Whether your goal is long hair, healthier hair, or growing out bangs, making hair grow faster is a common goal. Can you speed up the hair growth process? The answer is… yes. For most people, hair grows on average half-inch per month, with an estimated total growth of a maximum of six inches per year. If your hair is growing slower than that, or you are experiencing thinning hair or potential hair loss (widening part, hairs on your pillow, etc.) I have ten tips to maximize your hair growth.
We are born with the total number of hair follicles we will ever have. The scalp has on average 100,000 hair follicles, which rotate between the active growing stage and the resting stage. To make your hair grow faster it is important to take care of your scalp. The key is to protect these hair follicles, so they will keep producing hair for as long as possible. Once hair grows, protecting the hair from damage is another strategy for maximizing the hair that is present to avoid premature breakage of the hair strand, leading to shorter hair.
Good diet = Healthy hair
Eating a well-balanced diet, including enough vitamins, minerals, protein, and fatty acids is the best first step. Crush diets and avoidance of certain food groups can lead to an unintended consequence of decreasing vital nutrients to your body. This can decrease the blood flow and protein synthesis that hair follicles need to produce new hair.
Dietary supplements
If you are unable to eat a wide variety of foods, or you have any absorption issues, or are just not confident in your ability to shop, prep, and make healthy meals three times a day, taking a daily vitamin supplement containing antioxidants, minerals, and amino acids may be a good addition to your daily routine.
Tight hairstyles
We all love the inner satisfaction we get from a nice tightly wound bun. Tidy hair, no-nonsense flyaways can seem like the perfect hairstyle when we just cannot do the elusive beachy waves or tame coarse strands with a mind of their own. Tight hairstyles can actually damage the hair follicle itself over time and can lead to that follicle no longer producing hair. Cornrows, buns, and tight ponytails can all lead to stress on the hair follicles if continued for long periods of time. Making sure to let your hair relax and fall naturally at times can decrease stress on the hair follicle.
Scalp massage
Not only does a scalp massage feel good, but increasing the blood flow to the scalp can ensure hair follicles receive the needed blood supply. Protecting your scalp, protects the hair follicles underneath and can help keep hair in the growth phase for all follicles.
Protect Hair from the Environment
If you spend time outdoors either during your commute or simply because you love Mother Nature, make sure you protect your hair as much as you protect your skin. Dry winds in the winter and UV rays can all dry out strands as well as damage the scalp. Wearing your hair in a wrap or wearing hats whenever possible can keep moisture in and UV rays out.
Shampoo less
Skipping shampoos can maintain the natural oil balance in your scalp and hair as well as protect hair from the post-shower comb out. You should notice a difference in a few weeks of skipping daily shampooing. Start gradually at first with a goal of shampooing only once every few days.
Cool water rinse
For the days that you do shampoo, following the shampoo with a cool water rinse as cold as you can stand it will prevent the steam and heat breakage that can come along with hot showers. The improvements in your hair can be seen fairly quickly with cool water usage.
Get regular trims
This can cause alarm for those of us who are so excited to finally reach some degree of noticeable hair growth. Why would we cut it? The answer is to keep the ends from splitting up the hair shaft. Tiny trims on a regular basis decrease split ends and can keep those splits from running up the hair strand and leading to breakage.
Decrease heat styling
The reason you have heard this before is because it does make a difference. Decreasing some steps of wear and tear on your strands allows the strand to remain strong and can decrease split ends. Small decreases and weekend breaks can make a big difference in the lower number of split ends.
Manage stress
If you have experienced a stressful life event and noticed your hair thinning or outright falling out many weeks after the event started, you can attest to the fact that stress can lead to hair loss. Balancing your diet, taking a few minutes each day to focus on yourself, and maintaining good sleep and exercise can make noticeable improvements to continued hair growth.
