Terminal Length for hair?

[terrylillyd]

I was looking at videos on youtube for long healthy hair and I found this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EicYuYG4XLU

The girl explains that everyone has a terminal length for hair, and every strand has 7 years or another number, where the hair will stop growing and fall out. That when you reach your terminal length, maybe shoulder length or longer, your hair cannot grow any longer.

What do you think, can this girl be right? Or is it possible to grow your hair to any length you want, as long as you have patience and care for your hair properly? This is what I thought from what I have been finding and learning in these forums.

[lordofthespoons]

she is right.

[pepperminttea]

She is indeed correct. :) It's different for everyone. Igor wrote an article on how to calculate your terminal length (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=75), but it's often hit and miss.

[Schefflera]

Yes, there is a terminal length. It's just much longer for the hair on our heads than elsewhere on our bodies -- you don't have to trim your eyebrows to keep them from growing to a foot long, for instance. (At least, most people don't.)

However, shoulder would be an unusually short terminal length. I would estimate the average terminal length to be at least 40 inches, but many people encounter "false terminals" because their hair tends to break off at a certain point.

[terrylillyd]

Oh ok, thank you, that helps make it more sense to me, particularly about the "false terminals". I was a little confused :poot:

[AnnaJamila]

Well, if you go strictly by averages then our hair should only be able to grow to 35 inches so I wouldn't nessesarily worry about the numbers. I think 1 out of 3 LHCer's have proved that these averages can be misleading!

[Anje]

She's right. One confounding factor, though, is that different follicles on your body will have different terminal lengths. This is why you may have a foot or two of head hair, but not a foot or two of leg hair or eyebrow hair. It's why you might never get those little tufts at your temples to reach your hemline.

[spidermom]

It's not really a terminal LENGTH as a terminal TIME. Each hair has it's own growing cycle. Some might grow for only a month or two before they shed out. Others will grow for many years. The length each hair can reach will also depend on how often it's trimmed while it's growing, how fast it grows, and whether or not it is damaged and breaks off.

To further confuse the issue, sometimes things change and the growing cycle can become longer or shorter due to hormonal changes, extreme stress, a poor diet, and probably an endless list of other things.

Just take good care of yourself and your hair and find out. I used to fear that my hair wouldn't get much longer than BSL. Now it's nearly classic length.

[Mariah!!]

My moms hair can only get to BSL. Her hair is curly so it looks more like shoulder most of the time, but I have NEVER seen her with hair shorter or longer than shoulder length... it is always curled too (most of the time... cause, she doesn't like to really try to make it look straight or anything) Even looking at pics of her as a 3 year old, 13 year old and 23 year old, her hair has ALWAYS been within the same 3-4 inches or so that it has been. Crazy right? Well... I am guessing this is really her terminal.

[Igor]

It's not really a terminal LENGTH as a terminal TIME. Each hair has it's own growing cycle. Some might grow for only a month or two before they shed out. Others will grow for many years. The length each hair can reach will also depend on how often it's trimmed while it's growing, how fast it grows, and whether or not it is damaged and breaks off.

To further confuse the issue, sometimes things change and the growing cycle can become longer or shorter due to hormonal changes, extreme stress, a poor diet, and probably an endless list of other things.

Just take good care of yourself and your hair and find out. I used to fear that my hair wouldn't get much longer than BSL. Now it's nearly classic length.
I have added that to the article (Would swear I put it on a to-do list once but guess I never got around to it?) I considered adding information about what influences the cycle too and what actually happens during the cycle but it seems people find just that short stump of an article to be confusing/hard enough already? :confused:

My moms hair can only get to BSL. Her hair is curly so it looks more like shoulder most of the time, but I have NEVER seen her with hair shorter or longer than shoulder length... it is always curled too (most of the time... cause, she doesn't like to really try to make it look straight or anything) Even looking at pics of her as a 3 year old, 13 year old and 23 year old, her hair has ALWAYS been within the same 3-4 inches or so that it has been. Crazy right? Well... I am guessing this is really her terminal.
I find it unbelievable that a person goes through her whole life without getting trims and actively trying to grow it all the time. Unless I’m mistaken and she is, I would chalk that up to a preferred length, not terminal.

[ddiana1979]

If I had WL hair (with no taper) as an 18 year old, am I likely to be able to get back to that length again? Or am I screwed because I'm so much older? I know this is all hypothetical, just wondering.

[Sunsailing]

[QUOTE=Schefflera;1345749]Yes, there is a terminal length. It's just much longer for the hair on our heads than elsewhere on our bodies -- you don't have to trim your eyebrows to keep them from growing to a foot long, for instance. (At least, most people don't.)
QUOTE]

All the hair on your body grows at about the same rate....it just all has differenct terminal lenghts.

[Inane Romance]

I learned about terminal length a while ago... I'm a little worried about it. I really want long hair, but my hair has NEVER been longer than armpit length. When I was little it grew outwards instead of down, so most people called me helmet head. In my sophomore and junior year of high school, it grew to armpit length, and I got frequent cuts to shoulder. So I never got to see if it can grow past apl. I chopped it off at the beginning of summer, before I decided that I want it long.

Now the wait to grow my hair is making me crazy. What if I'm doomed forever to short hair? It just isn't fair, lol! Both my mom and my girlfriend had classic length when they were my age. Jealous~!

[Jennie80]

Hi everyone. This thread is interesting ( I,m sorry for my bad spelling) I tried the links and I wonder if people count the shedded hair or how do your know how much you lose each day?? I don`t shead that much. Not a 100 anyway. I thougt arong 50 per day or so. And I´m classic swedish ashy blonde. So if the test is correct then my longest lenght will be around 51 inches. I´m now at 82cm. So I`ve got termal lenght at 129cm. I´m 172cm long and have a long upperbody so it not fair. I want to grow my hair until it stops..Only time will tell..
has the test anything that proves that it correct or it`s like the lottery? hihi
have a nice friday.. Here it is midnight and a should sleep but this community is addicting ( I hope that is a word??) ahaha

[enfys]

ddiana1979, unless your growth rate has slowed significantly you needn't worry.

Jennie80, the results of the methods Igor shows in her article are not absolute. Don't give up hope if your came out with a shorter langth than it suggests; keep growing and see where you get!

I always think in terms of terminal time than length, like Spidermom explained. I'll have to have a look at Igor's updated article.

[Jennie80]

enfys- I didn`t get what spidermom ment. The language got to hard there haha. My hair grows about 2inches every month and I know that my mom had very long hair as a child så maybe my genetics are good. I have never had this long hair before so I really don`t know how long it can grow.. I do not feel like I have long hair and today I took a new foto and YES!! My hair is long..I love it..

[Avital88]

I heard about this before,my hairdresser always told me that.
And the funny thing was that she always told me around BSL that my hair probably wouldnt grow any longer because it looked like my terminal lenght.
that was 2 years ago when i had a trim every 6 weeks.(ofcourse it doesnt grow then)
I decided to stop going there and then had a trim every 3 months for 9 months at a different salon, then not have a cut for 7 months and now im trying to achieve a whole year.(im at 6 months now) And guess what?? my hair is past Waist and still growing.
Yes it took a while but my hair was really damaged and i had layers which im almost rid off.
So its true that you have a terminal lenght but you dont know what your terminal will be untill you grow out for real..

[Jennie80]

Thank you for your answer. It gave me hope. I want to have knee length..

[feralnature]

I think of it as "terminal time" rather than "terminal length" too. The hair on my head is actually 4 years old. So I am thinking that in 3 years I should have notion of what my terminal length is, when the hair will be 7 yrears old, and it will have had very, very few small trims. Sometimes after 2014 I should be at terminal, more or less.

[Jennie80]

Ok. That makes sense.I will now in the middle of the night( sweden) look at old pictures and hope to tell how old my hair is at the ends..hmmm

[enfys]

enfys- I didn`t get what spidermom ment. The language got to hard there haha. My hair grows about 2inches every month and I know that my mom had very long hair as a child så maybe my genetics are good. I have never had this long hair before so I really don`t know how long it can grow.. I do not feel like I have long hair and today I took a new foto and YES!! My hair is long..I love it..

I'll try and explain it!

Every hair on your whole body has a 3 stage life cycle. It grows, rests then sheds to be replaced by a new hair. Hairs in different places will grow for different amounts of time. Your eyelashes and eyebrows have a shorter cycle. They might grow for three months before they shed. Head hair has the lengest cycle, years and years for most people.

You can't really change this time that hair grows for but you can maximise it. Eating well and being healthy should make your hair grow at it's fastest. Illness and stress will slow your growth.

This is another reason that you shouldn't feel disappointed my your terminal estimate; many of us start growing better quality hair and keeping it in better condition. Seven years worth of LHC hair may well be inches longer than seven years worth of nonLHC hair.

Your growth rate can vary through your life and of course from person to person.

Spidermom also talks about trimming. This is where maths comes in. If your hair grows 6" a year for 7 years that's 42" of length. Great! If you trim an inch every three months it means your hair is growing 6" a year from the root but only gaining 2" length. Seven years of that would look like just 14" of growth!

Sorry this post is so huge, and I hope it makes it clearer. This is my take on terminal length anyway. I think it's one of the most confusing aspects of growing. There's more than this but I don't want to overwhelm you!

[Jennie80]

Thank You. I got it :) I looked at my pictures in my album. The one witch were taken last year I think it would take 2 years for me to grow from bald to that lenght witch means that my hair should now be like 3-4years old at the ends..I take my pills( vitamins) and eat correct and take good care of it I think. So maybe it will grow very long

[enfys]

Thank You. I got it :) I looked at my pictures in my album. The one witch were taken last year I think it would take 2 years for me to grow from bald to that lenght witch means that my hair should now be like 3-4years old at the ends..I take my pills( vitamins) and eat correct and take good care of it I think. So maybe it will grow very long

With that rate and health you have a very good chance of super lengths :cheese:

[Jennie80]

Thank U for your support. I hope that U are right. I trimm my hair 2times a year and I almost never got split ends..I have it a hairdo all the time. Down when it air dryes. Wash it at the most 3 times a week and use coconut oil..

[feralnature]

I'll try and explain it!

Every hair on your whole body has a 3 stage life cycle. It grows, rests then sheds to be replaced by a new hair. Hairs in different places will grow for different amounts of time. Your eyelashes and eyebrows have a shorter cycle. They might grow for three months before they shed. Head hair has the lengest cycle, years and years for most people.

You can't really change this time that hair grows for but you can maximise it. Eating well and being healthy should make your hair grow at it's fastest. Illness and stress will slow your growth.

This is another reason that you shouldn't feel disappointed my your terminal estimate; many of us start growing better quality hair and keeping it in better condition. Seven years worth of LHC hair may well be inches longer than seven years worth of nonLHC hair.

Your growth rate can vary through your life and of course from person to person.

Spidermom also talks about trimming. This is where maths comes in. If your hair grows 6" a year for 7 years that's 42" of length. Great! If you trim an inch every three months it means your hair is growing 6" a year from the root but only gaining 2" length. Seven years of that would look like just 14" of growth!

Sorry this post is so huge, and I hope it makes it clearer. This is my take on terminal length anyway. I think it's one of the most confusing aspects of growing. There's more than this but I don't want to overwhelm you!

Fantastic post!

Especially the part where you say "Seven years worth of LHC hair may well be inches longer than seven years worth of nonLHC hair."

When I look at my hair today, and oil it, I am visualizing my hair as the *ends* of my future longer hair. I am simply caring for the 28" of ends. My whole length of hair is my "ends"...to my future longer hair, ends of my hair now and am waiting for the rest of the length to grow out of my head.

[autumnchild]

Thank you all for the info... This has been extremely helpful and educational, you all are great ! I am so glad that I have found LHC. I hope to have waist length hair, but I will have to wait and see....

Does anyone think it is good to not trim for a year? I am considering it.


Thanks so much!!!:hmm::hmm::roll::roll:

[aisling]

autumnchild, as with so many other things in hair care, only you can tell if not trimming for a year is good for you or not. It depends on many things, in what shape are your ends? If they're in great shape, not trimming fir a year may be a good thing, you'll gain lots of length but if your ends aren't in the best shape, not trimming might not be such a good idea.

Also, how do you want your hair to look? Not trimming for a year will give most people a somewhat uneven hemline, as some hairs always grow faster than others. I like a pretty even, thick hemline on myself and therefore I trim regularly.

[autumnchild]

Thanks aisling, I will keep :eye::eye: for any damage that needs to be :scissors: . But I want to gain as much length as possible! Sounds like S&D is my best bet!!

You will have to excuse me, I am out of control with all my smily choices, just luv em'.. :D

[Mairéad]

I used a calculator somewhere and it said my terminal length was 27 inches. I simply don't believe that because I've had hair that was much, much longer than that. Like, almost thigh length.