Does hair grow faster with a trim?

[Brenda714]

I have very fried hair and haven't had a trim in six months, I need to get those fried ends off, even if I lose some length. Do you think that hair grows faster with a trim? I've been told different things.

[squiggyflop]

technically no, your roots dont know what the ends are doing. however you might gain length faster, which is different than growing faster. you may gain length faster if the fried ends are causing the length to break off faster than the roots are growing.

so no it doesnt grow faster
and yes getting rid of split ends helps hair get longer

you dont have to trim it all the time though.. just when it starts splitting on you

[Mesmerise]

Well yeah, what squigglyflop said. Trimming hair has no impact on the roots of the hair at all, so the hair won't actually grow faster.

If your hair looks sort of straggly, but isn't too split, and doesn't break off, it won't appear to grow faster either, but if you have lots of splits and breakage it may appear to grow faster as it will get longer faster as those ends aren't breaking.

However, I have to say... in my entire life... there was probably only one time when I ever had breaking hair (seriously breaking hair that is, and that was because I just did tooooo much to it). For me, trimming has only ever helped by making my ends look neater, but has never caused my hair to get longer faster.

[JamieLeigh]

Agreeing with SquiggyFlop, too.

Also would like to add that the trim-to-grow-faster myth is one that some hairdressers (not all of them, of course, but a good bit of them) will push at you to ensure that your butt is in their chair, giving them your money, more times a year than what you might honestly need. ;)

[celebriangel]

Hair does not grow faster if you trim. It grows at the same rare nomatter what you do to any of the length. The only things which actually affect growth are hormones, good diet and exercise, and other such body health related things like stress levels.

That being said, if your ends are fried they are likely to break off, so you may not see any visible growtg if your ends break at the same rate asyour roots grow.

This is why people often have groqth spurts post trim, becayse their growth is no longer stunted by breakage. So yes, I'd recommend a trim. Preferably cut ofd all the serious damage; if you don't, you will be cutting into damaged hair that will split faster than healthy hair, amd you may also still experience some breakage. You can do a large trim, then continue with small teims until you've chopped out the damage, you just have to be careful and sensible about it. Nightshade has a wonderful article in the articles section on how to do this, it is easy to find.

Hope that clears it up :)

[shikara]

This reminds me of when I was taking some hairs from my brush/comb to do a stretch test to see if my hair needed protein or moisture. Some of the hairs I was grabbing were about 2 inches long, which struck me as odd at first, then the 'ah hah!' moment.

[Debra83]

Nope. I would be longer without trims, but the hair may have been more damaged by then. So, as per suggestions on another thread I just posted in after I decided NOT to trim until I hit my primary goal of waist....maybe I need to keep doing those trims after all.

[jojo]

No hair won't grow qucker from the roots BUT keeping ends healthy will help you retain the growth!

[Jean Stuart]

The damaged ends like splits can travel up the shaft causing broken hair. A trim will make you feel better.

[growingpains]

technically no, your roots dont know what the ends are doing. however you might gain length faster, which is different than growing faster. you may gain length faster if the fried ends are causing the length to break off faster than the roots are growing.

This. No such thing as the roots knowing what's happening at the ends. Hair is dead. It's all to do with whether or not you are retaining the length or not. Obviously if you have breakage then yes, your hair will get LONGER faster if you cut the damage, since damage travels up, but that's different than hair growing faster.

ETA: it will only grow longer faster with trims if you have significant damage leading to substantial breakage. Some people grow longer faster by avoiding trims, especially if their hair is in good shape.