Tips for Growing Long Hair
If you want tips for growing long hair then this article is meant for you. No special products are required to grow hair. Vitamins help in some instances and overall diet is a consideration.
Anyone interested in growing long hair, especially at extreme lengths, should be aware that hair has a genetic terminal length. This realization comes with a simple answer to the question, How does hair grow? Hair is a shaft of protein, essentially keratin that pushes outward from follicles in the skin. Only the follicle itself is alive. The hair shaft is dead protein.
The normal rate to grow hair in humans is half an inch a month and the average human has approximately 100,000 hairs on their head. A single hair, in the absence of damage, can live four to five years before falling out and being replaced by a new hair.
Given those growth figures, a single hair would be anywhere from two feet to two and a half feet long by the end of its life. Many people, however, are able to grow their hair to lengths that hang below their knees. It's all a matter of genetics. Your hair cannot grow longer than your genetic make-up and the resulting programming of the follicles will allow. There's nothing you can do about that.
Long Hair Growing Tips: Do's and Don'ts
So, what are the things you can do to grow longer hair faster? The basic tips involve diet and nutrition, life habits, methods of hair care, and product selection. Above all, steps should be taken to prevent damage, extreme dryness, and breaking of the hair. Your hair must be healthy when you begin to grow it out and you must maintain that health at all times.
Nutrition and Supplements
Avoid crash diets. They stress the body and the effects appear in all the body's systems. Remember that hair is nothing more than a-keratin protein (90% with the remaining 10% being water). A low protein diet can cause the hair to thin and will certainly slow its growth.
If you are in a phase of actively trying to grow out your hair, you may want to supplement your protein intake with liver. Some nutritional experts also recommend brewer's yeast, wheat germ, and granulated lecithin to help your body process the protein. Visit your local health food store and ask to speak to a counsellor who will help you make good choices about diet and the use of supplements. When you are trying to grow hair, vitamins help.
In fact, thanks to the poor quality of the modern diet, everyone can benefit from a daily multi-vitamin, mineral supplement. The B and E vitamins are good for your hair as are zinc, sulphur, and magnesium. Also make sure your multi-vitamin includes biotin. To get more B vitamins from your diet, eat beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, soybeans, bran, nuts, and eggs. Avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil contain the E vitamins.
Avoid foods that are greasy and fatty. They will disrupt your digestive system and potentially make your scalp and hair more oily. Minimize your intake of salt as it will raise your blood pressure and affect blood circulation in your scalp. (Male pattern baldness has been linked to high blood pressure.) Avoid pre-processed foods that are full of chemical additives and fast foods. A well-balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables that is also high in protein is your best ally in your quest to grow long, beautiful hair.
Brushing
The physical stresses on your hair are also an important consideration. Only use brushes with natural boar bristles and choose wide-toothed combs. Both are good at distributing the natural oils in your skin from the scalp down to the ends of your hair.
Throughout the day use your comb to prevent tangles in your hair. If tangles do occur, work at them in small sections starting at the end of the hair and working your way up. Never back comb or tease your hair. Always work in downward, even strokes. If a tiny knot simply will not work out, it is best to cut it out.
Before you shampoo, comb or brush your hair to remove loose hairs and to straighten out tangles. If your hair has a tendency to be dry, the old tried and true daily brushing with one hundred strokes will help as it is a technique to distribute oils from your scalp down the length of your hair.
Split Ends
With long hair, damage travels up from the ends. Trim your hair often. If you have reached the desired length and are in a maintenance stage, take off half an inch a month. If you are still growing your hair out, remove half an inch every three or four months.
In between those major trims, sit in a bright light and examine your hair for split ends. (When a split end develops, the hair literally unravels and will look frizzy.) Use just the tips of sharp scissors to remove the damaged end of the individual hair. Hair with this kind of damage breaks easily and much more length will be lost in that fashion than in simply monitoring and snipping your split ends.
Stresses to the Hair
The natural tossing and turning of sleep will create damaging friction against your hair if you sleep with it down. Use a satin pillow case and put your hair in a loose braid or in a soft sleep cap.
Heated appliances like blow dryers, hot rollers, curling irons, flat irons, and crimpers are strictly forbidden. No steaming hot showers and no vigorous rubbing of your hair with a towel. All of these things place major stress and friction on your hair. The heated items will dry out your hair and make it more brittle and in some instance place physical stress on the hair shafts by altering their shape. The same is true of overly hot water while shampooing and of the friction caused by vigorous rubbing with a towel.
Consideration should also be given as to the wisdom of using hair fasteners. Never use rubber bands because they tear at the hair when removed and damage the outer cuticle layer which makes the hair more susceptible to tangling. Anything with rough or sharp edges and hinges in which the hair can become caught is a bad idea as are items with Velcro and springs. Soft scrunchies and chopstick-like "hair sticks" are much better choices.
Avoid tight braids and pony tails. When you pull your hair to achieve these styles you are placing stress at the roots that are already bearing the weight of your long hair. Anything you do that causes hair to fall out or to be pulled out should be stopped immediately and not repeated.
Best Methods Adopted to Grow Long Hair
There are lots of methods to follow in growing long hair. Some of them are as follows
Shampooing
When shampooing, wet your hair by putting your head under the stream of water and work the water into the hair with straight downward strokes. Pour the shampoo into the palm of your hand, not onto your head, and begin working it into the ends of your hair, moving up toward the crown of your head. Do not scrub at your hair or bunch it up on the top of your head.
When you are ready to rinse, put your head under the stream of water and work the shampoo out of your hair with straight, downward motions of your hands. Keep the hair straight and untangled at all times. (Always make sure you have no tangles in your hair before you get into the shower to shampoo.)
Follow the same downward techniques when gently drying your hair with a towel. Wet hair is very fragile. Pat or squeeze your hair dry with an absorbent towel and then allow the hair to air dry. Avoid wrapping your wet hair in the towel or pushing it up in a turban. Let it hang drown as it dries, perhaps sitting in front of a gentle heat or air source. (Always be aware of where your hair is and never allow it to wander into a heater or fan. Longer hair requires you to be more attentive to your surroundings for your own safety sake.)
Avoid shampoos with sodium laureth sulphate, benzophenone-3, benzyl alcohol, DMDM hydantoin, and sodium lauryl sulphate. These detergents and alcohols are hard on the hair, causing it to be dry and brittle. You want a gentle moisturizing or replenishing shampoo. Hair sprays and gels also contain large amounts of alcohol.
Make your final rinse a cold one, as cold as you can stand. The cold water has the effect of sealing the cuticle or outer layer of the hair. Cold water rinses improve the sheen of your hair. Unless your hair is extremely dry you will only need to condition it once a week (avoid leave-in conditioners because they lead to product build-up). Plan to deep condition your hair at least once a month.
Oils
Keeping your long hair moisturised is an absolute must. Commercial hot oil treatments are good (if they aren't too hot) and a natural alternative is a mixture of rosemary oil and olive oil worked into the hair and left for 45 minutes under a warm towel. Jojoba oil is also excellent to moisturize dry hair.
Conclusion
There are a number of common sense "rules" to help you grow hair, make quicker progress with the growth, and in general to keep your hair healthy. With long hair, preventing breakage and keeping the hair moisturised are absolutely key. A good diet will increase your ability to grow hair; vitamins help. Also select good hair care products. The good news is that you are never too old to have or to start to grow long hair.
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