their hair, washing it very gently and then keeping it protected in their turbans. I can't see how you think they have damaged hair beyond humanly possible. Their hair don't even get exposed to external elements, never touch a heat appliance at all and are washed with such care once a week. Sounds like a recipe for amazingly healthy hair to me.

ItalianFlower
April 21st, 2010, 08:39 PM
Joi, Fractals said that Skihs had beautiful hair because they took such good care of it. She said that the homeless were the ones that were unable to bathe and had dreadlocks. :) We're all on the same page.

CaityBear
April 21st, 2010, 08:41 PM
My hair grew nothing in about 6-8 months the one time. It was very difficult trying to get through it because I REALLY wanted it to grow, but patience. Hair can go through really long stalls, but it will start growing again.

sayshell
April 21st, 2010, 09:03 PM
excellent I will wait it out then. Yeah I was generalizing about 800 million sikhs off of the 2 I have met. So its probably a bad example. I will replace that with homeless people/metalheads metalheads take the worst possible care of hair imaginable and have thigh length hair that is perfectly healthy. I don't think anything is possibly worse for hair then headbanging. Hair is pretty tough I have a bucket of extra hair from what comes out when I comb and I conduct experiments with it. With all my physical strength I can not rip a 9mm strand of hair and I can bench press over 14000 pounds of weight. (I used to be a airplane mechanic airplanes are surprisingly heavy)

DragonLady
April 21st, 2010, 09:26 PM
I stalled out at my mid-back for years. I did everything I knew how to do to get it grow, and finally decided that it simply would never get longer.

When I found LHC and began reading here, a lightbulb went off: I've been working on the internet for ten years. And sitting in this chair for almost that long. I stood up, looked down and realized that my hair was being broken off rubbing between my back and my chair. Now, I've covered the chair with a big sheet of silky fabric, and keep my hair up while I'm here...and have gained over a foot since I joined.

My guess is that something is breaking yours off, too. Just take a long look at your everyday life and see where and what might be doing it, then try to eliminate those things or reduce the hazards.

DragonLady
April 21st, 2010, 09:28 PM
With all my physical strength I can not rip a 9mm strand of hair and I can bench press over 14000 pounds of weight.

Your hairs are 9mm????

0.o

I want some.

sayshell
April 21st, 2010, 10:23 PM
I stalled out at my mid-back for years. I did everything I knew how to do to get it grow, and finally decided that it simply would never get longer.

When I found LHC and began reading here, a lightbulb went off: I've been working on the internet for ten years. And sitting in this chair for almost that long. I stood up, looked down and realized that my hair was being broken off rubbing between my back and my chair. Now, I've covered the chair with a big sheet of silky fabric, and keep my hair up while I'm here...and have gained over a foot since I joined.

My guess is that something is breaking yours off, too. Just take a long look at your everyday life and see where and what might be doing it, then try to eliminate those things or reduce the hazards.
wow that's actually true? I don't see how that could be possible hair is pretty tough unless its a split end it takes a lot of force to break. Over 48000lbs to be exact
This also could not be true because my bangs have also stopped growing and they are always in my face. When you sleep its unavoidable unless you can sleep on your side but Im a roller.

julliams
April 21st, 2010, 10:31 PM
I read something somewhere that explained this stall. It was something like, it takes the life of the hair to grow from bald to BSL (about 6 -7 years) so most of the hairs are falling out once they reach their "time limit" and it appears that there is a stall in growth. I'll see if I can find the link. It made alot of sense to me and it indicated that you should just wait a little longer (about 2 years ) before you call it terminal length.

DragonLady
April 21st, 2010, 10:31 PM
wow that's actually true?

Yes; it's really true. I felt like a complete idiot when I realized what was happening. :( I had really given up my dreams of extra-long hair, and was looking for short styles and cute accesories because I planned to get it cut off. Then someone directed me here, and all that changed. :) My only regret is that it didn't happen years ago.

Hair is strong, when you're tugging on the length of it. But it doesn't hold up to constant abrasion. I didn't know that, either, 'till I came here. The damage may not be visible 'till the hair has broken complely off. Even then, it might just seem like it was shed out. I found shorter hairs in my brush all the time, and kinda wondered why they didn't grow as long as the others; but now I realize that while some hair does stop growing earlier, a lot more of it was breakage than I ever would've suspected.

Keeping it up in a braid when I sleep and keeping it bunned or braided during the day has made a world of difference. Granted I do other things for faster growth, but preventing the breakage has been the biggest single factor.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Try it for awhile, and see if it works for you. Braid it every night and put it up in a leather glove or something during the day, and see if you get more length in the next six months.

VitaR86
April 21st, 2010, 11:12 PM
wow that's actually true? I don't see how that could be possible hair is pretty tough unless its a split end it takes a lot of force to break. Over 48000lbs to be exact
This also could not be true because my bangs have also stopped growing and they are always in my face. When you sleep its unavoidable unless you can sleep on your side but Im a roller.

Yeah, sorry, but that sounded a bit rude and misinformed. Hair is easily settable to breakage unless you have superman hair.

Where did you get this 48000lbs factoid?

sayshell
April 22nd, 2010, 12:01 AM
Yeah, sorry, but that sounded a bit rude and misinformed. Hair is easily settable to breakage unless you have superman hair.

Where did you get this 48000lbs factoid?
48000 is the square root of 420


I will try tieing it up when I sleep, but i don't want to tie it during the day. That takes all the fun out of having long hair.


I read something somewhere that explained this stall. It was something like, it takes the life of the hair to grow from bald to BSL (about 6 -7 years) so most of the hairs are falling out once they reach their "time limit" and it appears that there is a stall in growth. I'll see if I can find the link. It made alot of sense to me and it indicated that you should just wait a little longer (about 2 years ) before you call it terminal length.
thanks I think I read that but the flaw was like I pointed out, if this were the case you would still have a couple random hairs that are super long, because their life would have just started when the majority of your hair was last cut so if the majority only have a life span of 3 years left, the odd hairs will still have 6 years in them if that makes cents. I know it might not make dollars. (pun) I consider my self very funny.

Rhiannon7
April 22nd, 2010, 12:19 AM
It's normal for hair to reach a stalling period, mine does stall around waist, i actually went through a stalling period (at least it felt like a stall.) last year, it did not grow for almost 8 months. don't worry, protect your hair alot, braid or bun or simply keep your hair off the back. wash carefully, use deep moisture treatments and don't brush wet hair.

The stalling can be breakage, natural stall or due to a change of diet or meds, even stress or a life change like marriage, divorce or a death in the family. (at least that is what i've experienced.) so just treat hair like antique lace, give it lots of moisture and whatever else it needs and keep it up away from anything that can be rubbed against. braids are good for anyone and look good.

Give it some benign neglect, simply wash, condish, deep treatments, oils, leave in etc. and forget the measuring tape for 8 months. then measure again, if for some reason it has not grown at all by then, check your diet and life changes, maybe even consult a doctor to see if it is a natural stall or not.

HTH.

sherigayle
April 22nd, 2010, 07:46 AM
Since you don't wear your hair up or braided, your hair is getting damaged and probably breaking off at the ends. It makes it seem like your hair isn't growing. Keeping your ends protected is likely the only way you will start to see growth again.

I'm not sure where you've gotten some of your information regarding hair strength and the hair care routines of generalized groups of long haired people. Perhaps your should open your mind to new ideas and do a lot of reading in these forums.

And I have to call shenanigans on some of your posts here so far. 48,000 is not the square root of 420. Neither of those numbers have anything to do with hair strand strength. I'm sorry, but you cannot bench press 14000 pounds. The reason you can't rip a 9mm strand of hair is because it is probably too short to get much leverage on. Try pulling a longer strand, more than a few inches, and you will see that it will rip fairly easily.

I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to prevent false information from being repeated.

Narya
April 25th, 2010, 11:01 AM
Hair is strong, when you're tugging on the length of it. But it doesn't hold up to constant abrasion.

I think that's what better sums it up: as with any other kind of "strand" (say, a rope, a cable...), it's easier to break it abrading than stretching. You need a big force tugging for breaking a rope, for instance, but if said rope is trapped between two walls moving sideways it'll break way easier.

spidermom
April 25th, 2010, 11:13 AM
In general, you aren't at terminal length until your hair fails to get longer for 2 years. Don't rely on the tape measure - they lie. A better method to see growth is to wear the same shirt - with horizontal stripes if you have one - and have a picture taken from the back on a regular basis, maybe once a month or once every 3 months. Then you will know for sure whether or not your hair is growing.

Good luck and welcome to the community.

Debra83
April 25th, 2010, 11:24 AM
Welcome to LHC and hopefully you will see great length!