growth of hair depends on age?

[Cinnamon.locks]

Hi, i wanted to get some opinions from those here who have grown their hair to great lengths.......last night i asked a friend of mine if she thought i ( at over 30 ) could grow my hair below classic, she said that due to age my hair would not grow as long as i wish it to, ( 45 inches, mid-thigh.) so i wished to have opinions, comments, advice, knowledge.....can i actually expect my hair to grow below classic? my hair is between BSL and waist and i've had long hair before. it is not damaged and well protected and Co'ed three times a week, washed with poo twice or 3 times a month, brushed daily and braided. and i do DMT twice a month, and use IC oil on ends five times a week before bed.


thanks for any help.

[prosperina]

I used to wonder about that, and I remember my mom used to tell me that the only people that had really really long hair (and I was at the time defining that as longer than waist) had long hair all their life and got their long hair when they were kids. If you're older, your hair just won't grow as fast. I don't think that's true. I think being here has pretty much convinced me that is a myth. Although I can think of a couple of younger members that have super fast growing hair. (Squiggy comes to mind. Man I wish my hair grew that fast!)

[jojo]

I too have heard that the older you get, the slower your hair grows, but in my humble opinion I don't think age has a lot to do with it.

My hair actually grows quicker than it ever has; it took 7 years before to grow from shoulder to waist. My hair is just 7 inches off waist and the rate my hair is growing I should reach waist by say next January. It will have took me just over 3 years, if my estimations are correct.

I think if a persons diet is healthy and they look after their hair properly then they can grow their hair.

[wimsey]

Well, I'm 50 and my hair is still growing a solid half inch per month. :)

[Oberon88]

My mom has told me this before, but I really don't think its true. She had beautiful classic length hair when she was in college, but cut it when I was born. She's kept it shoulder length since, and says that her hair won't grow due to the dry California climate. My hair is doing just fine, she says its because I'm young, but her sister has longer hair than I do and shes in her late forties.
I think Prosperina is right, its all about care, and patience.

[Mitzy]

I just turned 50 in April. My hair grows 1/2 to 3/4 of a inch (faster in the summer) every month. I have measured it off and on for over 8 years now, and I see no slowing down. I have grown my hair (most recently) from a pixie cut to BSL in just under 2 and 1/2 years. It is as thick as ever and as coarse.

[ilovelonghair]

I think that hair can grow in stages, there are times when it doesn't grow well and there are times where it grows fast. For example I had times where my hair could not go past BSL and there were times where it grew really long and it grew fast too. Now recently I lost a lot of hair, but then a few weeks after it started growing fast again.
My mothers hair would not grow past her shoulders until she was in her 30's. She grew it hip lenght in her 40's. She always kept it at that lenght and did not care for her hair like people on this forum do (there were no condisheners at that time), so it could have grown longer maybe.

[Phalaenopsis]

Although when you get *old* maybe take 70-80, your metabolism is not as quick anymore. Everythings goes slower: healing thus also the hair that grows

But at 30 or 40 I don't think you will already have that problem ;)

[flapjack]

My mother's hair grows like a weed and I'm in my early twenties*, if that gives you any indication. And her hair is insanely thick. She probably has... five gray hairs total that she exaggerates about but you can't even see them.


*is slightly afraid to state her mother's age on the internet... hahahaha

[julya]

My mom is in her 60s and her hair grows at least as fast as mine, if not faster. She likes to keep it between waist and BSL and she asks me cut it for her about once a year.

[k_hepburn]

Well past thirty, hair at hip length, and not showing any signs of slowing down yet. In the past five year or so I've grown it from about bsl to its current length, with a few sizeable trims to tidy the ends in between. So, I don't really see any evidence of age slowing down my hair growth quite yet :D .

However, I do think that one factor that may influence the health of your hair and accordingly its growth rate is if you start to dye your hair regularly. I do, and while my hair is only showing minor damage (spit ends) currently, in spite of my last trim having been eight months ago, I just get that feeling that my hair is beginning to show the effects of having been exposed to hair dye regularly for years.

Another observation that I've made is that in many people of my grandmother's age (she's in her early nineties) the hair seems to be thinning rather a lot, leaving them with visibly very little hair on their head.

Greetings

katharine

[spidermom]

Age 54, hip length, thick, and still growing. In fact, it's been growing fast since a rather generous trim in March.

[Xandergrammy]

I didn't start growing my hair until I was 40. I'm 52 now and my hair just reached classic. I'm not sure if it will grow any longer, but I can tell from my new growth that my hair is growing out of my head at a normal rate. :gabigrin:

[jesamyn]

At 35, my hair grows FAR faster than it did in my teens or 20's. I think part of it is how I take care of it.

On a related tangent, my mom (65-ish) has hair that not only grows like a weed, but is getting thicker and thicker. I noticed that my hair also seems to be getting thicker (more strands).

[DaveDecker]

I started at 31 y.o. with a 2-inch layered man's execu-cut. Need I say more?

[Dulci]

I was in my mid-30s when I started. It's never too late!

[truepeacenik]

39. classic length.
what matters is perms, coloring, heat abuse and neglect.

[EdG]

My hair grows 1/2 inch per month and I'm 43. I don't think you'll have any difficulty growing beyond classic. :cheese:
Ed

[Cinnamon.locks]

Thank you everyone for the comments. I did have some worries about this, but i also had some doubts. i knew that hair grows well into the very very old years of life, and i did think that at my age i could grow it to the length i want, even though it is very fine it has survived almost everything i've done to it in the past.


I know i just have to eat well and care for my hair and it will grow, just depends how long depending on terminal length, which i have never trully known for sure what that terminal length is, since never grown it past my hips as an adult. so going and growing as far as it will go and hopefully someday i'll see the actual terminal length of my hair.

Again thank you all for the help.

[lynnala]

When my mom was 85 years old her hair was still growing at an amazing speed. I would chop it off for her (at her request) and next thing we knew it was to the middle of her back again. And she wasn't healthy, either. But her hair sure was!

[MemSahib]

I'm 57 (nearly 58) and just reached classic. I think what you will find is that many people slow once they reach waist. I know I did. From shoulders to waist took no time at all but from waist to classic it has drug on and on — but even that is a generalization.

[30isthenewblack]

I was thinking of this thread today when I saw a 65+ man at the supermarket with hair down to his waist.

[morgwn]

My mum is nearing 60 and her hair still grows wonderfully. She's been cutting it shorter lately, but until her mid-50's she always had her hair nearly at her waist. She still covers the grey, although since she's a lighter blonde than I am they don't show up much anyway, and still manages to have healthy hair. So I think it's nothing to do with age, it's to do with genes and how you treat your hair!

[harpgal]

Depending on your genes, you hair growth should remain the same throughout your life. At least it has stayed the same for me. The only variation is due to the seasons not due to age.

[squiggyflop]

I used to wonder about that, and I remember my mom used to tell me that the only people that had really really long hair (and I was at the time defining that as longer than waist) had long hair all their life and got their long hair when they were kids. If you're older, your hair just won't grow as fast. I don't think that's true. I think being here has pretty much convinced me that is a myth. Although I can think of a couple of younger members that have super fast growing hair. (Squiggy comes to mind. Man I wish my hair grew that fast!)
wow was i surprised to hear mention of me.. yes my hair does seem to grow fast but it grew slower when i was younger.. it seems to be slowing down some now.. i think it all depends on nutrition.. my hair grew massive amounts per month when i was taking natrol hair vitamins and centrium.. i think it may have been more than 2 inches a month. because i cut off 2 inches in a 2 month period and still made it from shoulder to bsl in 2 months.. i dont take the vitamins anymore out of sheer lazyness and im back down to half an inch a month..

[DecafJane]

i think it may have been more than 2 inches a month. because i cut off 2 inches in a 2 month period and still made it from shoulder to bsl in 2 months..

Um, WOW!!!!!! Did I mention that I'm jealous? :D

[squiggyflop]

Um, WOW!!!!!! Did I mention that I'm jealous? :D
i make myself jealous of me when i look at the pictures.. i wish i could have the discipline to go back on the vitamins.. but they smell bad and im so lazy... i know i could get more growth like that if i would only swallow the vitamins...
every time i open the bottle i can smell them.. ugh if i dont plug my nose they dont go down.. i wish hair vitamins came in gummy form because i can definately get those flintstones gummy vitamins down..

also i was reading a bit and the book i was reading said that as we age the hair becomes more fragile and breaks off which is why its harder for woman and men over 60 to grow longer hair.. but i think that if older people take extra good care of their hair that there wont be any prolems in growing the hair