Health Upp Many people want long, flowing hair. Or, at least hair that grows in at a fast enough rate to help combat damage.
Whatever reason you have for wanting fast hair growth, you may sometimes wonder if there is something going on holding your hair back from growing as fast as it can.
It turns out that there are some things that can be going on that stunt or stop your hair growth potential.
Below, we will cover 7 reasons why your hair growth may be slowed or stunted.
Androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern hair loss)
It is possible that your slowed growth may be due to a genetic situation like male or female pattern baldness.
Both of these situations tend to stem from genes that you inherited from your family, and ultimately they can lead to lost or shrunken hair follicles that either stop producing hair or can only grow strands so long before they are shed.
But, just because these hair loss patterns have a genetic basis, it does not mean that there is nothing you can do about them.
You can speak with your doctor in person or have a hair loss telemedicine consult to see if medications like minoxidil, finasteride, dutasteride, or spironolactone may be a good choice for your androgenetic alopecia.
Lack Of Adequate Nutrition For Growth
Your body needs plenty of vitamins, minerals, calories, and protein for it to function at its peak, and the same goes for your hair growth.
Hair is mostly composed of protein, so if your diet is lacking in plenty of healthy sources of protein, your body may not have enough to upkeep fast hair growth.
The same goes for vitamin and minerals, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables help supply vitamins and antioxidants to nourish your hair follicles and keep up fast growth.
If you aren’t giving your body what it needs for optimal growth, you may start seeing thinner, finer strands, and your growth rates may suffer.
Over Styling Or Processing Of The Hair
What do lots of styling and straightening the mids and ends of your hair have to do with how fast your hair grows?
Well, a lot.
When your hair is dealing with lots of heat styling tools, bleach, coloring, or perming treatments, it is likely becoming pretty damaged.
And, while this may not slow the growth out of your scalp per se, damaged hair is much more prone to breakage and splitting. This breakage makes it a struggle to actually increase the overall length of your hair since it’s not holding out to that point.
Health Conditions
Certain health conditions may come along with changes in the rate of your hair growth, and drastic changes in your hair may be a sign that something else might be going on.
Thyroid conditions, PCOS, cancer, high blood pressure, and depression, are just a few of the common conditions that can take a negative toll on your hair.
Hormonal Changes
Hormonal changes are a fact of life. Whether you are just getting on in age, going through menopause, having a baby, or starting or stopping hormonal birth control, your hormones can have a direct impact on the health and staying power of your tresses.
Hair loss or slowed growth can occur from a decline in your hormones like with older age, menopause, or after you give birth, but fluctuations may cause hair changes as well, like with constantly adjusting your birth control, hormone replacement therapy, or constantly missing doses of hormonal medications.
With hormonal conditions like PCOS, women may have higher levels of testosterone in their bodies than usual, leading to hair follicle shrinkage and slowed growth from excess DHT.
You Don’t Get Trims Often Enough
Cutting your hair more often when you want it to get longer seems counterintuitive, but hear us out.
The ends of your hair are often the most damaged portions of your hair.
This means that the longer you go without a trim, the more buildup of split ends you are likely to deal with down there.
Split ends, if left untended, can continue splitting and make their way up the strand, potentially leading to breakage higher up.
If you have enough split ends breaking off, your overall hair length may appear to be stagnant or slower growing than if you have trimmed off those dead ends regularly.
Your Scalp Isn’t Happy
Your hair follicles live in your scalp after all, so if your scalp is red, irritated, dry, flaky, or clogged with oil and products, it’s not going to be living up to its growth potential.
Keep your scalp clean and healthy by washing your hair regularly, avoiding the buildup of products, and treating conditions like dandruff before they have a chance to affect your hair growth.