Any hair growing tips?

[Guest Aniya]

I know there's something out there that makes your hair grow out faster. Anybody know any hair secrets? I highly dislike having my hair all short and awkward, I can't style it and I have to wear a hate all the time lol. Somebody help!

[Guest Aniya]

I meant hat not hate lol whoopsie

[JJ]

Mostly I have read that lots of protein and calcium will optimize hair growth. I know I used to drink 3 or 4 glasses of milk a day and was always told my hair grew at about twice the normal rate. Genetics may play a role but no one else in the family had hair grow as fast as mine. My hairdressers were always shocked at how fast it grew.

Also how you take care of it can affect how fast it appears to grow. My hair is as fine as a small child's and I always had to be very careful so it never had split ends to shorten it and make it seem it wasn't growing. I learned never to towel dry it with the scrubbing motion most guys favor -I do now because I really don't care how short it is but when it was long that made a very big difference. You should gently pat it dryer. Wet hair is more vulnerable to breakage and that can and does cause it. As does brushing wet hair -always use a wide tooth comb instead. A brush is great for bringing down the necessary protective oils in dry hair but breaks and weakens wet hair.

Another thing I always did was rinse my hair with vinegar after a shampoo. Shampoo is harsh no matter what they say and can burn your hair,.It also leaves a residue. I'm allergic in varying degrees to all forms of detergent and I can promise you that all shampoos have detergent properties that leave a residue. If I don't rinse with vinegar I get blisters on my scalp. But it was a blessing in disguise because it also made my hair healthy and shiny. If it dries your hair any you can follow with a mild conditioner.

Another thing is shampooing. Should really only be done once a week at most. The more often you shampoo the more you weaken your hair and also the more often you need to do so because it stimulates the oil glands and the more often you shampoo the oilier your hair will look. I had a friend who looked awful unless she shampooed every day. She ignored advise about it from her hairdresser and even her Dr.-till her hair was thin enough to see through and the Dr demanded she for at minimum of a week between shampoos. After a hard period of adjustment when her hair looked thin and greasy she now has a head of thick beautiful hair.

So basically -nutrition is number one. Poor nutrition always shows in your hair. Mine is probably the worst it has ever been right now from losing nearly 180 lbs and I am so glad I don't have to worry about it anymore. It does show when you don't eat right. Calcium is especially important I have read and found in my own experience.

And then being careful how you treat your hair. I forgot two important things-Heat and sun are the enemies of your hair. All forms of heat do some damage. With my ultra fine hair I couldn't even blow dry on low very often without breakage and split ends. In time it will do it to even coarse hair. Sun weakens hair just like it does any other material. Look at any animal that is exposed to the sun for periods of time and you will see dry and sun bleached hair. Our show horses had to wear special blankets in the summer or the sun did so much damage we couldn't show them. It's the same with people. If you have to be out a lot always wear a hat. If you are in the wind keep your hair up under a hat too. Whipping around also damages it.

In the old days when women wore their hair so long they knew all this stuff. It was one of the reasons for the big hats and bonnets and always having the hair up. They also knew about vinegar rinses. Now the big manufacturers would rather sell you something to repair the damage their products caused in the first place. And the repairs are never as good as not being damaged to begin with. Women often could grow their hair to their seat easily and sometimes to the floor. Today that is almost impossible unless you really take care of it to begin with.

Hope some of this helps. It really isn't hard when you pick up the habits

Johnny

[Guest Aniya]

Johnny thank you so much! Very detailed! I do have a concern though. I can't go a day without washing my hair because it gets gross, oily, itchy, and it smells. Going a week would be hell! Do you have any tips for that? Should I try the vinegar thing?

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

I have heard prenatal vitamins will give you awesome skin, hair, teeth and nails. I cannot confirm this from personal experience though.

For me, time was the best hair growing tip. Eat a balanced diet, take good care of your hair and get regular trims (just get the split ends cut off). Healthy hair grows better than damaged hair.

[Guest Zeda]

Last summer, I just stopped shampooing cold turkey. I had a dirty, gritty job and live out in the country, so it didn't look out of place. After a while, though, your hair decides to be awesome again I don't have any split ends, my hair is so thick, and is never oily.

Here is the thing: Using shampoo strips your hair of natural oils and replaces it with a coating of petroleum oils. Your scalp produces more oils to replace the stuff you took from it. Once you stop using shampoo, your hair takes a few weeks to realise it doesn't need to produce so much oil. At that point, you can clean your hair and the dirt comes out easily, even with just water.

Also, thanks Johnny, I didn't know a lot of that stuff o.o

And yes, prenatal vitamins are often prescribed to patients receiving treatment that normally causes hair loss. My mother is a nurse and told a pretty funny story about two older ladies and an older man who were all prescribed those vitamins. They got a good laugh as none of them could be pregnant XD

[Guest Aniya]

Funny story I just really hate how my hair smells after not shampooing for two days. Any way of stopping that?

[Guest Zeda]

While your hair adjusts, use a nice smelling conditioner every so often, or just use nice smelling stuff :3 I like to use lavender or mint extract every once in a while because they are my favorites scents.

[Guest Melancholy]

Well I don't know how to make it grow quicker, but I have an idea how to make it look longer.

If you have a hair dryer, lower your head like you're looking at your feet, but point the dryer forwards. You have to basically dry your hair like you would normally, but at that angle. If It's a powerful dryer or is on the second setting, it tends to dry it at 90 degrees. So, drying it that way makes it dry downwards instead of out the sides. Which is goos, because I have curly hair. You have to be careful though. Dry it hard but not burn your hair.

So yeah, head drooped, dry straight on.

Works for me.