Genetics role in hair length??

[Mrs.Witherup]

I saw an article earlier, somewhere in the advice for newbies (I've lost track, lol) about genetics role in how long your hair will grow and I was wondering if anyone with classic length or longer had any comments on this :) As far as I know I'm the only person in my family to have had hair this long, that I know of anyways. My grandma on my dad's side was like 1/8 Cherokee so I'm sure someone back in that part of the family had long hair, but there's no way to be sure. I do know that back to my grandparents and a few great grandparents no one went past BSL. I would love to be mid thigh someday, sooner rather than later!

[MinderMutsig]

I think for a lot of people it's impossible to know if they have the genes for it because very long hair has been out of fashion for a very long time and even then, people may have cut it for practical reasons so most of us don't have examples of extremely long lengths in our families.

I know my mom had nearly waist length at one point, my paternal grandmother also had mid-back to waist length and a niece of mine nearly grew to hip without even trying before she lopped it all off again to try some new modern hairstyle.

I don't know if anyone ever tried to grow to terminal or where my families genetic limits could lie. We could have the genetic make-up to grow 20 ft of hair or just barely to tailbone, it's anyone's guess.

[auburntressed]

It would be kind of interesting if we could just take a blood or spit test and get back a genetic profile on our hair. :) And who knows, maybe someday it will be possible. If they can identify the gene that causes red and auburn hair tones, I'm sure it is possible to identify "long hair genes." Of course... that would mean that a scientist was actually LOOKING for the long hair gene in the first place... Which means it likely won't happen until some geneticist is also a long hair enthusiast or something.

Then, of course, we'd have to pay for the test. :p

But as already noted - it can be difficult in this day and age to use one's family as an indicator of genetic hair potential. All four of my living grandmothers (paternal grandmother, maternal grandmother, paternal great-grandmother, and maternal great-grandmother) have kept their hair pixied and permed for as long as I have been alive. In the pictures that I have seen of them as youngsters and young women, none of them seem to have ever had hair past chin length.

I have one aunt who keeps her hair in a pixie now, but I saw a photo of her as a teenager. She had BSL hair in that photo. As far as I know, that is the longest she ever had it.

My mother has claimed to want long hair for her entire life; but for as long as I've been alive, she's never had it past BSL. She's got it at BSL now, and she is convinced that she is incapable of growing it longer. In fact, I remember as a child growing up that she was always upset that she "just couldn't" grow her hair long. She believes that curly haired people can't grow long hair (obviously untrue!) and she believes that redheads can't grow long hair (also obviously untrue!). But those are her beliefs, she is set in them, and she has allowed those beliefs to sabotage her. That and the fact that she buys into stylists nonsense that you HAVE to get your hair trimmed the moment the ends start to wisp, or it is unhealthy. And ect. I could go on, but the point is that the only reason she "can't" grow long hair is that she actively does things to prevent herself from being able to.

Aside from my mother and my grandmothers and my aunt, I don't have any other female relatives.

Not knowing my hair genetics does kind of make me want to grow to terminal just to see how long that IS. But... classic is long enough for me. Really.

[ChloeDharma]

I'm going to watch this thread in the hope that someone has some evidence or success story involving MSM increasing terminal length!

[ravenheather]

You know even if you have long haired relatives, your own hair may get still longer as we never really know how they treated their hair. After all they didn't have lhc.

[Amber_Maiden]

I have a pretty good idea of how far my hair can grow. My hair is from my mom- it's red, very thick, and very untameable. Her hair isn't like mine anymore, it's thinned a lot and she's cut it to chin length, but she did once have it down to Hip length when her hair was still thick.

[mtstorm]

I am sure genetics plays a part. My mother, grandmother and several of my aunts, on my mother's side, all have had waist to tailbone length hair at different points. My Great-Grandmother on my dad's side had hair that touched the ground, but it was extremely thin and straggly, it was against her religious beliefs to cut her hair.

[shutterpillar]

I know it is in my genes, at least on my dad's side of the family.

picture this: it is the late 80s and my dad and ALL of his siblings have very long, very poofy (and some of them very permed) hair. I know my aunt has had it at waist length before, even while it was permed. We have a family portrait of all of them with their poofy hair, 80s clothes, and sitting in wicker chairs. LOL.

I am not so sure about my moms side of the family. they have always been very up to date on the latest fashion trends, so I have never seen any of them grow longer than BSL. I imagine it happened though, because they come from a long line of farmers (at least up until my mom's mom) and I cant imagine they would have had too much time for trends or hair care. I would think they had the long "Little House On The Prairie" look. *swoon*

[Madora]

Per George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair" we inherit our hair from our mother's father and our father's mother.

I know there's a definite capability for long hair on my father's side of the family as his mother's sisters had braids past their knees..but then, again, this was pre 1915, and in rural Ecuador, and long hair was much more the case in that era and setting.

[gossamer]

Not that these are going to be of much use, but I dragged out some old family photos from 100ish years ago.

Great-grandfather & great-grandmother
http://x52.xanga.com/10cf8a40c3c33281548706/s224346015.png
No indication of her hair length, but look at those bangs!

Great-great grandfather & great-great grandmother, parents of the great grandfather above.
http://xda.xanga.com/00bf944b57430281548703/m224346012.png
Looks like she has thicker hair even in though she is older? Alternately, it may be back-combed for her updo.

Last one: great grandmother, the young woman with the bangs above, is the little girl in the center here. I'm more focused on her older sister, giving the photographer some serious attitude! :p
http://x8f.xanga.com/b50f825357430281548704/w224346013.png
Their mother's hair looks pretty thin, doesn't it?

[fiddlefananb]

Per George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair" we inherit our hair from our mother's father and our father's mother.

I know there's a definite capability for long hair on my father's side of the family as his mother's sisters had braids past their knees..but then, again, this was pre 1915, and in rural Ecuador, and long hair was much more the case in that era and setting.



Great, I'm screwed then. My mother's father was bald, and my father's mother has extremely thin hair on top like mine is getting. :(

[Babyfine]

Great, I'm screwed then. My mother's father was bald, and my father's mother has extremely thin hair on top like mine is getting. :(

Same here. My paternal Grandma had to wear wigs once she passed 60 and her hair started thinning after menopause, to the point that you could easily see her scalp when she passed away in her 90's.
My hair is thinning now, too.

[spidermom]

My maternal grandmother had hip-length braids for all the time I knew her, and that's the only example of long-hair genetics that I know.

I think there's only one way to find out for sure how long your hair will grow. Grow it!

[PrincessIdril]

If there is a genetic link for long hair (which would make sense really as most things are controlled by genetics) there should be hope for me then...
My mother has waist length hair (and has a tiny bit that reaches tail bone!!) and she ignores her hair. Admittedly her hair is very thin, but that is because her medication made her lose a lot of hair. I can't comment on my grandparents, but I know my paternal great grandmother (so my dad's gran on his mothers side) had at least classic length in her youth. As my gran told me that she used to complain about boys sitting on her plait at parties!
I've definitely got some of her genes as my hair looks kind of red in the right light which is something I get from her apparently!

So I hope there is a genetic link, as there are certainly some good hair genes in my family tree!!!

[Beatnik Guy]

I'm going to watch this thread in the hope that someone has some evidence or success story involving MSM increasing terminal length!
My experience is that MSM can increase terminal length by encouraging the hair follicle not to shed. I also take Silica though which I think has a similar effect, so I'm not sure I could isolate how much of that is down to MSM. Oiling helped too, as my hair is prone to breakage. :shrug:


I think there's only one way to find out for sure how long your hair will grow. Grow it!
Yes!! :D

[Ligeia_13]

Per George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair" we inherit our hair from our mother's father and our father's mother.


I did not know that. I don't really know much about my mother's father but my father's mother had very strong, coarse hair, which I definitely did not inherit. Guess I should ask my mum about the grandpa.

[Naiadryade]

Well, my mom had very long hair when she was a young adult - I've seen pictures in which it was past classic. She did this because she was forced to keep in above chin-length as a kid. I'm hoping I inherited that from her, but I don't know since I definitely don't have her hair otherwise--it's coarse, black (though now grey under the dye) and very thick, whereas mine is medium, brown and only slightly thick, like my dad's. (At least, like my dad's was. Now it's getting quite thin and much of it is going white... I'd love to have white hair one day, but I'm worried about the thinning!) I don't know of anyone on my dad's side who has ever tried to grow their hair long. His mother has always had a pixie, even when she was young.

My mom has been talking about growing her hair out again (it's been shoulder-length my whole life). I hope she does it, though I doubt she'd go past BSL. Still, she'd look so lovely with her big thick hair down past her shoulders! I want to suggest to my dad some of the stuff recommended here for hair growth, like castor oil, partially just to give myself hope for the thickness of my hair come middle age...

[carolinaberry]

Per George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair" we inherit our hair from our mother's father and our father's mother.

I know there's a definite capability for long hair on my father's side of the family as his mother's sisters had braids past their knees..but then, again, this was pre 1915, and in rural Ecuador, and long hair was much more the case in that era and setting.


I hope George Michael is right. My mother's father's mother (who he would have inherited from right?) was 1/2 Cherokee and she had very long, thick hair all the way up until she died in her 90's...and it turned a beautiful color in her old age!

[auburntressed]

Per George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair" we inherit our hair from our mother's father and our father's mother.

That is really interesting. I haven't read his book, mainly because I can't find it anywhere. Did he explain the science behind that or the process he used to come to that conclusion?

My mother's father is Cherokee, and she has told me from the time I was old enough to remember that I inherited the Cherokee hair. I'm not sure I agree with her, but I don't actually know any Cherokee against whom I can compare my hair closely.

My father's mother keeps her hair permed and dyed, but I have never noticed any sort of thinning in her hair. She is past 80 now. Granted, she could be hiding thin spots with clever manipulation, but it is pretty easy to tell on most older women when they have short cuts - no matter how much they try to comb over it or poof it up.

Actually, now that I really think on it... the only woman in my family who has thinning hair is my mom's mother. However, I actually have pictures of her all the way back to when she was a baby... She has always had hair that is very fine, very thin, and very pale. She is a platinum blond in a family full of redheads and brunettes... lol.

OMG... I wonder if she's adopted?!

[thirstylocks]

Nobody had long hair in my family except my dad! He rocked a long pony tail in the 70s. His hair was thicker and longer than mine is.
He's bald now :( I hope thats not an indicator of my fate!

[coneyisland]

Great, I'm screwed then. My mother's father was bald, and my father's mother has extremely thin hair on top like mine is getting. :(

Attitude is powerful. Keep hope.

My birth mother's father was bald. My birth father's mother, whose "spitting image" I am said to be, was half Cherokee.

My thinnish hair has grown to ankle length before.
　

[Mrs.Witherup]

Omg I didn't have time to log in yesterday so when I did I was surprised to see all the wonderful responses!! Thank you all so much for sharing your stories and opinions!


Per George Michael, the "Czar of Long Hair" we inherit our hair from our mother's father and our father's mother.


I hope this is the case, the last time I saw my mom's dad he still had nice hair for a man in his late 60's, a lot still up top, IMO. And my dad's mom had nice hair from what I've seen of pictures when she was younger, what I remember from when I was little it was thinning but she had lots of health problems that could've had something to do with it.

How do you know what is terminal length for you? Now that my hair is really long it's hard to tell how much it grows. I need to start measuring...

[Mrs.Witherup]

Omg my avatar is upside down!!! I just died laughing when I saw that! I'm gonna have to fix that :embarrassed:

[katsrevenge]

Hmmm.. my mother had hip/classic ish hair in the 70s. The pics are sometimes hard to tell.. but it is hitting the belt when she's sitting down. My father had long (waist) and curly thick hair and he definitely did not take care of it.. no conditioner and used nasty bar soap and wet-brushed.

My mum's father had fairly thick hair.. then went bald. My gram's family all are a hairy folk. My Dad's mum.. was not in the nest of health but it was thickish. His father had all his hair and it was thick the one time I met him.

[Madora]

Great, I'm screwed then. My mother's father was bald, and my father's mother has extremely thin hair on top like mine is getting. :(

But fiddlefananb, your mother's father had hair at one time, didn't he?

Also, while Dr. Michael studied the science of hair and knew whereof he spoke, there's always the possibilities of "throwbacks" to other ancestors cropping up once in a while, so don't despair.

I think if you protect what you have, the chances are that you'll keep it longer than you would have if you didn't nuture it properly.

[PolarCathy]

No one in my family (I mean upwards, not sideways like cousins) has ever had hair longer than shoulders as far as I know. Maybe my maternal grandmother had longer hair when she was young, but I have no info on that.

That was the bad news. The good one is that no one had premature greying or balding either. Grandparents+ when passing away all had their locks. I have only one grandparent left, my father's father, he is 91 now and he still has ok hair :O

Both I and my brother were born with a bunch of hair. My hair was like 5cm (2") long and black when I was born.

On my father's side, both grandparents had massive amunts of coarse, thick, curly hair, unfortunately my father has only i/ii, fine, but 3a/3b hat still looks voluminous because it's curly. He still has most of it (practically no balding). BTW his sister has gotten the goods there too (it's always the other side that's greener), she has the thickest hair I have ever seen in my life, iii+++++++, 3b/3c, super coarse, jet black.

My grandmother on my mother's side had m/c, iii, 2a, grandfather m, iii, 2a (based on photos, because I don't remember). My mom has coarse, jet black, ii, 1c/2a or so. Now thinning because of steroids but other than that, her hair has always been very dense-looking. My (younger) brother has gotten the best of both worlds, he has super coarse, iii++++, 3b, light brown hair that sunbleaches easily. His hairline is receding though and scarily fast. Since I live abroad, I remember last Christmas when I saw him after one year, and he seemed to have lost like a third of his hair in the front. Or more.

And I have, well, whatever. (I should be my brother, or at least, have his hair. Life is not fair. He doesn't need that hair. He hates it and keeps it very short anyway.) It used to be m/c, now it's much finer. But dense.

[Mrs.Witherup]

Also, while Dr. Michael studied the science of hair and knew whereof he spoke, there's always the possibilities of "throwbacks" to other ancestors cropping up once in a while, so don't despair.
Speaking of ancestors popping up in your gene pool, my hubby is 6'5' tall, his mom is 5'5, not totally sure who his bio dad is but people that were claimed as his pops were not 6', his brothers are both 5'10, the only person relatively tall in his family that we know of is his maternal grandpa who is thought to have been around 6'2 in his younger days, he's in his late 70's now and still tall for an older fellow, but no one as tall as my DH. And he is sooooo tall! He hates it, lol, and I'm jealous :D So who knows where his height came from. I think genetics does play a role in our development but as far as hair, Madora is right, imo. Nuture what you have and who knows what will happen! ;)

[xoxophelia]

Last one: great grandmother, the young woman with the bangs above, is the little girl in the center here. I'm more focused on her older sister, giving the photographer some serious attitude! :p
http://x8f.xanga.com/b50f825357430281548704/w224346013.png
Their mother's hair looks pretty thin, doesn't it?

Her older sister looks a lot like 7 of 9 ^_^'

[gossamer]

Her older sister looks a lot like 7 of 9 ^_^'

Ahahah, I'd never noticed that before, but now that's ALL I'm going to see!

My great-great-aunt was an Edwardian 7-of-9? Ahahaha. :D

[xoxophelia]

Ahahah, I'd never noticed that before, but now that's ALL I'm going to see!

My great-great-aunt was an Edwardian 7-of-9? Ahahaha. :D

I guess you have good genetics ^_^

For hair and shtuff.

[catamonica]

No one in my family has real long hair. But on my fathers side, is Scottish Canadian Indian.
So I do have some Indian blood. My hair is to my hips. Because of wearing it up five days a week. Possibly some Indian relatives from Canada have real long hair. But I have never
met them.

[EdG]

Yes, genetics determines hair length along with hair color and everything else about you.

There's only one sure way to tell what hair genetics one has... grow it and find out. :)
Ed

[long&blonde]

My mum, who's now 83, came here at 8 from Czechslovakia. She tells me she had classic length, that she wore in a single braid. I am somewhere heading towards classic: bottom bcl when wet? Lol. I'll know when I sit on it. So I guess her having hit it:but I'm 57 now. She was 8. Hmmmm...

[Kelikea]

My father's mother had thick, red hair, which one of his sisters actually got. My mother's father had hair in a similar color to mine (and my mother's) and my mother always says my hair is just like his sister's (her aunt, my great aunt.) I think genetics, as well as health, would determine your terminal length, which would determine how long your hair has the possibility of growing. No one in my family has had hair much past TB, that I know of, but at least there is some potential there. I don't think it is because of terminal growth that we stop at TB, but because of convenience. Even my mother's brother has had waist or hip-length hair, but his color and texture are more like that of Native American, not like ours.

[Mrs.Witherup]

There's only one sure way to tell what hair genetics one has... grow it and find out. :)
Ed

Ed is right, we're just gonna have to grow and find out! :D

Also I think the better care we take of it the better our chances are of reaching our full potential!

[jacqueline101]

I think mine can make it to tail bone.

[janeytilllie]

My mum and grandma cut their short so I'm not sure what their term length would be.
My great grandma had ankle length hair.

However Myself, mum, grandma, great grandma have all got the same hair colour and hair types.

We all have the same curly/wavy flick on our fringes/bangs lol :lol:

[janeytilllie]

EdG
Yes, genetics determines hair length along with hair color and everything else about you.

There's only one sure way to tell what hair genetics one has... grow it and find out.
Ed


Ed is right, we're just gonna have to grow and find out! :D

Also I think the better care we take of it the better our chances are of reaching our full potential!

I completely agree with both posts :agree: :)

[Jesabel]

My mums dad had a full head of thick hair 'til the day he died and my dads mum's hair is short but there's still plenty of it :) My dads mum is also Italian so perhaps those european genes will help haha. Though I only want my hair to hip :) My dad also use to rock "BSL" (clearly a hypothetical brastrap lol) hair, not amazingly long exactly but I still thought it cool :D

[heidi w.]

I have a pretty good idea of how far my hair can grow. My hair is from my mom- it's red, very thick, and very untameable. Her hair isn't like mine anymore, it's thinned a lot and she's cut it to chin length, but she did once have it down to Hip length when her hair was still thick.

This is in part related to hormones and aging. Most people as they get older do lose volume, and some also lose length.

I am 52, and most definitely, I've lost a fair amount of volume, but I was blessed with a lot of hair so I still have a decent amount of volume to work with. My mother, last time I saw her, claimed she had lost a lot of volume.

heidi w.

[CheekAllison]

I am the only person in my family with any sort of long hair. My mother has never let her hair grow past her earlobes, my father is too much of a conservative to let his hair grow out, my grandmother on my mom's side's hair has never gone past her ears and the same for my mom's sister. On my dad's side, no one's hair has been past their shoulders.

I am 3/4 English and about 1/4 Irish, and possibly a smidgen Cherokee. My hair is fairly thick and wavy, I just don't know exactly how long I can grow my hair to.

My hair has made it past waist, but not quite tale bone, and is still growing... I'm hoping to make it to tale bone+