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Hi everyone. It's been about 2 years and four or five months since I started growing my hair out from a 3-inch cut.
I seem to have hit a plateau, I don't feel like my hair has grown at all in the last few months. That's OK. I like where it is now, but would love about four more inches, for a mid-back length. I guess we'll just see!
My hair seems to be terminal at or about natural waist (i.e. not where my belt is, but at the true waist, which isn't as long as that).
I have read that most people should be able to grow at least waist length hair. OTOH, I have also read that hair goes through resting phases where not much growth occurs.
So how does one find their "true" waist?
It's the space between your lower ribs and your hip bones - often in line with your belly button.
Interesting! I hadn't heard about hair going through phases. Hopefully it'll start growing again, but if not it's no big deal. This is the longest it's ever been....
I agree with Electros on the resting phases. I certainly hit a few plateaux when I was growing my hair. It seemed like nothing was happening for months on end - usually over the winter months, so that might have been a factor.
My original plan was to grow it to terminal length, but I didn't quite manage that. Beyond mid-calf length just wasn't practical for me, so I ended up cutting it back to belt length. That was a few months ago and it still feels short!
Two-and-a-half years is a little early for terminal length. Give it some time before making that determination. As it gets longer it's harder to notice growth since the baseline is longer relative to growth.
That said, at 16 years, my length is about the same as yours, so clearly terminal can be much shorter than waist length.
Although part of the issue in my case is breakage since I don't fuss with anything more than a simple tail, then go off and ride my bike with it blowing in the wind.
Wow! gorgeous hair! It suits you really well, I am sure you get people telling you how good you look all the time now. As for growth, at your length it seems like it isn't growing, but it is. Relative to your long length, small amounts of growth don't register with you, but you will see, it will be longer. Best of luck, you are a real longhair success!
Thanks, man! Appreciate the compliments.
Like you, I last cut my hair in September 2013.
I had the same impression at the end of the winter. My hair has straightened, simply by its weight, and the waves at the ends are slight. The weight makes my hair look thinner, but if I compare photos of a year's difference of a precise part, they are exactly the same.
All this is to say that growth seems slower at our stage of the game, but it is growing. We all have different terminal length "ages". I don't know what mine will be, but I don't think I am there yet. My front hairs are much slower and some still won't stay in my ponytail.
I notice the small changes: touching a nipple with the ends of my hair without bending my head forward. It tickles my back further down when I have my shirt off. I can wrap it round my face as I could not do before. It is still growing.
I need to read more about the anagen, catagen and telogen phases of growth. This is a helpful article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_hair_growth
The anagen phase is the growing phase and determines our terminal length. It lasts for two to six years usually. We will know only when we see the length of our hair after the six or seven years.
The rest is how we look after our manes and avoid tying it up too tightly when we do tails and buns. I wear mine loose nearly all the time. For sailing, I do a simple bun with a single hair tie and wear a head band to hold down the shorter hairs growing from the top of my head.
All that to say - don't lose courage, and if you're in good health, your anagen phase is almost certainly more than 2 years, and you should get more length. I hope so too, since I'm growing for the first time in my life.
Good luck.
Anthony
Thanks, Anthony! Great information.
I had a stall that lasted about 2 years...so I'd give your hair some time before you declare terminal. Also, your ends don't look like there is much taper.
Benign neglect and don't worry about it and check again in 6 months!
Benign neglect! I like that.
First, do no damage!
This may or may not apply to your particular situation, but a number of things can occur that slow or stall hair growth. As pointed out elsewhere, reaching terminal length is one of them.
Any kind of physical or psychological stress can have a profound effect. Malnutrition, poor diet, hormone imbalances can not only halt the process, it can cause loss as well. When the body isn't getting the right nutrients, it will conserve what it gets for more important functions, and divert everything to those functions. That means less important functions (hair growth being one of them), is temporarily halted.
Growth also has a tendency to slow during the winter months, and increase slightly starting late Spring and through Summer for many. As Fall approaches, it starts slowing down again. More of your hair is in a resting (telogen) phase in Winter, the opposite (anagen) occurs in Summer. Overall, you have hair somewhere that is in any of the various growth stages. You may also notice before a growth increase, that you shed slightly more than usual as well.
A number of individuals have found that making diet changes and/or adding supplements can boost hair growth. You should be making sure you are getting enough iron, B-vitamins (especially Biotin & B-12), sulfur (MSM - Methylsulfonylmethane) and protein. A balanced diet of meat, fish, dairy, leafy green vegetables, legumes and whole unrefined grains such as wheat, rice, oats, etc; should supply what you need to sustain healthy hair growth. If you're not a fan of whole grains and legumes, you might want to supplement with Biotin & B-12 or B-Complex plus MSM.
If you're not noticing any uptick in your hair growth after several months of stalling, try adding MSM and B Vitamins to your diet. Most of all. be patient. Even if you adjust your diet or add supplements, it will take time before you see results.