Bangs can slow hair growth?

[Juneii]

I was reading around and came across an article talking about how having bangs can cause hair loss. It says that the hair seeks balance and therefore slows your hair growth down while speeding up the growth of your bangs. shudder:
(I tried to link it but I guess LHC censors the url address)
I find that really crazy and sadly believed it for a second until I realized that since getting my bangs cut last year my hair growth had not changed at all. Not to mention your hair is always at different lengths whether you see it or not. I don't think it's physically possible for your body to seek balance when the hair is already dead and cannot tell your scalp how long it is.

Has anyone experienced differently?

[squiggyflop]

link doesnt work..
um im pretty sure hair is dead and cant feel your bangs being cut..
and hair doesnt seek balance.. different parts grow at different speeds.. my bangs grow the slowest then my canopy grows slightly faster and my underside grows the fastest.. if thats balance then my hair is not very smart

[kwaniesiam]

That is definitely a myth.

[Gumball]

I doubt that would be true. All the hair follicles have a growth cycle they go by, and I'm not sure the cycle of one follicle would alter the cycle of another just because the weight is different (since bangs are shorter).

If I cut one of my fingernails shorter than the others they don't grow faster while the uncut ones slow down. They just keep on growing.

[Igor]

That is George Michael’s theory. The same man that also brought us the theory that the longer the hair gets, the less you shed and that the hair gets stronger if you part opposed to your natural growth pattern which “makes the follicle do push-ups”

Yea… Sure.

[Juneii]

odd, I am not sure why the link is not working, but I am glad I am not the only one who doesn't believe it either.

[brunette]

Also that most faces cannot take a centre parting! Utter tosh.
I seem to remember the bangs theory was that the follicles feel less weight of hair but afaik follicles are not that self aware! :D

[Juneii]

Also that most faces cannot take a centre parting! Utter tosh.
I seem to remember the bangs theory was that the follicles feels less weight of hair but afaik follicles are not that self aware! :D

That is silly, if our hair can alter the growth speed because of weight then we can easily trick it by putting our hair in a sling. If our hair is that self aware then maybe it can feel our need for it to grow faster!

[Igor]

Also that most faces cannot take a centre parting! Utter tosh.
I seem to remember the bangs theory was that the follicles feel less weight of hair but afaik follicles are not that self aware! :D

Oh, facepalm! I had forgotten about that one :gabigrin:

Yes and the theory was that these techniques strengthen the little muscle musculus arector pilli so you reduce shedding. Right. Because shedding isn’t determined by hormone levels or anything, right? :wink: And the little muscle isn’t exactly attached to the hair itself but to the connective tissue sheet around the follicle…

[Kimarie91]

I've had bangs the entire time I've been growing mine. It might be slow, but I'm sure its normal. That is funny.

[christine1989]

I seriously doubt that hair can sense which peices are short and which ones are long so I don't think you have anything to worry about. Bangs just seem like they are growing faster because they are short and in front so you notice their growth more.

[mellie89]

Definitely a myth. I've had bangs off and on for the last three years and no matter what, my hair always grows a half inch per month.

[Centaur]

I have long bangs. No slowing down in hair growth rate has been noted.

[Aleria]

This is a total myth. My hair grew at pretty much the same rate before and after my bangs.

[TXbarbie]

Yeah I agree with everyone else... it's gotta be a myth.

[Annalouise]

I have to agree that it is a myth. My hair falls out more now that it is all one length then when I had bangs and layers.

[Feng-Shui]

I have from this theory read in a book of George Michael.

It writes very good things in this book, but it writes also things which I does not believe.

Which you read I believes also it is only one myth.

[FrannyG]

Yes, I've read that theory too, and in my experience, and also having observed my daughter's hair, it's just not true.

[moominhapa]

Myth. I have bangs and my hair grows just fine.

[freckles]

yeah, that sounds like tosh.

[LadyLongLocks]

I never believed that bangs slowed down growth. I had them for years and my hair grew like a weed.
In this article (http://www.longhairlovers.com/gm_interview.html) on long hair lovers.com George Michael speaks of bangs. He claims hair is not at its strongest with bangs or layers. I was advised to grow mine out in 2005 from a long hair expert who worked under Dr Michael. When he showed him my photo with bangs, Dr M said send her to me and I will feather them to blend in! I couldn't believe my friend sent him my photo! I never went and grew them out myself.

[jane53]

My bangs haven't slowed my hair growth or reduced my thickness.

[dropinthebucket]

I can absolutely, definitely, unequivocally, and without the smallest portion of doubt state that my bangs grow faster than the rest of my hair. When I grew out hair dye, my bangs were free of it while the hair at the same level right beside it was not - there was a clear and obvious difference in growth rate. At the same time, I have two thinning patches at each temple - the hair there hardly grew at all, and even now, with the dye below my ears everywhere else, i've only got a half inch virgin hair at the thinning temples - that hair seems to grow super slowly. In complete and scientific objectivity, all I can conclude from this is that a) my hair grows at different rates and that b) the patches of thinning hair seem to have both density and growth rate affected. To say that everyone's hair grows at different rates, or to say that everyone's bangs grow faster, or to say that everyone's length slows down if they have bangs, would require a large sample group with careful observation and measurements - it would have to be borne out by HARD DATA - and i seriously doubt that George Michael has it. I suspect our growth patterns are far more individual than such generalizations can accomodate. :)

[ruffian]

Okay, I know I'm going to sound a little :crazyq: by posting this, but here goes.

First of all, let me state that I categorically do not believe this theory, it makes no sense.

However...

My hair has been all one length my whole life. Never had a problem, always consistent thickness, pretty consistent growth rate.

Then last winter in a fit of cabin fever I decided to cut bangs to see what they looked like, as I'd never had them before. In addition to hating the way they made my face look, my hair has not been the same since doing this.

I said to myself, well, I'll never do that again, and figured I'd just let them grow out and that would be that. But as time went on, it was as if my hair was getting "confused". The bangs themselves seemed to want to separate from the rest of my hair (a pseudo-part had appeared around the perimiter of the cut hair), and it only got worse the more they grew.

As for the rest of my hair, well, my growth has come to a screeching halt since February(ish). Not only that, but I've been shedding like a beast - something which is entirely out of the norm for me. The shedding has gotten so bad that the overall thickness of my hair has been compromised, and it is beginning to concern me (and yes, I'm going to the doctor to get checked out, because I know a lot of different things can contribute to shedding.)

Now, again, I am not saying "The BANGS did it!!!" However...it's quite a strange coincidence. That's all.

[Sammich]

I don't believe a word of it, everything's already set.
My bangs do grow faster than the rest of my hair though! :p

[squiggyflop]

I never believed that bangs slowed down growth. I had them for years and my hair grew like a weed.
In this article (http://www.longhairlovers.com/gm_interview.html) on long hair lovers.com George Michael speaks of bangs. He claims hair is not at its strongest with bangs or layers. I was advised to grow mine out in 2005 from a long hair expert who worked under Dr Michael. When he showed him my photo with bangs, Dr M said send her to me and I will feather them to blend in! I couldn't believe my friend sent him my photo! I never went and grew them out myself.

thanks for the article
"I know of just three places in the world where women grow more than half-an-inch per month: Tehuantepec, Mexico; the Piedmont Province of northern Italy,"
hehe my family is from around that general area in northern italy.. i wonder if thats why my hair grows faster than average with a maximum growth per month of 3 inches per month if im taking vitamins.. but i dont think iodine has anything to do with it because i get a ton of iodized salt everyday..

the guy was working with old science though.. science has changed considerably since he was a doctor..

also on topic with the thread i would like to say that when i joined i had short bangs and had my fastest growth rate going from shoulder to bsl in like 2 months and then hitting waist at the 6 month mark

[Laurenji]

I cut bangs back in September, and if anyone want to look at my length album, I definitely have lots more hair now than I did in September.

[JenniferNoel]

thanks for the article
"I know of just three places in the world where women grow more than half-an-inch per month: Tehuantepec, Mexico; the Piedmont Province of northern Italy,"



I have a lot of Italian blood, and my hair grows about an inch and a half per month. Bangs are more like two inches per month. I believe it.
Bangs have never affected my hair growth, however they always grow faster then the rest probably from genetics. After chin they keep breaking off though, actually I'm stuck with short ones now because they caught on fire several months ago.

[Feng-Shui]

I think that would be an interesting project for the "Myth Busters". :lol:

The only way the truth to find is to be tried it.

Perhaps do some people have desire on a group project over to investigate here whether truth or myth?

I thinks it can be very interesting.

I has it read nevertheless me few thoughts made because I not bangs has and also no layers in my hair wishes.:)

[JenniferNoel]

Well let's see here, since I'm growing mine out as we speak, I'll take measurements monthly and see if there are any unexplainable spurts in growth once the bangs hit chin. Also, I'll intensely monitor the growth rate of the bangs themselves versus the main length. It's worth a shot, but I seriously believe it's just a myth. :p

[Juneii]

I think that would be an interesting project for the "Myth Busters". :lol:


That would be interesting to see :D, I just read the article JJJ linked. Floor length hair losing only 2 strands a day? I have grown hair from my shoulders, to layers, and now hip with bangs and my shed rate has stayed relatively the same.

[saera]

My bangs take forever to grow x.x

[Darkhorse1]

I've had bangs my whole life. As a teen and even into my 30s, my hair has always grown like a weed. I'm noticing it's slowly down now that I've entered my 40s, but I will attribute that to age/hormones etc. I won't attribute that to my bangs. I've grown out my bangs a bit to update them, but if I notice my bangs are too long, rest assure, the rest of my hair will look a bit uneven due to a growth spurt.

And that dang gray starts to show more :P

[busnutmedic]

Maybe people think that their hair thins because when they get bangs cut, the rest of their hair seems thinner (and there *is* less hair in the back of the head).

[chotee]

Okay, I know I'm going to sound a little :crazyq: by posting this, but here goes.

First of all, let me state that I categorically do not believe this theory, it makes no sense.

However...

My hair has been all one length my whole life. Never had a problem, always consistent thickness, pretty consistent growth rate.

Then last winter in a fit of cabin fever I decided to cut bangs to see what they looked like, as I'd never had them before. In addition to hating the way they made my face look, my hair has not been the same since doing this.

I said to myself, well, I'll never do that again, and figured I'd just let them grow out and that would be that. But as time went on, it was as if my hair was getting "confused". The bangs themselves seemed to want to separate from the rest of my hair (a pseudo-part had appeared around the perimiter of the cut hair), and it only got worse the more they grew.

As for the rest of my hair, well, my growth has come to a screeching halt since February(ish). Not only that, but I've been shedding like a beast - something which is entirely out of the norm for me. The shedding has gotten so bad that the overall thickness of my hair has been compromised, and it is beginning to concern me (and yes, I'm going to the doctor to get checked out, because I know a lot of different things can contribute to shedding.)

Now, again, I am not saying "The BANGS did it!!!" However...it's quite a strange coincidence. That's all.


I can totally relate to your experience....despite the fact that so many of us believe its a myth and so do i most of the time....i had the experience of my life time when i did layers for the very first time and i should say after a few days, my hair started to fall and that too pretty bad.....maybe it was a coincidence or whatever (and to this day i keep blaming my diet and not enough proteins because i still don't believe layers can give a hair fall) but i vowed never to cut layers or bangs again.....and not only that, my teenage daughter who had the thickest hair has had layers and maintained it for a while....ofcourse it will look thinner when compared to her previous one length hair but overall i see a marked difference in the thickness even at the nape as i used to comb and braid her hair everyday to school as she was growing up.....over the years, i let my bangs grow back and now my one half of the hair is really thick while the lower half is still very thin......so now i don't want to take a chance as i am growing older and as such i don't have a good thickness for me to try again even though i love the look of bangs and layers...

[Oksana]

Hmmm, my bangs grow at almost double the rate of the rest of my hair, but then the right side of my hair grows faster than the left so maybe i'm just weird :o

[starlights]

i dont believe that theory... ive had bangs... and ive noticed no difference to my hair length everything has remained the same way it was before the bangs... :)

[Henrietta]

I have read it too, on one of the "hairy" sites in the web.
In my case it is true, my fringe grows two times faster that the rest of my hair, but having fringe or bangs doesn't cause hair loss. Maybe it's because I've had it since... always.

[Tap Dancer]

Bangs and layers don't slow hair growth. My hair grew fast when I had bangs and it grows just as fast now that I don't have them. Anyway, think of it this way: no one has hair that is all the same length. It's impossible! Hair sheds, breaks off, we get new regrowth all the time... So there's really no "proof" that hair will actually grow faster if every single hair on your head is the exact same length. ;)

[Qwackie]

Maybe that's why as a kid when I had straight across blunt cut bangs they always grew really fast...

[constantki]

I had bangs when I was younger, and they always seemed to grow super faster than the rest of my hair. But that might have just been because them growing an inch was a big deal, but the rest of my hair growing an inch was practically unnoticeable.