My Hair Hasn’t Grown Longer in 5 Months : Reader Query + Solution

Hi Lancy,

Today I am writing to you regarding my hair. 

I have read your hair journey on your blog and feel very fascinated by it.

I am 15 years old and according to my mum, I have had very fast hair growth ever since I was born; she would get my head shaved and the next day my scalp would start to go black with hair. (She had very long hair like yours too) My mom was in charge of my hair until a few years back. She’d oil my hair, trim my hair, wash my hair etc. and it was in good form.

But ever since I have started to do these things my self (except trimming, I can’t bear to have scissors near my hair myself) and responsibilities have increased, my hair growth and health has decreased a lot. It got way to many split ends and mild hair fall which have thankfully decreased and my hair has become dry, dull and thin. I am in Australia most of the time thus can’t do many herbal & desi treatments. But I recently came back to Pakistan for a family wedding and have had time to look after my hair a bit.

I got a hair crimper and straightener about a year ago, and after using it a few times my hair became quite dry and hair fall increased drastically. I have never used another heat styling tool to date no matter how much I love straight and crimped hair (sigh!) But it has gotten a bit better now.

I got this hair oil recently (An herbal oil from India!) which I researched before using, and according to a 30 minute documentary and multiple reviews, it uses this ancient Indian method called “Kshir pak vidhi” ( maybe you’ve heard about it) and has 20 or so herbs and nutrients. It also helps with hair growth, dandruff, infections, softness and thickness of hair.

I have used it a few times and it gave me smoother hair and I noticed a slight difference in my braid; that is it went thicker (it use to be quite thin texture wise and visibly)

But my hair hasn’t grown any longer in the past 4-5 months.

– I have eaten eggs all my life and love them to this date thank fully.

– I oil my hair every week now.

– I let my hair air dry all the time and

– Haven’t trimmed it more than half an inch because of split ends.

– I get 7-8 hours of sleep everyday.

– My eating routine is okay as well.

As far as the hair brushing is concerned I avoid brushing my hair while it’s wet. I have tried different types of combs but I don’t know why but my hair just can’t get detangled without a hair brush and not just the plastic one but the one that has the silver pins. Is this bad for my hair and do you have any other way of detangling hair?

I want to grow my hair as long and healthy as yours and any help would be greatly appreciated. I read on your blog that you sometimes provide people with guide to long hair or something as well? (can I get one?)

I can’t wait for you to email back. I feel like discovering your website was a miracle for me as I actually went on to read a review on the fair and lovely face wash and came across your hair journey.

Sorry for the really long email but I need as much help as I can get.

Thank you so so so much for even reading this email.

Once again thank you in advanced.

Kind regards,
Maira.S

My Reply:

Hello Maira,

Thanks for writing to me. I hope everything is fine at your end!

As you’re only 15 now, you’ve a LOT of time to grow out your hair longer. I sometimes wish I’d started my hair growth journey way back earlier, maybe when I was your age?! (I used to cut my hair once in three months, not allowing it to grow and that was one of my biggest hair care mistakes! I never liked long hair as a kid! My bad!)

So I started growing out my hair when I was 17 (I had a shoulder-waist length layered hair back then) and I’d just turned 21 this month; Now I’ve this mid-thigh length hair! (been growing out for 3+ years now! and it’s more like an addiction. I’m in love with long hair like never before!) By the time you turn 20, you’d be having a very long, beautiful hair; may be mid-thigh length (or even longer!) if you’re really serious about growing out your hair, that long! So don’t stress about the growth rate very much now. Unless you’re experiencing a major hair loss or thinning, there’s nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, I’d give you few suggestions to fasten your hair growth! Before that, I’d like explain you few things.

Sometimes we feel as if our hair never grows. I’d been there too! When we notice our hair very often, we won’t be able to figure out the difference, really. Even my family members fail to notice my hair growth as they live with me, looking at me every day! But when someone visits me after a long time, they tell me how my hair has grown longer than earlier. So that may be it. Did you try clicking photo of your hair every month to check the difference? I’m not sure if you’ve been doing that. It’s a good practice to keep track of your progress if you’re keen about long hair! I suggest you to do that from this month. And also, make sure you NEVER cut/trim your hair. Trims are not needed unless you’ve bad split ends. Fairytale ends are beautiful too; let them grow and never trim. If you want a very long hair, you should give up scissors. Then once your reach the goal length, you can decide if you want blunt/natural ends. For now, I’d highly suggest you to not get a trim since you mentioned your hair feels healthy.

You’d mentioned that you used heat tools on your hair in the past! (Straightener and Crimper). They could really spoil your hair even it was just ‘few times’. If you’ve a fine hair by birth (like mine!), heat tools are more likely to cause ‘split ends’. So please avoid them in future! Believe me when I say this – Healthy, shiny hair is more beautiful than an artificially straightened hair! Your hair will be at its best form if you let it be natural – be it wavy, curly or straight. So don’t use heat unless it is very VERY important – may be once in a year?

Thankfully, you’d gotten rid of the dry hair and split end issues! You must be following a very good routine. I checked the points you’d listed out with the bullets – it’s really great for a 15 year old to follow that routine! I barely maintained a routine when I as 15. So what you’re doing now for your hair is more than enough. Stick to the current routine. You eat right; you sleep right (I hope you don’t sleep late at night! That can trigger hair loss in few!) and the air-drying is the best thing; blow dryers literally kill your hair in a long run!

It is also good that you take eggs regularly. Are you taking them everyday? Are you eating enough protein every day? Approximately, you’ll need 50 grams of protein everyday. Especially, when you’re trying to grow out your hair longer, you need extra protein – every single day! (The intake should be consistent!) Not enough protein/nutrition over a period of time can get your body into starvation mode – hence causing hair loss/slower hair growth. Hence, try to include lots of protein to your daily diet (eggs, meat, soy products, chana dal etc!) and you’ll definitely find a difference! Eating two teaspoons of peanut butter everyday helps too! (I’d read this on a hair-care blog where a blogger claimed it boosted her growth rate!).

You hadn’t written anything about your daily hair-do! If you’re braiding it tightly, avoid doing it. Loose braids are better when compared to other tighter hair do-s. Tight elastic bands and updos can stress your hair (roots!) – eventually affecting the growth of your hair. I’d written more about it on this post where I’d solved a query. I highly suggest you to read it!

Finally, I’d like to give you few suggestions that you can follow.

– Check if you’re taking enough proteins and vitamins. Include eggs everyday; if not, some-other source of protein. B Complex and Biotin can be taken everyday to fasten your hair growth! Excessive body heat can cause shedding and slower growth; in that case, B complex will help very much! (Experience!) Biotin helps grow stronger nails and hair! (but consider taking them ONLY after checking with your doctor!)

– Iron deficiency can also cause hair thinning and slower hair growth! In that case, topical treatment won’t help much. It will still help but internal issues should be fixed as well. You need to cure it either by diet or supplements (again, check with your doctor before you take any kind of supplement; I’m not the best person to suggest that!)

– You said you oil your hair weekly. Try to oil your hair twice a week. Since you mentioned your hair is getting drier, once a week may not be enough to address the needs of your hair. You can continue using the herbal oil you were talking about (make sure it doesn’t contain harmful chemicals such as paraben, minoxidil etc) or simply use virgin coconut oil. It’s one the best oils for your hair! Unfortunately, I’ll not be able to ship my product to Australia as of now but I’ll surely be happy to do it once I enable international shipping.

– Use a shampoo that doesn’t dry out your hair! And check the water at your place. If it’s hard, use drinking water for the last rinse to avoid residues and buildup on your scalp. Take photos of your hair every month! Do NOT forget this. Try to incorporate the ideas I’ve given and over the next five months, you will definitely be able to notice a postitive change! Please don’t forget to write back to me!

Wishing you a wonderful hair growth journey!

Note : I’m also emailing you my complete hair care routine guide. Hope it helps! Feel free to write back to me if you’ve any questions. I’d be glad to help!

To get your hair queries/other skin-makeup related queries answered, please write to me at lancy@mabh.in with an email title – Reader Query. I shall be resolving them on this series! Please do not forget to title it right if not, I might miss the emails. It might be impossible for me to resolve each and every query within a time frame, (due my work schedule) but I shall try my best! Thank you so much for visiting!