Does Cutting Your Hair Make It Grow Faster

does cutting your hair make it grow faster

Does Cutting Your Hair Make It Grow Faster

We live in a world today where everyone expects instant gratification.  Putting in the work to get the results that you want is almost non-existent today.  At the same time, we know that instant gratification doesn’t always yield us the best results.  Patience and knowledge is what is going to propel you to the next level.  I say all that to say, it is the same concept with growing hair.  The reason you want to know does cutting your hair make it grow faster is because you’re probably looking for immediate and easy results.

How Hair Grows

If you look at the scientific method in how your hair grows, we can see that it starts from within.  Hair begins to grow from your roots, which we call the scalp.  The hair follicle is what regulates hair growth and pushes the hair through the scalp.  Also, protein keratin is what produces our hair and stimulates hair growth.

Phases Of Hair Growth

Knowing the phases of the hair growth cycle will help you to understand why cutting you hair does not make it grow faster.  There are 3 phases in the hair growth cycle.  The first step is the anagen phase which the hair grows at about 1 cm every 28 days.  Secondly, is the catagen phase.  This phase represents the end of growth for a strand of hair.  Your hair can be in this phase anywhere from 2-3 weeks.  Lastly, is the telogen phase.  It is known as the resting phase.  During this phase there will be no hair growth.

Normal Growth Rate In Anagen Phase

Now that you understand the phases of the hair growth cycle it is clear that cutting your hair will not make it grow faster.  This is apparent because if your hair is in the telogen phase (the resting phase) your hair won’t be producing any new cells or blood flow to the scalp for hair to grow.  With that said, cutting your hair will not change how the hair responds as it grows from your scalp.  Whether you cut it or not , it will still grow at the rate your hair normally does when it is in the anagen phase.

Why Doesn't Cutting It Make It Grow

When you cut your hair you are cutting the physical hair strand.  Hair grows from the scalp (the surface) so cutting the hair strand itself will not change how quickly it will push thorough your scalp to grow.  The hair follicle does not know that you have cut off of a few inches of hair, so it will not change how fast your hair will grow.  African American hair grows at an average of about a quarter to 1/2 inches per month.  This is a bit slower than the rate for Caucasians and Asians.  This has been said to be true because African American hair has a curl pattern that has twist, turns and coils which may slow hair growth.

Trimming Makes It Look Healthier

Chopping your hair off may not make it grow faster but it does make it look healthier.  When you get rid of the raggedy and thin ends your hair will appear to be thicker and actually be healthy.  You’d want to keep those thin ends off because, let’s just be honest they are unattractive. Leaving split, damaged ends will cause the damage to spread through the hair.  The split ends will travel up the hair shaft setting you back.  When your hair is free of thin and split ends, it responds differently than normal. Your hair regimen will be a lot easier for you to follow.  As you may already know with natural hair, split and thinning ends cause tangles.

Retains Length

Cutting off your hair and freeing yourself of split ends means freeing yourself of damage.  If you cut your hair you will have the ability to retain more length because it isn’t breaking off faster than it is actually growing.  So, it will appear that the hair is growing at a faster rate because it wouldn’t be breaking off as often as it would have prior to letting it go.  Have you ever gotten a fresh trim and silk press and you hair just feels so much thicker?!  I can also bet that it it sways so much more in the wind too (Ha! I know you can relate to that).  Overall, you just feel prettier when your hair is in a healthy state.

What Makes Hair Grow

Your daily routine will determine how well and fast your hair will grow.  This means that making it a habit to drink enough water, workout, eat fruits, vegetables and adding a multi-vitamin to your diet.  Lack of nutrition is the number one reason that many have a problem growing their hair.  All of these will get you on the right track to growing your hair to the length that you desire.  Also, natural oils will also create a healthy environment on our scalp to allow the hair to grow to its fullest potential.  Natural oils for hair such as our follicle awakening hair oil, jamaican black castor oil, olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, flaxseed oil, rosemary and peppermint are just a few.  These will help you to get the blood flowing to your scalp to start the process of growing new hair.

Regular Maintenance

Do away with the notion that cutting your hair makes it grow faster.  I know that we’ve all been conditioned to believe that this is true.  Other options that help to grow your hair “faster”  is keeping up with regular maintenance.  Natural hair for sure needs regular maintenance.  Daily moisturizing, deep conditioning on wash days and using the proper tools will make a world of difference.  If you know that your hair sucks up moisture and dries out quickly, then you know what needs to be done to keep your hair growing.  Regular maintenance is key because no routine works after one try.

So, Does Cutting You Hair Make It Grow Faster

The bottom line is cutting your hair does not make it grow faster.  No amount of trimming will change this, science and the way that the human body works does not lie.  So before you pick up those shears and start trimming away, really ask yourself if it is worth it.  Will you be trimming off healthy hair in hopes that you’ll get faster growth in a short period of time?  In the end, its all about what you do to care for your hair daily, not how often you chop it off.