My hair will not grow!

[AmberRose0406]

I have naturally blonde, curly shoulder length hair. Here is my issue.. I have been trying to grow my hair long for years now, and it just will not happen. I have tried so many different things (biotin, MSM, sea kelp, coconut, castor and argon oil, Nioxin, Monistat) which have all turned out to be a waste of money. The oils help my hair to look shinier as feel nicer, but have not helped with actual hair growth. I do straighten my hair which I know is bad, but many of my friends also straighten their hair and get regular growth. I also deep condition my hair with natural oils every time I wash it (3 times a week). Although I know my hair grows slowly, I think my problem is breakage.
I am wondering if maybe drinking more water would help stop this? I do not drink much right now, and this is the only thing I can really think of which may help. Does anyone have any ideas to help?! I want longer hair so much!

[lmfbs]

Once hair leaves your head, anything you take internally won't help.

To stop breakage, you need to treat your hair differently. How do you detangle? Do you heat style? Do you rip a brush through your hair? The answer is baby your hair and treat it kindly. Be gentle, and breakage will stop.

[AmberRose0406]

Thank you for your reply. I do brush my hair with a wide tooth brush and try to be as gentle as possible. I straighten my hair a lot i have to admit, but I use argan oil as a heat protectant. I know I shouldn't straighten it at all but I cannot stand my hair when it's curly! I also use a satin pillow when I sleep to hopefully help stop breakage

[sunshine-locks]

Isn't straightening with oil in your hair kind of a bad idea? :o Maybe try straightening your hair less often and using the argan oil afterwards to avoid frying your hair :)

Just my thoughts :)

[ravenreed]

You may have to decide between having longer hair or having straighter hair. Even if your friends manage to get growth while they are straightening their hair, yours may just be more delicate. I suggest you try to avoid the straightener for a few months, baby your hair, and see what happens.

[AmberRose0406]

I see your point, but the argan oil is kind of a serum, and is advertised as a heat protectant aswell as a general oil. I forgot to mention I did go a few months without straightening my hair at all, and I had no growth so this provided no motivation for me to stop using them!

[AmberRose0406]

Thank you for your responses by the way I really appreciate it :)

[tiarefleur]

If you're using pure argan oil before straightening you may well be frying your hair. It's only considered a heat protectant when it's in a silicone base (think Moroccan Oil). If you must straighten, maybe you can stretch washes to reduce the amount of heat styling? That's what I did when I used to flat iron.

[lmfbs]

Stopping heat is just one part of the puzzle. If you want longer hair, you're going to have to make changes.

I had exactly your problem 8 months ago. I straightened my hair, brushed it and didn't use the right products. I thought my hair never grew. It turns out my monthly growth is over 1inch, which is really great growth. If I didnt change how I was treating my hair it would still be breaking off now. In my sig is a link to how my hair has changed over the last 2 years. It might help motivate you.

The first step is to stop using heat.

Then you've need to add lots and lots of moisture - usually curly hair is sensitive to protein and is crying out for moisture. I found CO washing was great for my hair and made my waves very manageable. Turns out I adore my natural texture, and I look sort of stupid with pin straight hair. Who would have known!

You might need a trim. Sometimes, depending on your hair, damage can travel up your length and cause harm to otherwise healthy hair. Personally, I dont find traveling damage much on my hair, but I did find a trim made a big difference. It doesn't have to be much, but even 1/2 inch might make a really big difference.

I would also recommend S&Ding - it made a really big difference to me. At first there was so much damage I thought I'd never get rid of it, but now it's under control. Use hair scissors, and don't use them for anything else.

The last thing is probably the biggest thing for me. I never, ever brush my hair, and I rarely detangle when it's dry. I detangle when my hair is soaked in conditioner, and I do it with my fingers only. Never pull a tangle, be patient and detangle it horizontally.

I guess the biggest thing for you to do now is to decide what's more important, straight hair or long healthy hair. If you stick with straight hair, that's fine, but maybe you can incorporate some things like S&Ding that will help. However, none of these things are a magic cure alone, healthy hair takes, time, patience and lots of gentle love.

[furnival]

I forgot to mention I did go a few months without straightening my hair at all, and I had no growth so this provided no motivation for me to stop using them!
If your hair is damaged by heat, stopping using the heat will not cure the damage. It will prevent further damage being caused, but the original damage will still be there, breaking off and preventing length increase. If you stop using heat and trim the existing damage off, you might find that your hair can grow longer.
It sounds like your hair is too fragile to grow long whilst using straighteners. Have you looked into heat-free straightening methods, such as wrapping? I can't provide a link as I'm on my phone but a quick search should turn it up.
Good luck!

[julliams]

A friend of mine claims that her hair won't grow. I asked her how often she gets it cut and she told me every 3 - 4 months. Now this is fine if you are maintaining your length, but in my view, cutting this often is just cutting any growth off since most salons would take 1 - 2 inches off in an average trim.

Could it be something as simple as this? When I was going for length, I actually didn't trim for over a year at a time. This gave me plenty of growth each year and also an idea of how much my hair actually does grow over time.

[Mrs.Witherup]

For me I think the biggest thing to get to where I am is no heat. I have not blow dried in over ten years. I use hot rollers about once a year, maybe. And now I'm past classic and hopefully in what is a stall and not terminal. Even with gentle handling and lots of oiling, the heat is not good at all.

[AmberRose0406]

Thankyou both you are so helpful! I think I will have to just stop straightening my hair, or at least straighten it less. I have just had my hair trimmed so now would be a good time I should think. I've heard a lot about CO washes but I'm not actually sure what they are? (sorry if that's a really silly question). I haven't heard about the straightening with no heat though, I will definitely look into that. I think it's true my hair is just too fragile to grow whilst straightening. I don't like my hair being pin straight, even just wavy will do, my hair is very very curly at the roots so this is my main problem with it

[hairhair]

CO washes are conditioner-only washes (ie. no shampoo). I've never tried them -- I use a low-sulphate shampoo with silicone free conditioner. With my hair type I've seen good results with silicone free conditioner but this is not everyone's experience.

[AmberRose0406]

I was also wondering if there is anything I could do to relax my hair so t would be less curly for a while, but obviously I do not want to cause more damage and I am unaware of anything that relaxes hair without a huge amount of damage

[lmfbs]

I was also wondering if there is anything I could do to relax my hair so t would be less curly for a while, but obviously I do not want to cause more damage and I am unaware of anything that relaxes hair without a huge amount of damage

What is your actual hairtype? 2a/b is only wavy, so unless you're more curly than that simply combing your hair while damp will probably straighten it out a lot.

[AmberRose0406]

My hair type is actually 3b, I tried I change it but it wouldn't let me!

[alwayssmiling]

It's really annoying when some people can heat straighten and still have long, lovely hair. I can't. Eventually it just breaks in a horrible uneven fashion - on the crown of my head and an underneath section seems to be the most fragile to heat. My hair is a bit perculiar as its wavy/straight/curly in all different sections. It seems the curly sections are the most prone to any kind of damge. Those are the first sections to go brittle and break off. My hair didn't start to grow until I stopped with the heat and it took months (in fact the whole of the autum winter and spring) for damage to stop (though I had some bleach damage too).

[kdaniels8811]

I had the same problem - my hair would not grow past shoulder and when I found this community, I quit with chemical color, blow drying or any kind of heat and started using only indian herbs for washing and catnip tea rinses for conditioning. Wore my hair up every day and I went to waist within a year. The changes were drastic but made all the difference. Even conventional shampoo is damaging. If your hair is curly, it is probably dry and easily damaged. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, my curls fall out the longer my hair gets and coconut oil has been a godsend for me, keeping my hair strong. Wearing it up or wrapping helps pull curl out, as does henna. Lots for you to research!

[AmberRose0406]

It definitely sounds like I have alot more research to do!!! I want to change my straightening routine, the thing is of my hair was longer I think I would wear it curly and like it. I am going to try all of these suggestions thank you :)

[Madora]

Straightening curly hair alters its pattern and leads to breakage. If you do it a lot, your hair will pay the price.

Also, ditch the brush and use a wide tooth comb. Finger comb first, then detangle in small sections. The slower you go, the better for your hair.

Curly hair demands a lot of patience and TLC.

[Audrey Horne]

I'd second everything else already told. Don't forget that your hair will get straighter when it will be longer if you're so concerned about its curls and wurls. There are heat-less methods to make hair appear straighter. Like wrapping your wet/damp lengths tightly with a scarf and let it dry that way. It won't be stick straight but it should appear straighter. Hope it helps.

[furnival]

Forgot to ask- do you wear your hair up or down? If it's always down you are likely to sustain damage from that too. Protective updos are a good idea for fragile hair and will hide your curls if you don't like them.
What I'd give for proper curly hair... The grass is always greener, eh? ;)

[goldloli]

Straightening curly hair alters its pattern and leads to breakage. If you do it a lot, your hair will pay the price.


This!!! I think maybe the reason your hair is only curly at the roots is because of damage and dehydration in the length from heat styling. Get on the deep conditioners girrrl!

Honey/oil/conditioner/aloe pre shampoo treatments, they're cheap and work! Look into search and destroy, which is basically going through ends and trimming off any split ends you see one by one.

[Rufflebutt]

Kick the flat iron habit. Or at the very least slow down on it and buy some heat protector!

Just because your friend's hair can handle the heat of flat ironing doesn't mean that yours can. If your hair is breaking then flat ironing is 100% the reason why!

[PinkyCat]

Good suggestions here!
I'm going to suggest you head over to naturallycurly.com and read up on the Curly Girl method. There's great info about the why's & how's of curly hair. Looks like your hair type is similar to mine - Here's my routine:

CO wash with Suave or V05 (cone free)
Wide tooth comb
Leave in V05 mixed with tiny bit of EVOO
Coconut oil on the ends
Air dry in loose ponytail or put up - Scrunch!
Clarify with Giovanni 50:50 once per week
No. Heat.

HTH!

[DinaAG]

i believe that hair growing is a healthy food related thing check that:
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/top-10-foods-for-healthy-hair

[bte]

Once hair leaves your head, anything you take internally won't help....
Although I agree with the advice on caring for your hair, I don't agree that nothing you take internally makes a difference. I also have hair that won't grow and I think that a lot of the reason may be because I don't drink much. It is also true that hair grows better longer and stronger if you are in good health and eating and drinking all the right things will help with health.

Good luck!

[catamonica]

My hair didn't grow since high school. In 2009. I tried horse shampoo,with two capfuls of olive oil in my shampoo. By 2010 at age 54, it grew from just past midback to waist. You can buy the shampoo at wall mart-pet section, or certain grocery stores. Hope this helps.
Original mane & tail Horse Shampoo.

[SpinDance]

You've already gotten lots of good advice so I won't repeat that. Consider however that if you wear your hair up it protects the ends and you don't need to straighten it. You've tried so many other things, what do you have to loose? It doesn't matter whether others can straighten or not, your hair is unique. What matters is what it can handle. There are lots of braids/updos that you can enjoy learning and wearing while giving your hair a break from the heat. It will take time to grow out the existing damage, but there are good articles available with ways to manage it as it grows out.

Best of luck!

[Sabriel]

While taking care of your hair externally is essential for having long hair, diet is also very important. Inadequate nutrition (and water) can slow down hair growth (your body goes into survival mode and hair is not essential for survival) and decrease the strength/quality of the hair that does grow.

Long healthy hair is a great motivator to stay healthy! :)

[AmberRose0406]

Wow all of your advice is so helpful!! I mostly wear my hair down, but when it is curly which isnt very often, I wear it up. Everyone always says I'm so lucky to have the hair I have but I don't feel it! I eat healthily but I do not drink enough water which I should be doing anyway - not just for my hair. I will be trying all of these things and hopefully I'll get somewhere :)

[gillybeanxo3921]

I know exactly what you mean about hating your natural hair texture. I used to have the same problem.

I used to flat iron the poop out of my hair, because my texture was too curly, and too tangly, and it wasn't very shiny, or soft. I hated it. But the real problem was that I didn't have enough moisture in it, my hair is naturally dry and brittle.

I now braid it after I take a shower, wait for it to dry, take it out of the braid, spray some detangler and rub some coconut oil in, and gently comb it. Usually after I comb it, it's a bit poofy and frizzy, so I just keep smoothing it with the coconut oil until I'm satisfied. It definitely loosens the curl pattern a bit, and makes it smoother, shinier, and softer.

I also spray some fixative on my hair when I'm done so it stays the way I like, but I try to only use a little of this.

Also, do not put any of the products around your roots, unless you absolutely have to. It makes your hair look greasy. When I first started using coconut oil, I used to put it around my bangs a bit because the hair on my temples was extremely dry and frizzy.

I've been doing this minus the coconut oil, for a year, but since I started using the coconut oil, there's been a HUGE difference.

I hope you learn to love your natural texture, and get your hair to grow!

PS. Maybe you should take some supplements? I know you said you tried biotin, but maybe just a regular multi-vitamin will help. I'm anemic, but I didn't know it for a while, and it made my hair stop growing until they put me on iron pills (I had already been taking a multi-vitamin). I assume the regular multi-vitamin wasn't giving me the results I needed because it was all going towards my blood, but now that my blood is thick again my hair is growing nice and thick (:

Google symptoms of anemia if you think you might have it, because it could totally be killing your hair growth!

[dulce]

I used to straighten with a flat iron,always used those protective sprays and conditioned often.I still gots lots of breakeage,if you stop the straightening[it's very hot,you wouldn't want to put it on your skin ,why your hair then?]and stop all chemicals and if you blowdry,use a diffuser and the cool setting.This is what helped me..

[Alvrodul]

AmberRose, my suggestion to you is to first do your research, and decide on a good starting point. For your hair type, I think CO washing would be an excellent starting point, but also do some reading in the curly threads here on this forum, and look up the Curly Girl method online, and have a look at this site (http://www.tightlycurly.com/welcome/).
Ditch the heat, as several others here have recommended, and get a couple of good, seamless wide-tooth combs for your hair - I'd recommend this seller (http://hairsense.com/bone_combs.php)- I have a couple like that myself.
Then start, and do your new routine. Don't make any changes for about two weeks, unless your hair or scalp gets very unhappy. Then you can start to make adjustments - one change about every two weeks. If you pour a whole lot of changes over your hair at one time, your hair is going to completely freak out, and you'll never be able to figure out just what your hair likes and dislikes.
Good luck with your hair! :)

[Madora]

Although I agree with the advice on caring for your hair, I don't agree that nothing you take internally makes a difference. I also have hair that won't grow and I think that a lot of the reason may be because I don't drink much. It is also true that hair grows better longer and stronger if you are in good health and eating and drinking all the right things will help with health.

Good luck!

^ ^ ^ To the max!!

Diet is everything if you want healthy, long hair..or even healthy short hair! Speaking from experience, lack of iron really did a number on my hair.

Personally speaking, diet is the most important thing you can do to aid your hair.

[DancingQueen]

Well, I took a long time to show results also. I started december 2009 with jaw-length hair (when straightened). Now, my hair is past APL, but it took me a long time to get there.

I used to straighten my hair every day as well, and I can only say it is a good idea to stop it. It may not seem to be so bad, but it does more damage than you realize. (Not that you should be afraid to use it; just not every day. Embrace your beautiful wurlies. :) )

I tried lots of rings, and Priorin seems to be the only thing that works for me. But the best thing is to forget it really, because it is growing, but it seems But there is lots of good advice already, good luck with the growing. :)

[Humbug454]

Quit the heat!

Your hair might not have grown once you stopped straightening it because it was already very badly damaged and breaking off even though you weren't straightening it.

Avoid heat, detangle gently and with the proper tools, wear your hair up or in a braid if you can and remember to trim off the damage :)

[Vampyria]

I also suggest to stop using heat, trim off the damage, start taking some supplement regularly, try to eat versatile and healthy food and keep spoiling your hair with oils and such. Drinking a lot of water would also help.

I had past APL hair at graduation and my friend had chin length. Her hair grew to almost waist in 2 years with trims and mine stayed around APL also with a couple of trims. She has fast growth though, but still I haven't noticed almost no change in my length.

I was straightening my hair back then, and I went from black to blond. Then, I decided to stop trimming so my hair will grow. But I continued straightening and my hair grew from past APL to a bit above waist in two years (not a lot really), and I got terribly thinned ends.

I had really frizzy and wavy hair when I started this routine, and I had to cut off all of the hair I ever straightened, because it just kept breaking despite of all the care. Almost two years later my hair doesn't break anymore and it's really manageable. I even thought I'we lost all of my waves until last week. Looks like I still have the same texture, but I don't need a flat iron anymore, because my hair is not damaged and that wiry and frizzy anymore.

I'm not saying that your hair would get straighter, but I'm pretty sure it would get healthy and more manageable with really pretty curls.

[spidermom]

If you don't care what you look like when you sleep, you could try making a loose-ish ponytail on the very top of your head and rolling the ends on large rollers. This will result in straighter hair that has a lot of body/bounce.

[lmfbs]

Although I agree with the advice on caring for your hair, I don't agree that nothing you take internally makes a difference. I also have hair that won't grow and I think that a lot of the reason may be because I don't drink much. It is also true that hair grows better longer and stronger if you are in good health and eating and drinking all the right things will help with health.

Good luck!

What I meant was drinking water now won't help the hair that has already left her body. Of course it will help grow better quality hair in the future, but nothing she puts in her mouth now will repair damage on hair that's 2 years old.

Drink water, but don't expect that drinking water is magically going to repair the damage you already have.

[blaketob]

Personally, you have to stop heat styling. I stopped last year and that was the first time I've seen growth in 6 years!!! Hot ironing hair really does break your hair. I straighten my hair now once every 2-3 months now. I know it sucks but I think thats the problem

[AmberRose0406]

I tried CO washing, but I don't think it's for me. It left my roots flat and greasy feeling. I use all natural shampoo and conditioner anyway so the shampoo should be mind enough to not damage my hair

[xoxophelia]

Try out braid waves, bun waves, and playing with your natural hair texture. When all else fails, put your hair up in a braid, loose ponytail, or bun. Most likely if you stop straightening your hair for a few months you will see improvement.

[Mesmerise]

Now, I didn't have problem with hair breakage from straightening, but it DID stuff up the texture of my hair - permanently. I haven't heat straightened since January 2011 and the part of my hair that WAS straightened back in the day is STILL WEIRD. And no, I didn't do it regularly, only every so often to get nice looking hair! I am still paying the price, and I will be paying the price until it is ALL GROWN OUT.

Stopping heat straightening for a few months won't do a thing for the hair that is already damaged. It doesn't matter what you put on it to "protect" it, it still gets damaged, and if your hair is the easily damaged sort, then that's your issue.

There are other methods of straightening (like wrapping)... but ultimately, if you want the length without extensions you probably will have to give up heat altogether. I also don't like the fact that I can't straighten my hair, particularly as the old bits ARE random and stupid and frizzy compared to the newer hair :rolleyes:. But I had to make the decision as to whether I wanted it long, or whether I wanted to straighten... and ultimately I choose long (and I figure the longer it gets the straighter it will appear lol).

I also want to add that pretty much nothing caused as much damage to my hair as heat straightening (except when I permed over hair that had been chemically straightened twice :rolleyes:). Chemically colouring my hair with box dyes monthly didn't change my hair much at all... but heat straightening OCCASIONALLY did... and yes, I used heat protectant EACH TIME.

So yeah, I just wanted to reiterate what others said about straightening! If you want the growth you may just have to deal with your natural waves!

[Dorothy]

So if you can't CO, you can CWC - first put conditioner on all the hair below your ears, leave that in while you shampoo your roots with a little shampoo. Rinse, then condition the whole thing. This protects your delicate length from the shampoo. And get a seamless comb, that's important. After than, you might peruse the articles section of this site for lots more ideas, but I agree you should try them one by one, so you can tell what works.