Lengthy Hair Woostravaganza

Much in the style of Barney Stinson, I accepted a challenge a couple years ago to grow out my hair to a certain length. It’s not quite there yet, but we’re slowly inching that direction. There’s this weird length it gets to between short and long that’s particularly annoying for me and the last several times I’ve tried to grow it out, I ended up chopping it off during this period. It’s been a difficult struggle this time around, and I’ve been desperate for ways to make it grow faster already.

Enter all the weird stuff people have told me about over the years that supposedly make your hair grow faster, and more silliness from the internet.

Brushing your hair a lot will stimulate your scalp and thus stimulate hair growth.

The idea behind stimulating the scalp is that more blood will flow to the area and bring more nutrients to your follicles. In spite of the little benefit brushing your hair might have to that effect, it’s more likely to cause a lot of breakage. Breakage slows the overall process of growing hair longer.

Hanging upside down to bring more blood to the area.

Okay, aside from this being really weird, I’m not entirely certain that it’s the healthy option to go with. Just thinking about it is giving me a massive headache. This, like brushing your hair, is perhaps minimally stimulating enough to cause hair to grow faster. The best way to bring nutrients and increase blood-flow to your follicles is to exercise! Get that heart going and nutrient delivery will elevate for all of your various body parts.

Get your hair cut often so it will grow faster.

This should be obvious, but doing something to the tips of your hair isn’t going to change what’s going on at the roots. There is some logic to having your hair cut on a regular basis, though, especially if you have medium-long hair. You need to trim off split ends to reduce the frequency of breakage. The less your hair splits and breaks, the faster it appears to be growing, though the rate of growth is the same.

Take special vitamins for hair.

This does have merit; some salons carry supplements that typically contain B vitamins and antioxidants. However, it would probably be more overall beneficial and less expensive to have a balanced diet in which you get all the nutrients you need.

Make a special mix of x ingredients and put it in your hair.

There are a number of recommendations for things to put in your hair, like honey and olive oil and rosemary-infused tea. Rubbing the mix into your hair will do a little of that scalp stimulation, and you might absorb a minimal amount of nutrients through your skin. But, you’ll have really sticky/oily hair, so… To each their own.

Overall, the most effective way to promote healthy, steady hair growth is to exercise and eat well. Oh, and washing your hair regularly can help prevent breakage and tangles.

Here’s hoping I retain my sanity long enough to reach my goal length.

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