Up or down? Need better growth!

[LadyHazel]

Is it better to wear hair up or down? Why? Also who notices more growth (from the ends) when hair is up or down?

[Madora]

Wearing your hair up protects the ends, which grow more delicate as they grow longer.

Hair worn down is subject to rubbing against fabrics, on chairs, but worst of all, getting tangled, which means detangling every so many hours, which can lead to damage if the detangling is not done gently.

Wearing your hair up helps a lot..if you're aiming for long hair.

[Jessy22284]

I've just started the "wear your hair up for x days challenge". It doesn't help your hair grow, necessarily. My understanding is that it protects your hair from damage. By having it up in protective styles it protects the ends and length from friction, unnecessary handling, and tangling during the day, which can create or worsen split ends and cause breakage, or can worsen the condition of your hair. It's too soon to tell what the benefits have been on my hair so far. I've been wearing my hair up for almost 2 weeks with only 2 down days, and more days up than not for 4 weeks (I was wearing it down every single day, preceded by heat styling). For me, it also stopped me from using a blow dryer every day.

Also, your hair doesn't grow from the ends? It grows from the roots. But your ends can break off if they're very damaged.

[Raging Wolf]

I have just started wearing my hair in a hair sticks. Many of the member's here swear by wearing their hair up to protect the ends of their hair and to promote growth. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will help my hair as well.

[LadyHazel]

I have just started the challenge on day 3! I know hair doesn't grow from the roots as a medical student LOL! But I mean as in retaining grow FROM the ends as I know nothing can genetically make hair grow faster especially something topical as updos.

Oh and thanks for the comments too- everyone, I am really hoping for growth from this its a shame I have such a hectic lifestyle and no real time for perfecting updos!

[jeanniet]

Keeping hair up is a huge factor in protecting ends. Unless you're paying very careful attention every second of the day (and live in a bubble), your ends are going to be damaged if they're down free and moving around. My ends would be destroyed because it's windy here, I'm in and out of cars, walking the dog, gardening, etc. So if I'm out of the house, my hair is up. At home, it's often down as long as I'm doing something quiet (computer, reading, TV). Keeping hair up also keeps it out of my way when I'm trying to do something!

[nobeltonya]

I used to always keep my hair up when it was shorter.. and it seemed to appear to grow faster [probably b/c I wasn't always fiddling with it and checking it every day].. not that it actually grew faster. Since waist, I've been wearing it down as much as I can.. I don't get many tangles anymore, since oiling regularly and using leave-in.. but I still put it up if it's too windy, cold, or I'm doing a lot of stuff and it gets in the way.. but wearing it down, I've also gotten used to keeping it out of the way, for the most part. :)

[Phexlyn]

If you have very fragile, fine and/or damaged hair, then leaving it down - which is damagind to the ends, as others have said - can lead to an increase in split ends or ends breaking off. In really bad cases, your hair will break off at the same rate (or faster) than it's growing back from the roots, so it will look like the hair isn't growing at all. But that doesn't mean putting it up will make hair grow faster, it just helps to protect it if you use gentle updos and accessories for putting it up.

At your 26", I wouldn't stress myself about keeping it up all the time unless your hair is very fragile and prone to damage. If you enjoy wearing it down, do so, you won't like your long hair if you put it up even though you don't want to. I've been there, it's not fun and it made me want to chop it all off.

[curlyhair]

I think wearing hair up means less split ends less layered & more healthy hair which in turn promote the over all hair look

[LadyHazel]

I agree that putting it up has made my circumstance far more tedious and unenjoyable even. My hair is slightly fragile however I oil it often and use deep conditioning moisture and protein treatments! I am only a few inches from my goal which is where my struggle has arose from. I am liking this length but at the same time avoiding trims for a few months (S + D) whilst also trying to achieve my goal. Very irritating!

[catamonica]

I wear my hair up five days a week. Its better to wear it up. Your hair is protected. I
notice more growth when hair is up. But I have to wear it down on weekends. Got to
let my hair breath.

[Laylah]

I usually wear my hair down and get the same amount of growth as I do with braids. My hair HATES updos (like buns, not braids) for regular use. I get tons of dry hay ends and tangles from all the twisting and folding. Braids are best to keep my hair detangled.

[biogirl87]

I wear my hair down for most of the week. But it's partly because of the length (I'm only couple of inches beyond APL and I like wearing my hair down more than up) and the fact that I shampoo and condition every five days and my hair doesn't start getting oily until day 3 or even possibly 4. On the other hand, if I'm meeting with someone and my hairs is a bit oily, then I'll put it up, in a cinnabun as that's the only bun except possibly the French twist that I can do. Wanting to spend the weekend practicing braids.

[lunalocks]

Since I discovered spin pins a year ago, (and made other changes suggested on this site) I have worn my hair up nearly every day and up every night. I have needed to trim less off this past year, so I have gained some length, and the overall health and thickness of my hair is so much better. The last time I S and D ed I noticed how the protected hair, the layer of hair that is just under the top layer and over the bottom layer, if that makes sense, is smoother and thicker all the way to the ends!!!. That's my proof that the more I protect my hair from the elements, the better condition it will be in. I'm lucky. I have to have my hair out of the way for work. That means a braid, a pony or up. I have taken a break from braids and ponys and other styles that require an elastic or scrunchie, due to past ponytail damage - again from the outside hairs rubbing against even the softest scrunchie. That means it goes up. I wear it down for special times.

[KittyBird]

I'm on day 64 of the "Wear hair up for a month/few months/year" challenge, and I've noticed that my hair has been getting longer. It grew nicely before I started the challenge too, but the difference is that my ends are nicer and healthier and I have fewer splits. I wear my hair in buns and occasionally braids, and it's only down on wash days.

Maybe you could try to do a short challenge and see if you like it? Maybe wear your hair up for two weeks, or shorter/longer?

[dwell_in_safety]

I've worn my hair up every day for nearly ten months now, and it's grown to only a couple inches from waist from APL. My hair's never been this long without becoming very damaged, and I used to wear it either down or up in a ponytail with a hair elastic every day, before LHC. Wearing it up definitely makes a difference for my hair. After I hit waist, though, I'll likely start wearing it down once a week or so, just to enjoy the length. I'll be maintaining at waist until all my dyed hair is gone, so damage will be trimmed off every other week.

[jacqueline101]

I noticed when I first starting growing my hair long wearing my hair up seemed to make it grow. Its like its out of sight out of mind.

[Voqque]

I always wore my hair up so I didn't keep looking how long my hair had gotten. I used to obsess over it. When I had it down after wearing it up for a while, I noticed it had grown quite a lot.

[chen bao jun]

I think its probably impossible to get the extreme lengths (like knee or floor) for most people unless they wear their hair up, but I think there are a decent amount of people who can get to BSL or even waist with their hair down all the time. At waist their ends may be somewhat dodgy but not so that most people will notice. So for many it depends on how long they want their hair to grow. For me, though, I know I can't get my hair past BSL without being very protective of my ends, which means 'up'. Even though I have coarse hair that can take a lot, its tightly curly and thus a) difficult to keep moisturized and when its dry, it breaks and b) every where there's a spiral, there is a stress point, and I have a LOT of spirals on each hair. I can only manage to get at far as BSL with loose hair because I'm coarse--my mother is a fine tightly curly and she can't even get to shoulder without extreme protective styling (I don't mean buns, I mean hair always in twists or braids, 100% of the time). And lots of people who are just simply fine, not curly at all, have trouble keeping the ends on their hair, too.
In the end, it comes down to knowing your own particular hair and what it can deal with, as well as your personal goals. I would really get to have waist length hair (for the first time in my life) and thus I am being extra careful and keeping it up--probably for the next five years or so, to be honest. (I want waist length while curly, which means it has to be a considerable amount longer, I don't know how much). If I was happy with bra stra length, which appears to be a little below shoulder, I would wear it out all the time right now. Maybe sometime in the future, I'll decide that that's what I want to do, who knows. Meanwhile, its up for me, and I'll admire yours if you can grow it well and keep it down, but I'm not going to try to make mine do what it can't and won't.

[hanne jensen]

I wear my hair up every day and it has helped with my hair growth. My hair isn't growing faster, it's just breaking less. There's a lot less mechanical damage and wear and tear on my hair when I wear it up. Occaisonally I get a Holy Moly where did that come from moment because I don't really look at my hair every day.