Does hair STOP growing at a certain length??

[tym]

Anyone experience hair growth that just STOPS?? Seems I can't get by a certain length for the last three months now...same routine, same vits......Hair type 1aFii......I measure every month and have not had any growth for over three months...Could it be that my hair just wont grow any longer? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

[Dulci]

hi tym! where ya been?

I don't know the answer, but I wanted to share that my hair didn't grow either for three months in a row last summer, I thought I reached my max. Then the fourth month I measured 3/4 inch! After that it settled back to its normal 1/2 inch a month. Hopefully yours is just "resting" too.

[Grenwich]

Maybe you're in a long resting phase. Here's some info off the net on the phases of hair growth.


Hair originates in a follicle, which is a cavity in the skin that holds and protects the active or living cells that become the nonliving strand of hair. Each hair follicle operates independently of the other hair follicles. Because of this, each individual hair may be in a different phase of growth.

There are three phases in the hair life cycle:
- active growth phase, or anagen phase
- transition phase, or catagen phase
- resting phase, or telogen phase

Hair shedding usually occurs in the transition phase, but can also occur in the resting phase.

Active-Growth Phase

The hair root produces the cells that form the living part of the hair. This pushes the cells that already exist up and out from the follicle. As the distance from the follicle increases, the hair loses its nuclear DNA and becomes a strand of cross-linked proteins. This protein strand (the hair you comb or brush) is not living tissue. The only living parts of hair are the cells within the hair follicle in the skin.

Transition Phase

After a definite period of growth, the hair follicle goes into a transitional phase. New cells are not created at this stage. Instead, the hair follicle actually shrinks about 82%. Part of the hair root is destroyed, and the active dermal papilla breaks off from the rest of the hair follicle. This transition phase (from growth to resting) is called catagen, and lasts one or two weeks.

Resting Phase

In the resting phase, telogen, like the transition phase, the protein hair strand remains connected to the hair follicle, but it doesn't grow. After five or six weeks, the dermal papilla reconnects to the base of the hair follicle and the bloodstream. The hair reenters the active-growth phase and a new hair begins to form.

The old hair strand is usually shed near the end of the resting phase. If it does not shed, the new active-growth phase pushes the old hair out (sheds it) to make room for the new strand of hair.

Hang in there.
Gren

[LongRed]

Wow, way to go Gren...that's the best information
I've read on that! Thanks for posting that!

One time I was at a salon (that I no longer
go to) and she said that hair stops growing
after 7 years! What a bunch of flunk!!!

[Madeleine]

Everyone does have an individual growth limit, yes.
Each hair grows at a certain speed for a certain amount of time, then rests for a while, then gets shed and eventually replaced by a newly growing hair from the same follicle.
You can tap the full potential of your genetically determined growth limit by means of nutrition and lifestyle, but the limit is still there.

Let's say that your hair grows an average half an inch each month for four years (which would be realistic numbers), then goes into the resting period and gets shed. The maximum length you'd be able to get would be 0.5" * 12 * 4 = 24"

For some it's more (cause their hair grows faster or for a longer time), for some less.

OTOH you could also just have a period of slow or no growth which can happen and might just as well be followed by another growth spurt soon.

Or you're getting damage/breakage for some reason which makes it seem like your hair doesn't grow although it's just that there is as much breaking off as growing out.

Or you might be trimming off too much (if you're trimming at all that is).

How long is your hair right now?

[Teacherbear]

From what I've read, hair DOES reach a maximum length, but I don't know anything else about it. For a while, some people were reading that book . . . Hair Grower's Manual, or something like that. It told you how you could calculate what your maximum length was. I never read it, nor figured out my max length.

My hair seems to have fairly long "resting" phases, like Dulci had. Hang in there and keep pampering your hair. If it doesn't grow in say 6-8 months, then I'd say it might have "stopped".

[Martine]

Thank you Dulci and TeacherBear for sharing your experience with grow rate at long lengths. My hair has been resting for 3 months now, maybe even 4, and I've been wondering what that could mean because it's the first time I've ever had no growth like this. I usually get a half inch. Well it WAS winter so that could have something to do with it. I'm hoping I haven't reached my maximum yet.

[tamuller]

Wow, Grenwich, that was a great post - thank you for the information!

Tracey

[tym]

n/m