As a natural, especially a newly natural, your hair journey can get a little discouraging here and there. One of the most discouraging experiences we go through is constantly wondering if our hair is growing or not. Unfortunately, no matter what we do to try and promote our desired length of hair, it just doesn’t take. We turn to try out multiple tricks and tips that have been said to promote hair growth, the current one being rice water. While massaging your scalp regularly and raising your hair using rice water, which I’ve heard work, there are a few outrageous tricks that don’t. For a while, people were under the impression that using a mask made of egg and oil would make their hair grow an inch overnight. To prevent any further embarrassment or wasted products, I’ll share some potential reasons for why your hair may have stopped growing.
Some of us go above and beyond to grow our hair without considering the important aspects being what is going on inside our body. No matter what we do, our hair just won’t grow anymore due to these reasons. One of the main factors that affect our hair growth stems from genetics. Without considering their genes, people think that how they take care of their hair is the only reason for why their hair is the way it is. Back in 2012, Huffington Post met up with trichologist, Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips to get more answers on how hair goes about growing. Phillips informed them that hair is “genetically preprogrammed” meaning it is meant to grow to a certain length and stop. Phillips goes on to describe our hair growth by stating, “There are three recognized phases to the typical growth cycle: anagen (the growth phase), catagen (a short resting phase) and telogen (the shedding phase that can result in the hair releasing over a period of time). The anagen phase can range anywhere from two to six years; this is what will determine the maximal length we can achieve.” Although it might seem like our hair stops growing once it hits a certain length, in reality, it stops at a certain point in time. Yes, genetics determine the majority of how our hair works, but that isn’t the only consideration.
Other than genetics being an internal cause, our age can play a part too. I’m sure we all know that with age comes graying as well as additional shedding and thinning more than ever before. Part of the reason for hair shedding more at older ages is because the scalp reduces the amount of natural oils it has been producing. On the bright side, massaging your scalp regularly stimulates your hair foliates, as with your blood flow which helps your hair grow.
The last reason why your hair has stopped growing has to do with your diet. Our hair is much like our skin, it relies on a number of ingredients to stay healthy and have a natural shine. To keep up nice and healthy hair it is recommended to have an appropriate amount of iron, vitamin D, B-complex, and zinc in your diet. Instead, a number of us have a daily dose of sweets, dairy, and carbohydrates, I know I do for sure. If you’re anything like me and lack these necessary vitamins, here is a list of foods that contain them. Good sources of iron are spinach, broccoli, eggs, and chicken. When looking for a nice source of vitamin D, it is ideal to look in places like salmon, mushroom, beef liver, as well as our natural sunlight. While B-complex isn’t one of the vitamins that we hear as often as the others, it does contain something that might ring a bell… biotin. There are a few natural hair products that contain biotin, The Mane Choice being one. With biotin being able to be found in hair products alone, B- complex can be found in foods like avocados, bananas, whole grains, and legumes. The last vitamin being zinc, good sources are oyster, crabs/ lobsters, garlic, and a number of nuts/seeds. After reading that I wouldn't be surprised if you decided to take a trip over to your local grocery store and start taking true keep of not just your body but, your hair.
Hopefully, after reading this article you guys have started to get some idea deeper than the surface level for why your hair has stopped growing. In addition to understanding that growth depends on internal components, some of you guys stop trying ridiculous “tricks” that don’t actually grow your hair. The key to growth is trying to not get discouraged from the success in your hair journey because of a little length desire. Honestly, healthy hair always comes before long hair anyways. No matter how long your hair gets whether it’s a twa or down to your lower back, your kinks are still beautiful.