How to thicken my hair

[WhisperingMoon]

Alright, I am kinda lost trying to navigate around here, but if someone would guide me, that would be awesome! Ok so I need some much needed advice: Can you or is it possible to thicken your hair? No not implants or extensions...I mean really thicken your natural hair? What do I need to do if it is possible?

When I don't wash my hair after a few days or mess with it, much more hair comes out after I do wash it, CWC and ACV rinse, and comb with wide tooth comb. So I need to thicken my hair!

Please help! Thank you!

[linnepinne]

I don't think that there is any way to grow more hairs than you already have on your head. Not without implants anyway. But by using henna or cassia treatments, you can get the feeling of thicker and stronger hair. At least that's what i've read alot on this forum, and as soon as i get my pay check, i'm going to try some cassia myself :)
And from what I hear it's perfectly normal to have some bigger sheds sometimes. it has to to with the hairs growth cycle. If alot of hairs end their cycle at the same time, it will feel like you are loosing alot of hair.
Maybe this is a personal question, but did you have a baby recently? Because pregnancy hormones boost hair growth, and during pregnacy is when most women have the most beautiful hair they will ever have. But when the pregnancy is over, the hormones in your body will work the opposite way, and most women get huge sheds!

Also if you have your hair up for a couple of days and don't touch it, the hairs that fall out naturally because of the growth cycle stay in your hair and don't fall on the ground. So that's why you can get alot of hairs in your comb or brush if you haven't detangled in a while. So those hairs would have fallen out anyway. It happens to me all the time.

But what I think will help you the most is trying to be friends with your hair, and loving it for what it is. All types of hair textures and thicknesses are beautiful in their own ways! This is something i try to work on every day for myself, and the LHC has been a really big help!

I hope I could give you some answers, but I know there are plenty of skilled hairgrowers here on the forum that could give you some more info. Especially on the cassia/henna topic.

Happy growing!

[Juneii]

linnepinne beat me to it!

so to answer your other question, there is a search option on the forum, you can use it to specify what you are looking for. Also, check out our Articles section (link should be near the top of the page) many of our members have written very detailed and informative articles on hair care and many other things!

Welcome to LHC!

[RachieBaby]

The only thing i've found to make my hair any thicker is Henna :)

[Clarisse]

You have a genetic max that you can’t exceed - but you can do a lot of things to reach that maximum, if you’re not there. It’s about being as healthy as possible...


Healthy diet - including lots of protein and vitamin-rich vegetables
Healthy amount of sleep
Exercise
Supplements
Less stress


Cassia makes the hair feel thicker, and so does avoiding dimethicone and other ’cones in hair products.

Good luck :)

[jaine]

You could make your hair look bigger in the meantime .... Blow-drying my hair loosely upside down always makes it look huge - not to straighten it but just finger-combing while I aim warm air at it.
Shampoo and a lightweight silicone-free conditioner will make hair puffier than other gentler washing methods like CO or water-only...

[MsEvans]

Mn caused me to grow another layer of hair I never knew I had. Try it. The only bad part is that I have a complete layer of hair that is much shorter than the rest.

[CrisDee]

Ditto the MN - you're a new member, so you may not have come across some of the strange things us LHCers are putting on our heads! :D

Before LHC, I had chemically dyed my hair (red) for nearly 20 years. I have baby fine hair (the chemical dye made it spiderweb fine!), but I do have a LOT of it. The chemical dye (plus rough handling) also caused a lot of breakage. At this point, I've cut off all the chemical dye and am now growing my hair out (see avatar) using the knowledge I've learned here. Conditioner-only washing (CO), miconazole nitrate (MN) and Mega-Tek (MT) to boost growth, henna and cassia for color. My hair is now thicker than it's ever been (and I'm in my 50's!) - but I think a lot of that is from lack of breakage and damage, rather than actual thickening of hair.

One thing you'll learn about LHC methods - they require a great deal of trial and error (heavy on the error!) to find out what works for you. And you have to fight the urge to try everything at once - because then you won't know what's working and what isn't. Good luck! :flower:

[bumblebums]

You could make your hair look bigger in the meantime .... Blow-drying my hair loosely upside down always makes it look huge - not to straighten it but just finger-combing while I aim warm air at it.
Shampoo and a lightweight silicone-free conditioner will make hair puffier than other gentler washing methods like CO or water-only...

Both of these recommendations would be absolutely deadly to my hair. Whenever I used to blow-dry, I would end up with a huge mat of shed hair on the floor. I think it was the combination of heat and manipulation. I would also shed a lot more when I used shampoo. That was one of the main reasons for me to quit shampooing over a year ago.

OP, there are lots of things you could try. One I would recommend, given your hairtype, is plopping (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/to-plop-or-not-to-plop). It gives your hair more body and lift at the roots by encouraging wave formation throughout the length, not just at the last few inches. Another is experimenting with different wash methods. If CWC is not yielding good results after a good five-six weeks of trying, try something else. There is a myriad ways to wash your hair without shampoo--not just CO. You can try Indian herbs, Western herbs, the Baking Soda/Apple Cider Vinegar method, Water Only with an occasional acidic rinse, heck, even applesauce. Some of these are more time-consuming than others, and some ingredients can be harder to get in certain areas. Poke around the article section and see what appeals to you.

One word of warning on henna--it's a permanent commitment. You cannot remove it from your hair without ruining it in the process or losing the length. Think carefully about whether you want to be a redhead. Cassia does not color your hair, but it can be drying, so if your hair is prone to dryness, look into ways to mitigate that.

[x0h_bother]

Alright, I am kinda lost trying to navigate around here, but if someone would guide me, that would be awesome! Ok so I need some much needed advice: Can you or is it possible to thicken your hair? No not implants or extensions...I mean really thicken your natural hair? What do I need to do if it is possible?

When I don't wash my hair after a few days or mess with it, much more hair comes out after I do wash it, CWC and ACV rinse, and comb with wide tooth comb. So I need to thicken my hair!

Please help! Thank you!
Things that have helped me:

no/less heat (I don't know if you use heat)
no tight ponytails
no wet combing (I don't know if you do this either)
coconut oil

Also, in response to your comment about not messing or washing for a few days and then having hairfall, this is actually normal. The hairs that would have fallen do and then you detangle them out all at once when you wash, so you see all you've collected. But also, I noticed due to my hair and oily clogged scalp, I cannot stretch washes without added hairfall or go sulfate free.
Good luck!

[bumblebums]

Oh, another thought. In taking haircare advice from people, pay attention to their hair type. The most useful advice will be from people whose hair is most like yours. We all learn a lot about other hair types from hanging out on the forum, but I will never know what it's like to be a 3a/M/iii or a 1a/M/i...

[Raekwon]

Biotin 5000 mcg pill - 1 in the morning, 1 in the night.

[Spike]

Ditto on the plenty of water, plenty of sleep, less stress, good nutrition, and exercise. Might help, can't hurt.

Biotin helped me, as did massage with castor oil. In ten months, I've gained a half-inch circumference.

Note that it took ten months. This would be the downside of grow your own and not using extensions. Be ready to give anything a good LONG try before giving up.

[Maddy_T]

New hairs have been sprouting all over the place since I started drinking Spirulina! If you try it though, beware because it tastes ABSOLUTELY disgusting!!! euuugh, just thinking about having to drink it later is making me queezy haha, but it's worth it! :):cheese:

[mellie89]

Like Spike, I have had success with castor oil. However, it only thickened my hair in areas where it had thinned (mostly around my temples) due to hormonal issues/stress/terrible nutrition. It might make the rest of your hair grow a bit faster, but it can't make you grow new hair follicles. Same with biotin.

Is your hair actually thinning? How many hairs would you say you shed per day? The average for most people is about 100 per day.

I know when I put my hair up for a couple days and then wash it, I shed loads, because I'm losing a couple day's worth of shed hairs at once. Does that make sense?

Also, braid waves and bun waves are great for volume, if that is all you need.

[ddiana1979]

Henna or henndigo definitely seems to thicken the individual strands of hair, at least on me.

Miconazole nitrate has helped a lot of members reduce shedding & grow their hair longer (I'm just starting the regimen, so I can't comment on it personally).

I've had good luck getting the appearance of thicker hair and volume by putting a good dollop of aloe in my hair just after CWC and blotting dry with a towel. . . and then letting my hair air dry. I don't know why it gives my hair volume, but it consistently does.

[christine1989]

Biotin really helped thicken my hair as well as iron suppliments. If you are defficient in iron it can lead to excessive shedding and hair thinning. As far as oil is concerned castor oil helped with thickness a bit but it is really thick and sticky.

[Beaglebuddy]

I am going to sound like a broken record as I have been posting this every time I have posted lately. Cassia Obovata! I did a treatment two weeks ago because my hair was flat and thin, thanks to the cold weather. My hair still has quite a bit of body! I love it. I am going to try it again in another two weeks.
But do take care if you use it to moisturize well after, it is drying.