new thread
It occurred to me today when I was reading the article on how to "grow hair mega-long" that trimming hair most likely reduces the total length of the hair when it is ready to fall out. I decided to do a little research and rediscovered the phases hair goes through in its cycle. The page briefly explains the phases of the hair cycle and lower down on the page goes on to say (essentially) that any length trimmed from your hair detracts from the maximum possible length of that hair.
Therefore if you trim your hair while it is still in the anagen phase, the end result when it exits the anagen phase will be that much less, and if you trim your hair while it is in the catagen or telogen phase then it simply won't grow any longer at all. In this way trimming reduces the maximum potential length of any hair cut until whatever hair was cut has fallen out and been replaced.
For maximum length you should take good care of your hair so as to avoid damage in the first place and using the search and destroy method cut off any damage off individual hairs, sparing as much length as possible.
Thoughts?
Link to Hair Cycle page
I am sure you're right, assuming that you want to grow to (or close to) terminal. If your goal length is belt length, and your terminal is no more than hip, you will probably find that trimming makes belt impossible. If however, your terminal is knee, you can do quite a lot of trimming and still achieve belt length.
As my goal is belt length and my terminal is not quite APL, I certainly can't afford to lose any length at all, which is why my last trim was in June 1994.
Exactly.
I am at terminal now. If I trim, I end up at terminal minus trim length. Then it grows back to terminal at 1/2 inch per month.
Shrug
I believe that the negative effect of trimming has less impact on the, seemingly, terminal length of your hair, since you are just trimming off the ends of hairs that are most likely in the telogen phase and will soon be replaced anyways, so you only lose the length of those hairs till they fall out (which wont take too incredibly long). However if you trim while you are growing your hair out you are trimming hairs while they are more likely to be in the anagen phase (still growing) and therefore shorten the terminal length of those trimmed hair strands until the day they fall out, and since they most likely have a longer way to go before they fall out this decreases the end result of terminal length more substantially for people who trim while growing as opposed to people who only begin trimming when their hair is very long.
I am assuming that the information I found about how the hair cycles work is correct, if anyone can find evidence for another model (such as one where hair rather than stopping growing after a span of time stops growing when it has reached a certain length) then I would be happy to question my theory.
Anagen, Catagen or Telogen,
whatever the phase may be-
tis different for one and all,
let it grow and yea shall see.
Wise words indeed Justim whatever cycle of the wash...don't you reckon eh trimmers!!!
I've heard hypothesis' from people who assumed anyone could reach maximum length with trims still. I think it is possible as long as you are not cutting more than the hair can grow.
I use to take half an inch to an inch off every 3 months. Now, I just cut the splits when I see them. I feel even more secure in doing that now since the article posted above advises to do that.
I think trimming off split ends is necessary if you wanted healthy, beautiful looking hair.