Hair • 02/15/2024
10 Hair Growth Tips You Might Not Have Tried
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Do you dream of a flowing mane yet have yet to achieve the results you want? There could be a few hair growth trips you still haven’t tried.
Plus, it helps to know a little about physiology — how the human body works — to bring everything together. Are you ready to go the distance with your locks? Here are ten hair growth tips you might not have tried.
First, the Basics: Creating the Best Hair Growth Environment
To get the most out of these hair growth tips, you must first understand the principle of interdependence. What’s that? It’s how things in the same system support one another or, in the case of the human body, how all the moving parts come together to create total health.
Therefore, you’ll get the fastest results when you engage in general good habits that support total health. Cultivate habits such as:
- Getting regular, moderate exercise daily
- Eating a nutritious diet high in plant-based whole foods that resemble their natural forms.
- Striking a balance between work, family and play to meet your physical, emotional and spiritual needs
- Getting sufficient sleep
- Remaining mindful of health-related issues and seeking help when necessary
What Factors Slow Hair Growth and Lead to Thinning?
Another often overlooked hair growth tip involves avoiding practices that limit growth. After all, you don’t want to undo all the hard work you do!
1. Do Tight Hairstyles Affect Hair Growth?
Hey, it’s okay to throw your hair in a ponytail during Zumba class or wear it up to hike. Trouble occurs when you wear the same style every day, which puts too much stress on hair follicles, leading to traction alopecia. You should let your hair down every night before sleep unless you’re going for heat-free curls.
2. Does Wearing a Hat Affect Hair Growth?
However, there’s good news if you have cold ears. Wearing a hat will not thin or damage your hair, so please cover up against the winter chill.
3. Does Trimming My Hair Make It Grow Faster?
Nearly every article you read tells you to get regular trims to make your hair grow faster, but fewer explain how the magic works. First of all, going under the scissors won’t increase the rate at which your hair grows. Why the hype?
Regular trims are part of good hair hygiene. They prevent split ends and breakage, which impacts individual strands while making your hair more prone to tangling and loss.
4. Does Coloring or Perming My Hair Affect Hair Growth?
Unfortunately, chemical treatments aren’t great for your locks. They damage the physical structure of your strands, weakening them and making them prone to breakage. Seek natural alternatives whenever possible. For example, henna works wonders on red hair, although it’s messy and takes longer than chemical-based treatments.
5. Does Heat Styling Affect Hair Growth?
Heat styling also damages hair strands. While doing so occasionally won’t cause excessive harm, those who style their hair daily can stymie hair growth. If you love waves and curls, try sleeping in braids or do old-fashioned pin curls for springier locks.
A Brazilian blowout makes you look sleek for an elegant evening, but daily blow-drying can keep you from reaching great lengths. Invest in a microfiber towel to wick away most of the moisture after your shower and try sitting by a fan or even standing in the breeze on a warm day to air-dry the rest.
10 Hair Growth Tips to Accelerate Length and Thicken Your Locks
Now that you know what to avoid, it’s time to learn what you should do to nurture great lengths. Here are ten hair growth tips to help you add inches while thickening your locks and improving your mane’s overall health.
1. Make Specific Dietary Modifications
Your diet has a huge impact on your hair. Even though it lacks nerve fibers, your body still needs the right combination of nutrients to encourage growth, and malnutrition can lead to loss. Here are the modifications to make:
- Get sufficient calories: People with anorexia often develop hair loss as a secondary symptom. Your body needs adequate calories to grow hair.
- Eat more Omega 3s: Omega 3s exist in seafood and several plant-based foods. They’re the good fats your body needs for a healthy heart, brain and lustrous locks.
- Load up on iron and zinc: These minerals help prevent hair loss.
- Dig into brightly-colored plant-based foods: These contain essential B vitamins and A, C, D and E to nourish your strands.
2. Consider a Supplement
Maybe your diet needs improvement, but you struggle with time and resources. If so, consider a good multivitamin and mineral supplement — as a bonus, it will enhance other aspects of your health. In particular, seek one high in biotin or vitamin B7, as this nutrient can help reverse hair loss if you have a deficiency.
3. Stimulate Your Scalp
Stimulating your scalp cleans gunk out of hair follicles, giving your strands room to grow. You have several methods of doing so, and all of them feel oh-so-good.
- Scalp massage: Rubbing your head brings blood and oxygen to hair follicles and may ease mild headaches.
- Scalp exfoliation: You can use these products in the shower to clear away oil and buildup that clog follicles, inhibiting growth.
- Scalp stimulation devices: These gadgets provide a mild electrical impulse or vibrating motion to your scalp, although user reports disagree on how well they work.
4. Investigate PRP
Platelet-rich plasma therapy uses your body’s blood cells to heal and repair tissue in specific areas, including your scalp. Many people have used it to successfully treat male pattern baldness and assist in stimulating hair growth after transplants.
5. Consider Minoxidil
Minoxidil is now available over the counter — you probably know it as Rogaine. Some who try it have spectacular results, while others find the side effects too intolerable. Your best bet is to consult with your doctor. If trying it independently, remain mindful and discontinue use if you experience any of the following symptoms:
- Chest pain
- Heart palpitations
- Fainting or lightheadedness
- Facial hair growth
- Swelling
6. Try Essential Oils
Certain essential oils have proven effective in helping you grow longer, stronger hair, at least according to anecdotal evidence. For example, pumpkin seed oil has shown promise, perhaps because it contains many of the essential nutrients your hair needs for maximum growth.
7. Reduce Your Stress Levels
You might be one of those people who gets so stressed out that you pull your hair. Some develop a disorder called trichotillomania, which compels those affected to pull out large sections all over their body.
However, stress can thin and weaken hair even if you don’t give it a yank. That’s because stress raises levels of certain hormones that affect your follicles with everything else in your body.
8. Switch to Silk
Perhaps the single best beauty secret for hair and skin is to sleep on a silk pillowcase. Seriously. Try it. You’ll experience far fewer tangles and may even wake up with a sleek mane after tumbling in with air-dried locks. Furthermore, it won’t pull on your skin, preventing wrinkles and premature aging.
9. Practice Good Hair Hygiene
What is good hair hygiene? It entails the following things:
- Avoid bad habits: Remain mindful. If you pulled your hair back twice this week, wear it down. Avoid doubling down on chemical treatments, like mixing color with a perm or regular heat styling.
- Adjust your shampooing frequency: People’s hair varies in oiliness. You may need to shampoo daily, but please note that overwashing stimulates oil production. Most people do fine washing their hair two or three times a week — try every other day and adjust the frequency to your unique needs.
- Keep it brushed, combed and trimmed: Unless you plan to grow dreadlocks, keeping your hair brushed, combed and trimmed prevents breakage.
10. Let It Be
Finally, stop fussing with your hair. Every time you touch it, you transfer dirt and oils from your hands to your strands. Furthermore, countless women have seen their hair health improve over time when they ceased chemical treatments and excessive styling in favor of a more natural look.
Hair Growth Tips You Might Not Have Tried
If you dream of a long, flowing mane, you need the right hair growth tips. Knowing what to do and avoid gets you closer to the style you desire. Remember the principle of interdependence, take care of your total health and employ these ten strategies to add inches to your ‘do.
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